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shall hold its first meeting not later than 31 January 2002. It shall establish appropriate
negotiating mechanisms as required and supervise the progress of the negotiations.
47. With the exception of the improvements and clarifications of the Dispute Settlement
Understanding, the conduct, conclusion and entry into force of the outcome of the
negotiations shall be treated as parts of a single undertaking. However, agreements reached
at an early stage may be implemented on a provisional or a definitive basis. Early
agreements shall be taken into account in assessing the overall balance of the negotiations.
48. Negotiations shall be open to:
(i) all Members of the WTO; and
(ii) States and separate customs territories currently in the process of
accession and those that inform Members, at a regular meeting of the General
Council, of their intention to negotiate the terms of their membership and for
whom an accession working party is established.
Decisions on the outcomes of the negotiations shall be taken only by WTO Members.
49. The negotiations shall be conducted in a transparent manner among participants, in
order to facilitate the effective participation of all. They shall be conducted with a view to
ensuring benefits to all participants and to achieving an overall balance in the outcome of the
negotiations.
50. The negotiations and the other aspects of the Work Programme shall take fully into
account the principle of special and differential treatment for developing and least-developed
countries embodied in: Part IV of the GATT 1994; the Decision of 28 November 1979 on
Differential and More Favourable Treatment, Reciprocity and Fuller Participation of
Developing Countries; the Uruguay Round Decision on Measures in Favour of Least-
Developed Countries; and all other relevant WTO provisions.
51. The Committee on Trade and Development and the Committee on Trade and
Environment shall, within their respective mandates, each act as a forum to identify and
debate developmental and environmental aspects of the negotiations, in order to help
achieve the objective of having sustainable development appropriately reflected.
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