WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATION
WT/COMTD/SE/4
17 November 2005
(05-5409)
Committee on Trade and Development
Dedicated Session
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
IN DEDICATED SESSION TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL
I.
INTRODUCTION
1.
Paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration was agreed to by Ministers at the Doha
Ministerial Conference. It states:
"We agree to a work programme, under the auspices of the General Council, to
examine issues relating to the trade of small economies. The objective of this work is
to frame responses to the trade-related issues identified for the fuller integration of
small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system, and not to create a
sub-category of WTO Members. The General Council shall review the work
programme and make recommendations for action to the Fifth Session of the
Ministerial Conference."
2.
At its meeting on 1 March 2002, the General Council took note of a framework and
procedures for the conduct of the Work Programme on Small Economies.1 Paragraph 2(d) of that
document states that the "General Council shall instruct the CTD to have a programme of work on
small economies which will be conducted in dedicated sessions of the CTD".
3.
The General Council Decision of 1 August 2004 reaffirmed the mandate given at Doha by
stating that:
"The trade-related issues identified for the fuller integration of small, vulnerable
economies into the multilateral trading system, should also be addressed, without
creating a sub-category of Members, as part of a work programme, as mandated in
paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration."2
4.
Since the July 2003 Report of the Committee on Trade and Development in Dedicated
Session to the General Council,3 eight dedicated sessions of the CTD have been held on
17 October 2003, 12 May 2004, 3 November 2004, 21 February 2005, 6 April 2005, 25 May 2005,
17 October 2005 and [16 November 2005]. These meetings have, upon the request by the proponents
of the Work Programme, been scheduled to coincide as often as possible with the Geneva Week
events for non-resident WTO Members and Observers. The reports of the meetings in Dedicated
Session are contained in documents WT/COMTD/SE/M/6-11 and WT/COMTD/SE/M/12-13 (to be
issued). Since July 2003, informal meetings were held on 9 December 2004, 25 January, 11 March,
12 April and on 19, 20 and 28 October 2005.
5.
In the framework and procedures for the conduct of the Work Programme on Small
Economies, the General Council agreed that the Work Programme would be "a standing item on its
1
WT/L/447
Paragraph 1(d) in the 1 August 2004 General Council Decision in document WT/L/579
3
WT/COMTD/SE/1
2
WT/COMTD/SE/4
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agenda" and that the CTD would "report regularly to the General Council on the progress of work in
the dedicated sessions". Oral progress reports by the CTD Chairman were made at the meetings of
the General Council held on 21 October 2003, 15 and 16 December 2003, 11 February 2004, 17 and
18 May 2004, 27 July and 1 August 2004, 20 October 2004, 13 December 2004, 15 February 2005,
26 May 2005, 27 and 29 July 2005, 19 October 2005 and [1 December 2005]. These progress reports
are reflected in the minutes of those meetings, contained in documents WT/GC/M/83-88,
WT/GC/M/90, WT/GC/M/92, WT/GC/M/95, WT/GC/M/97 and WT/GC/M/98-99 (to be issued).
II.
SUBMISSIONS AND PROCEEDINGS
6.
The work of the Dedicated Sessions focused on submissions by delegations.
7.
At the Sixth Dedicated Session, Members continued their discussions on the Work
Programme. The proponents of document WT/COMTD/SE/W/3 were asked to further revise their
proposals so that work could continue at the next Dedicated Session. Paraguay, supported by
Mongolia and Bolivia, asked that specific concerns faced by landlocked developing countries be
included on the agenda of the next Dedicated Session. It was suggested that Paraguay and others
concerned about such issues indicate specific proposals for consideration at the next Dedicated
Session.
8.
