It is based on Director-General Pascal Lamy’s statement to ambassadors at an informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), which he chairs, on 30 November. This, in turn, was based on political declarations from the recent G-20 summit in Seoul and APEC meeting in Yokohama.

Chairperson Walker, who is New Zealand’s ambassador, asked members to do their homework over the Christmas and New Year break, consult with each other, and report on progress when they meet on 17 January. He said the work on a revised draft “modalities” (see jargon buster) text will have four components, including issues proposed by some members:

* Outstanding issues, including those he has described as “bracketed or otherwise annotated” in the December 2008 draft (see link on the left) and its associated papers
* Clarifying points that have emerged as unclear in the December 2008 text, such as those raised in a paper by Argentina, China and India
* Correcting typographical errors
* Completing data that will have to be attached to the “modalities”, for example data on values of production to be used to calculate new limits on domestic support, and on domestic consumption for creating new tariff quotas.

The eventual revised text should be based on consensus, and where consensus is not possible, provide clear choices for decision-makers to pick, he said.

He suggested that delegations could prepare for the upcoming work by studying his March 2010 report to the Trade Negotiations Committee.

The chairperson added that the more technical work on “templates” and data will also continue (explained below), as it did in the meeting on Monday 6 December.

Ambassador Walker was partly reporting on consultations during the week. He said his plans were developed in a meeting in “Room E” at the WTO headquarters on 8 December with 38 delegations invited, representing all the main coalitions. This is a configuration used from time to time to allow a freer discussion that can then feed into the “multilateral” process involving all members, in a structure sometimes called “concentric circles”.

The 38 delegations invited were: Argentina (Cairns Group, G-20), Australia (Cairns Group coordinator), Brazil (G-20 coordinator, also Cairns), Burkina Faso (Cotton-4 coordinator, also African Group, least-developed, Africa-Caribbean-Pacific), Canada (Cairns), Chile (Cairns), China (G-33, G-20, recent new member), Colombia (Cairns, tropical products group), Costa Rica (tropical products coordinator, also Cairns), Cuba (G-33, G-20, small and vulnerable economies, ACP), Dominican Rep (small-vulnerable economies coordinator, also G-33), Ecuador (tropical products, recent new member), Egypt (African Group agriculture coordinator, G-20), EU, Gabon (African Group coordinator, ACP), India (G-33, G-20), Indonesia (G-33 coordinator, also G-20, Cairns), Jamaica (ACP, also G-33, small-vulnerable), Japan (G-10), Kenya (G-33, African, ACP, Commodities Group), Rep. Korea (G-33, G-10), Malaysia (Cairns), Mauritius (ACP coordinator, G-33, African), Mexico (G-20), New Zealand (Cairns), Norway (G-10), Pakistan (Cairns, G-20, G-33), Paraguay (Cairns, G-20, tropical products, small-vulnerable), Philippines (G-33, G-20, Cairns), South Africa (Cairns Group, African Group, ACP), Switzerland (G-10 coordinator), Chinese Taipei (recent new members coordinator, also G–10), Thailand (Cairns, G-20), Turkey (G-33), Uruguay (Cairns, G-20), US, Venezuela (G-33, G-20), Zambia (least-developed countries coordinator, also African Group, ACP)

Ambassador Walker also reported on consultations on cotton.