Non-farm talks’ chair submits his ‘July package’ report

I. STATUS OF WORK

The NAMA modalities are not agreed.  Nor is my 10 July 2008 draft modalities text a consensus text.  Having said this, there is much in that text on which there is very substantial convergence.  Indeed, on the basis of my consultations with Members, I believe that all of the provisions of the 10 July text could achieve consensus as they were presented in the text, with the exception of those modalities on which I report below.

Moreover, as a result of intensive work since the release of the text, including the Ministerial meeting held 21-29 July 2008 further convergence has been achieved on a number of issues.  The purpose of this report is to record that convergence.  
    

The "Package"

In the course of the above-noted Ministerial meeting, convergence on a number of elements of the NAMA modalities was achieved among Ministers of the so-called G-7 (Australia, Brazil, China, the European Communities, India, Japan and the United States).  Subsequently, the majority of Members meeting in Green Room format indicated that, while they had reservations over particular issues, they could live with the proposed compromise outcomes on these elements of the NAMA modalities.  However, this convergence was conditional on agreement on a number of elements in the negotiations on agriculture, and was accepted by many of these Members only “as a package”.  Agreement was not reached on all of the agriculture modalities in that “package”.  In addition, some Members’ support was conditional upon the outcome of negotiations on other issues – issues which were not part of the “package” and remained to be addressed.  These other issues were not agreed and, therefore, the convergence on the NAMA issues within the “package” remains just that – substantial convergence, but not consensus.

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Source: WTO