20. The representative of Hungary expressed his delegation's satisfaction that there was a mandate in the Doha Ministerial Declaration to complete negotiations by the Fifth Ministerial Conference. This long overdue issue would be one of the early harvest issues of the round. Progress would have to be made to correct the imbalance emerging from the Uruguay Round, that is in this agriculture-related issue, which was important for Hungary. No meaningful progress had been made after so many years. The proposal for a work programme by the Chairperson to a large extent met the expectations of his delegation; it had been carefully drafted. He understood that there was an opportunity to immediately start discussing the merits of the ideas and proposals that had already been submitted. He doubted that there was a need for further study by the Secretariat. With regard to the brief note foreseen by the Chairperson, his delegation would be glad to be involved in the informal consultations. He believed it would be helpful to see a compilation of the proposals made so far. In this respect, Hungary could support the suggestion to use the EC table but would also be open to the idea of having a similar compilation by the Secretariat. Regarding target dates, he agreed with the idea that delegations should be encouraged to submit proposals, if possible before the summer break or, at the latest, in September. He agreed with Switzerland about the need to have the opportunity to see in early March the outcome of the negotiations in a revised version which could serve as a basis for decision by Ministers. With reference to Australia's request for the preparation of a compilation by the Secretariat of the national systems of implementation of obligations under Article 23.4, he said the proposal itself was a good idea but should appear under Article 24.2 rather than Article 23.4. Hungary would not be opposed to having, in the context of the regular sessions, such a paper supplementing what had already been done by the Secretariat. It was, however, of the view that such a document should not be the subject of negotiations in this body.
