Indications of the US backing came at the special session on agriculture held recently under WTO auspices in Geneva to formally launch the mandated negotiations on agriculture.

At this session, there was a broad consensus on the need to ensure that all proposals relating to agriculture were submitted for consideration of the committee before the year-end.

It was also agreed that proposals should be submitted under the four pillars of Article XX of GATT on market access, domestic support, export subsidies and other rules and disciplines.

A number of members, particularly developing country members, indicated the importance of the WTO secretariat's assistance in the first and subsequent phase of negotiations in agriculture. Though some members including India placed some specific proposals on the table, it was clarified that deeloping countries were likely to have further issues/areas where they would like to have inputs from the secretariat.

There would be two more special sessions on agriculture - in September and an December 2000 - back-to-back with the regular sessions of the COA with a stock taking meeting of the submissions received up to March 2001.

At the first special session, most members indicated that negotiations should be structured and carried out in accordance with the mandate given in Article XX of the agreement on agriculture. Some members including the European Union, Switzerland, Norway, Japan and Korea emphasised the multi-functional aspect of agriculture and stressed that non-trade concerns must be duly taken into account.

On the other hand, the Cairns group, along with the US, emphasised the need to continue with the reform process and bring a quick end to the various trade distorting practices prevalent in agriculture.

At the earlier meeting of COA, the members were critical of the roll-over of export subsidies by both the European Union and Norway and felt that it would distort world trade even more and would be extremely detrimental to exports from non-subsidising countries.

The mandated negotiations on services also got off to a good start with meetings of the Services Council and its subsidiary bodies in April 2000. The council for trade in services held both its regular and special session on April 14. The council among other things agreed to a schedule meetings for the remaining months of the year 2000.

The special session of the services council also had a very fruitful discussion in April on elements of the proposed first phase of the services negotiations mandated under the agreement on trade in services.