For the Seventh Dedicated Session, the delegations of Bolivia, Mongolia and Paraguay
submitted a document titled "Proposals Submitted by the Landlocked Developing Countries - Work
Programme on Small Economies". The document WT/COMTD/SE/W/10 contained proposals on
how to address some of the concerns and problems affecting the trade of small, landlocked economies
and was meant to complement the proposals set out in document WT/COMTD/SE/W/3. The
proposals covered the following subjects: market access issues, tariff quotas and export
diversification, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, technical barriers to trade, some supply-side
concerns and aspects of technical assistance. Also for the Seventh Dedicated Session, the delegations
of Barbados, Fiji, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Trinidad and Tobago
submitted document WT/COMTD/SE/W/11 which proposed the grandfathering into WTO of existing
trade preferences and requested that arrangements be made to counter potential losses of trade
preferences. The proposal suggested changes to the Subsidies and Countervailing Measures
Agreement to provide greater flexibility to small economies to use subsidies to increase export
performance. Some Members believed it would be more appropriate if some aspects raised in the two
proposals were discussed in the negotiating groups on NAMA and Rules and not in the Dedicated
Session.
9.
During the Eighth Dedicated Session, discussion focussed on the momentum generated by the
General Council Decision of 1 August 2004 and the future of the Work Programme on Small
Economies, including the report of the Dedicated Session to the General Council which would be
forwarded to the Sixth Ministerial Conference. Members reiterated their commitment to engage in
substantive, results-oriented discussions in order to move forward with the mandate given in
paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.
10.
At the Ninth Dedicated Session, Chairman Ambassador C. Trevor Clarke (Barbados)
presented a proposal which tried to find solutions to the trade-related problems of small economies.
He proposed considering the use of characteristics to identify what could be accepted as small,
vulnerable economies, without naming any group of countries. He then proposed considering the
trade-related problems which could reasonably be attributed to those characteristics, without naming
any group of countries. A third step was to frame responses to those trade-related problems, without
naming any group of countries. Discussion also focussed on a new proposal (WT/COMTD/SE/W/12)
WT/COMTD/SE/4
Page 3
by 16 Members4 that attempted to follow the Chairman's proposal by identifying 17 "specific
characteristics and problems". Some Members questioned the Chair's approach and thought it
preferable to identify trade-related problems faced by small economies rather than to use
characteristics to identify them. The Chair emphasized that the Dedicated Session also consider the
impact of a combination of some of the identified characteristics, especially since it was probably not
the presence of just one characteristic that caused a problem, but their cumulation. As for some of the
remarks made concerning the appropriateness of discussing certain issues in the negotiating groups,
the Chair said he thought it useful to keep the issues of concern to small economies under review in
the Dedicated Session, especially since the aim of the Work Programme was to address issues facing
small economies in a horizontal, across the board manner.
11.
For the Tenth Dedicated Session, Members discussed in formal and informal mode document
WT/COMTD/SE/W/12 and its indicative list of 17 specific characteristics and problems of small
economies, including such elements as physical isolation and distance from main markets, minimal
share of world trade, low productivity and insufficient supply, inability to diversify production, high
transport and transit costs, difficulties in attracting foreign investment and low competitiveness. The
new Chairman, Ambassador Gomi Senadhira (Sri Lanka), proposed using a three-pronged approach
to try to classify the characteristics into the following areas: 1) where a WTO solution could be
found; 2) areas where WTO solutions may be available but would need to be combined with
assistance from other agencies; and 3) areas where a solution would be elsewhere (outside the WTO).
Some of the proponents, however, said they were not in a position to accept the clustering approach
suggested by the Chairman because this would minimize the interconnected nature of the list of
characteristics and problems. Some of the developing country Members agreed with the Chair's
proposal but noted that many of the characteristics and problems identified by the proponents were
not exclusive to small economies and were, in fact, shared by many other developing countries. They
suggested that the proponents focus on characteristics that were unique to them.
12.
