Finland becomes chairman for the Council for Trade in Goods of the WTO.

Ambassador Vesa Himanen, the permanent representative of Finland in Geneva has been elected chairman of the Council for Trade in Goods (CTG) of the WTO for the year 2005. This is the first time the European Union has the chairmanship of the CTG.

The CTG is one of the suborgans of the general council of theWTO. One of its tasks is the monitoring of WTO treaties. A central and current issue on the agenda of the CTG is the liberation of the trade in textiles. The textile treaty ended in the beginning of 2005 and thus the textile quota system ceased to exist. Some countries have proposed that measures should be taken to evaluate the effects of the disappearance of the textile quotas. The chairman of the CTG is negotiatiating with the member states on this issue. 11 subcommittees function under the CTG, including the subcommittees on agriculture, access to markets, TBT, SBS and the trade in waste.

The General Council is the highest decision making body of the WTO during the time between Ministerial meetings. Ministerial meetings are usually held every other year.

Ambassador Himanen is also chairman of the working group on the accession of Kazakstan.