At the meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee on 17 April 2008 the Norwegian WTO Ambassador Eirik Glenne underscored the importance of sufficiently addressing the level of comfort for all Members. In the Rules negotiations Ambassador Glenne said, the comfort Norway needs will only be achieved if the Chair of the Negotiating Group provides the Members with a revised text in line with the mandate given by Ministers in Hong Kong.
18/04/2008 :: Mr Chairman,
• Like others we are grateful to the chair for this meeting and for the information given, particularly regarding possible further process.
• For transparency purposes and in order to bring us all on board the possibility given today to clear our minds on process is most welcome
• By and large we can go along with what you have suggested. You are suggesting we build on well-known practices in the WTO which we have used on similar occasions. Despite the fact that these procedures have not always given us the success we were looking for at all times, I am sure it is assuring to us all that at least something is a given.
• We are also pleased to hear, if I understood you correctly, that you are basing your suggestions on the step by step approach that you and we, the members, have advocated should be our preferred approach. I interpreted your statement to say that each step of the way will be decided on the basis of progress made on substance and that we are not driven in our endeavours by any deadlines.
• In order for us all to succeed in our efforts we also believe that adequate preparations are an essential key. We therefore fully support your emphasis on the importance of this. Part of that preparation is inter alia to make sure that the level of comfort for all involved is sufficiently addressed. The various issues that constitute the scope can be accommodated in various ways, but I believe that there now exists a broad understanding on how the individual issues of the scope needs to be addressed in order to achieve the level of comfort that would be conducive to an eventual meeting that is aimed at establishing modalities for AG & NAMA. To be specific, for us the level of comfort we need in Rules is only achieved if the chair of that neg. group is providing members with a revised text in line with the mandate given by ministers in Hong Kong, namely "consolidated texts of the AD and SCM Agreements that shall be the basis for the final stage of the negotiations".
• Like you we are also preoccupied with the transparency, openness and the bottom-up approach of our work. Therefore we are confident that the multilateralisation of the outcome of an eventual miniministerial is taken care of through the various ways of communicating the results to the broader membership as you have indicated.
• Finally Chair, I would also like others, bid Ichiro farewell, thank him for his friendship and wish him good luck in his new posting.
Thank you.