WT/MIN(22)/9  
 
12 June 2022  
(22-4540) Page: 1/3 
Ministerial Conference  
Twelfth Session  
Geneva, 12 -15 June 202 2 Original: English  
 
 
EAST AFRICAN COMMUNITY  
EAC TRADE MINISTERS STATEMENT ON WTO MC12  
31 May 2022  
The following communication, dated 10 June 2022, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Kenya on behalf of  the Partner States of  the East African Community.  
 
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1. We, the EAC Ministers responsible for Trade warmly welcome Dr. Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala to the 
WTO. We are delighted to welcome the first ever woman, and African Director -General to the 
WTO. We are committed to ensuring that the WTO achieves concrete results during her tenure.  
 
2. At this 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) we are confident that the WTO will demonstrate  its 
place as the rule based global trade body and provide guidance that will ensure that the 
interests of developing countries are placed at the core of the WTO programme.  
 
3. The r eform of the WTO is one of the agenda items that Ministers will discuss. For the EAC 
Partner States, our focus is to revitalize the global trade body that puts the trade interests of 
developing countries at the heart of its work programme. Specifically, th e EAC Partner States 
are keen to engage to ensure critical development components are consolidated and 
enhanced.  
 
4. In this regard, we expect the reforms to ensure that the following are maintained: consensus; 
self-designation; special and differential trea tment; and the need to maintain the two layers 
of the dispute settlement system as enshrined in the Marrakesh  Agreement . At this MC12, we 
call upon Members to agree on the scope of reforms at the WTO, while maintaining the 
GATT/WTO practices and principles .  
 
5. On Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT), EAC Partner States note that development is 
one of the fundamental aspects of the multilateral trading system anchored in the Doha 
Development Agenda (DDA). The multilateral trading system should provide a clear and 
precise policy space for developing country Members to address their development concerns, 
including industrialization. Developing country Members continue to confront many challenges 
and capacity constraints, which underscore the continued relev ance of S&DT in their favour. 
In our view, the Trade Facilitation Agreement provides a new ground -breaking  approach to 
finding a solution to the longstanding issues on S&DT.  
 
6. EAC Partner States would like to propose S&DT provisions that are precise, effect ive and 
operational and go beyond transitional period, technical assistance and capacity development. 
Moreover, it is important that transparency and notification obligations are not unduly 
burdensome or onerous.  
 
7. While it may be advisable to reflect on th e 21st-century issues, the EAC Partner States believe 
that Members should also prioritize the development aspect of the Doha Development Agenda 
(DDA)  in order to integrate the economies of the Developing and Least Developing Countries WT/MIN(22)/9  
 
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  into the global econo my. We are especially keen to see Members complete the unfinished 
business from the DDA.  
 
8. As the EAC Partner States, we note with concern the limited access and distribution of COVID -
19 vaccines which has resulted in the loss of lives and challenges faced in rebuilding our 
economies. As such,  key outcomes of the conference should be a lasting solution to ensure  
reliable and affordable COVID -19 vaccines and other lifesaving medicines. Such a solution 
should be structured in a way that takes care of our commu nities against future pandemics.  
 
9. The EAC Partner States are calling for WTO Members' commitments to establish/put in place 
a post C OVID -19 recovery program with clear implementation action plans that will support 
developing countries to recover from C OVID -19 pandemic effects.  
 
10. We recall that, the work on E -commerce has been on -going since 1998. The EAC Partner 
States are of the view that now is the time to review the moratorium on imposition of customs 
duties on electronic transmission  and assess how this moratorium has been helpful to 
developing countries, and whether the moratorium should continue.  
 
11. We are supportive of the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) issues including the statement of 
the LDC group on LDC graduation and the  accelerated accession of S outh Sudan to the WTO. 
It is in the interest of other EAC Partner  States for South Sudan to become a Member of WTO. 
The flexibilities provided to LDCs should include longer transition periods based on their 
development needs.   
 
12. On Agriculture, we call upon  all Members to  completely eliminate  all forms of distortions 
including production/domestic subsidies. These distortions should be disciplined to create a 
fair playing ground and ensure fair competition for agricultural products. The practice of 
shifting a ctionable subsidies to non -actionable subsidies where countries continue providing 
same subsidies to farmers should be disciplined/stopped.  
 
As EAC we propose that Article 6.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) should be preserved 
for developing and LDC s to pursue their rural agricultural transformations objectives.  
 
13. The EAC Partner States would like the MC12 to conclude on Public Stock Holding which would 
address the non-trade  concerns such as food security.  EAC Partner States propose the 
adoption of the peace clause as a permanent solution to Public Stockholding programmes for 
food security.  
 
14. The EAC Partner States are concerned that trade disruptions, record prices and excessive 
volatility for food and agricultural products will potentially undermine food security. This is in 
particular for those in developing countries including net food impo rting countries and the 
least developed countries who by virtue of their physical and other  capacity related challenges 
will be disproportionately affected by the crisis. This rising prices of fertilizers and associated 
trade restrictions  could have lastin g consequences for global food security in the coming years.  
 
15. We note that the Special Safeguard Mechanism is an instrument that developing countries 
would wish to address issues in  agriculture, besides addressing non -trade concerns. The EAC 
Partner State s would wish to see a clear roadmap developed at the MC12 to finalize on this 
mechanism.  
 
16. We note with concern that despite the MC10 decision to discipline export competition, 
Members have not implemented the decision to the letter. EAC Partner States call  for the 
expeditious implementation of the Nairobi commitments on export competition.  
 
17. On fisheries, EAC Partners are of the view that Members need to eliminate harmful fish 
subsidies that leads to illegal, unreported, and unregulated fishing. We would lik e Members to 
exclude artisanal/small -scale fishing from rules that would be negotiated.  EAC Partner States 
reiterate their call for support and commitment in providing special and differential treatment 
to LDCs and developing countries to boost their fishe ries sectors as contained in para 6 above.  
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  18. On emerging plurilateral initiatives including services domestic regulations, e -commerce, 
Investment Facilitation; Micro, Small and Medium -sized Enterprises (MSMEs); Women in 
Trade, EAC Partner States note that plurilateral approach is not a clear function of the WTO, 
despite the fact that some Members have shown interest because the multilateral approach 
has not yielded the expected results. Nonetheless, EAC Partner States would urge Members 
to only consider a p lurilateral approach to sort out multilateral issues, but this should not 
become the norm.  
 
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