WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATION
RESTRICTED
WT/COMTD/SE/M/18
25 February 2009
(09-0977)
Committee on Trade and Development
Eighteenth Dedicated Session
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 3 DECEMBER 2008
Chairman: H.E. Mr. Shree B.C. Servansing (Mauritius)
A.
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA ......................................................................................................... 1
B.
PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINISTERIAL DECLARATION: MONITORING
PROGRESS OF THE SMALL ECONOMIES' PROPOSALS IN THE NEGOTIATING AND OTHER
BODIES ......................................................................................................................................... 1
-
COMPILATION PAPER PREPARED BY THE SECRETARIAT (WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/REV.2) ................ 1
A.
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA
1.
The draft agenda for the meeting as contained in Airgram WTO/AIR/3286, issued on
19 November 2008 was adopted.
B.
PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINISTERIAL DECLARATION: MONITORING PROGRESS OF
THE SMALL ECONOMIES' PROPOSALS IN THE NEGOTIATING AND OTHER BODIES
-
COMPILATION PAPER PREPARED BY THE SECRETARIAT (WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/REV.2)
2.
The Chairman recalled the mandate agreed to in the Hong Kong Declaration concerning the
Work Programme on Small Economies, mainly that the Committee on Trade and Development in
Dedicated Session continue to monitor the progress of the small economies' proposals in the
negotiating groups and other WTO bodies, with the aim of providing responses to the trade-related
issues of small economies. He also recalled that in July 2006, at the 15th Dedicated Session, the
Secretariat was requested to prepare a document that would assist the Dedicated Session in its
monitoring role. The Secretariat was also requested to periodically update the compilation paper to
reflect the latest developments in the negotiations. The Chairman said that the Secretariat had
updated the compilation paper and that the latest version was circulated as document
WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.2.
3.
The Chairman pointed out that the main changes in the document could be found in the
Sections on the Agriculture and NAMA negotiations, where the relevant paragraphs of the latest draft
modalities texts presented by the respective Chairmen had been included. The paper also reflected
new submissions by the small and vulnerable economies (SVEs) in the negotiations on Trade
Facilitation, Fisheries Subsidies and Services. He noted that following comments made on the
previous version of the paper, the Secretariat had also included the Committee on Trade and
Development's (CTD) Report to the General Council on Measures to Assist Small Economies in
Meeting their Obligations under the Agreements on SPS Measures, TBT and TRIPS. He said that the
revised version of the compilation stood as a complete record of the activities under the Work
Programme on Small Economies thus far.
4.
The representative of Barbados, on behalf of the SVE proponents, thanked the Secretariat for
continuing to work on the document and for circulating the most recent revision. He said that the
. /.
WT/COMTD/SE/M/18
Page 2
compilation was a key tool to assist the CTD in Dedicated Session to monitor the extent of the
involvement which the SVEs had in many of the major areas under negotiation in the DDA. He
expressed hope that a future revised version of the compilation paper would reflect concrete successes
for the SVEs in all of the areas where the SVE proponents were active in the WTO, including
Agriculture, NAMA, Services, Fisheries Subsidies and Trade Facilitation.
5.
He mentioned that the rather short agenda of the 18th Dedicated Session belied the importance
of the CTD Dedicated Sessions to the SVE proponents. He said that the majority of the work the
SVEs conducted in other negotiating bodies had its genesis in the Committee and that they continued
to actively look for new and important issues which could assist SVEs in their fuller integration into
the multilateral trading system. He called on all Members to share their ideas as to how the
discussions could be taken forward.
6.
He also called on the Secretariat to use its resources to assist the SVEs in identifying new
areas for study and elaboration. He informed Members that at the General Council meeting convened
to discuss the impact of the financial crisis on trade financing, the representative of Barbados, on
behalf of the SVEs, had briefly touched on some areas where SVEs could be negatively impacted by
the ongoing international financial crisis. He called on the Secretariat to consider liaising with the
task force which the Director-General had established to monitor any impact the international
financial crisis may have on SVEs, including the impact on demand for SVEs' goods and services, and
any implications for important sectors such as tourism, financial services, fisheries, textiles, light
manufacturing and primary agriculture production. He suggested that an examination of this impact
could be undertaken using the various SVEs' characteristics and problems, elaborated in previous
submissions.
7.
The representative of El Salvador joined the representative of Barbados in thanking the
Secretariat for the preparation of the compilation paper. Regarding the second point of the statement
by the representative of Barbados on the impact of the financial crisis, he said it was important to
agree on a package of Aid-for-Trade results which would provide access to credit for entrepreneurs.
This would allow them to conduct their business more efficiently and, hence, take advantage of the
results of trade liberalization achieved in the Doha Round. He said that although his country
recognized that a number of developed countries had problems at the national level, there may be a
need to inject liquidity, and above all confidence, in their markets. He thought that the situation
should be handled without neglecting commitments to the poorest populations. He suggested that the
Secretariat also examine solutions that would guarantee the financing of trade for the developing
countries, in particular the small and vulnerable economies.
8.
The representative of the European Communities thanked the Secretariat for producing the
revised compilation paper which allowed all Members to take stock of the work related to SVEs on
the basis of a document that was up-to-date and factually correct. He said that while negotiations on
substance happened in various other fora, the EC continued to support the objectives of the Work
Programme on Small Economies to find appropriate solutions to the particular challenges facing
SVEs, whether in the DDA Round or through the WTO's regular work programme.
9.
The Chairman thanked all delegations for their interventions and took note of the request
made by Barbados on behalf of the SVEs complemented by El Salvador. He said that the Secretariat
would conduct the necessary consultations and report back to the next Dedicated Session.
10.
The Dedicated Session took note of all interventions.
11.
The meeting was adjourned.
__________