A new submission was made for the Eleventh Dedicated Session by Antigua and Barbuda,
Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala,
Honduras, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Solomon Islands,
St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago. This
document, WT/COMTD/SE/W/13/Rev.1, titled "An Approach to Framing Responses to the
Trade-Related Problems of Small Economies," was meant to lay the foundations upon which the
Dedicated Session could start to frame responses to the trade-related issues and problems faced by
small economies. It offers 12 "elements of responses" which include: addressing the key interests of
small economies in the agriculture and NAMA negotiations, including special flexibilities and
economic development broadly; according special priority to small economies' services and exports;
taking decisions which would allow small economies to provide subsidies and better respond to the
needs of their small businesses; taking into account the special problems and needs of small and
vulnerable economies when deciding on new rules for regional integration schemes and addressing
the specific needs of small economies, and especially the vulnerable, landlocked countries, in the area
of technical assistance and capacity building. The proponents explained that concrete measures
identifying possible solutions would be presented at a later stage and the Chairman said he would hold
more meetings to advance the Work Programme on Small Economies. Some Members said that
responses to the specific trade-related issues presented by the proponents should not affect the trade
interests of other developing countries. They emphasized that any consideration of proposals on small
economies submitted to the negotiating and other bodies had to be done within the framework of the
mandate of the respective body.
4
Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala,
Honduras, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Sri Lanka and Trinidad and Tobago
WT/COMTD/SE/4
Page 4
13.
The Twelfth Dedicated Session was held on 17 October and Members discussed a new
proposal contained in document WT/COMTD/SE/W/14 submitted by Antigua and Barbuda,
Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala,
Honduras, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Solomon Islands,
St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago titled "Small
Economies' Report to the Committee on Trade and Development in Dedicated Session". It
recommends the continuation of the "two-track" approach in which the progress of Agreementspecific proposals tabled in the relevant negotiating and other bodies be monitored by the CTD. The
proposal contained two annexes or papers which the proponents had submitted to the negotiating
groups on agriculture and NAMA. Some Members said they agreed in principle with the two-track
approach, but that the Dedicated Session might have to come back to the issue of the characteristics
and problems of small economies because discussions on this issue had not been concluded.
Members also heard brief introductory presentations on four new proposals submitted by Antigua and
Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Fiji, Grenada, Jamaica, Mauritius, Papua New Guinea, Solomon
Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis and St. Vincent and the Grenadines in documents
WT/COMTD/SE/W/15-18. Three of these proposals concerned the creation of regional bodies which
small economies could use to report and notify obligations under the Agreement on Technical
Barriers to Trade, the Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures and the Agreement on
TRIPS. A fourth proposal concerned agreeing to new rules for accession procedures and that small,
acceding economies should only have to take on obligations commensurate with their level of
development. Members heard from the Chairman about the Dedicated Session's report to the General
Council and a possible draft text for inclusion in the Declaration for the Sixth Ministerial Conference.
14.
The Thirteenth Dedicated Session was held on 16 November and Members adopted the draft
Dedicated Session's report to the General Council in document WT/COMTD/SE/W/19/Rev.1, later
circulated as WT/COMTD/SE/4. Members also discussed in more detail the recently circulated
submissions contained in documents WT/COMTD/SE/W/15-18.
III.
FUTURE WORK
15.
Pursuant to the mandate contained in the Doha Ministerial Declaration, the General Council
Decision of 1 August 2004 and the Framework and Procedures for the Work Programme on Small
Economies, issues relating to the trade of small economies have been examined in the Dedicated
Sessions of the CTD and proposals for responses have been made. However, there is a need for
further work in order to achieve the mandate of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.
16.
The Dedicated Session of the CTD therefore proposes that the General Council recommend to
the Sixth Ministerial Conference that Ministers instruct the CTD to continue its work in Dedicated
Sessions under the overall responsibility of the General Council in accordance with the mandate
contained in the Doha Ministerial Declaration, the 1 August 2004 General Council Decision and the
Framework and Procedures of the Work Programme on Small Economies. The Dedicated Sessions
shall consider in further detail the proposals contained in the various submissions that have been
received to this date, examine any additional proposals that Members might wish to submit and,
where possible, and within its mandate, make recommendations to the General Council, on any of
these proposals. The General Council may refer any proposal, as appropriate, to relevant negotiating
and other WTO bodies to frame responses for urgent action and reporting back through the Dedicated
Session. The Dedicated Session will monitor this work with a view to helping ensure that solutions
are found to frame responses to the trade-related issues identified for the fuller integration of small,
vulnerable economies in an appropriate manner in the negotiating and other bodies.
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