./.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/GC/W/528 
TN/C/W/16 5 April 2004 
 
(04-1523) 
General Council  
Trade Negotiations Committee Original:   English 
 
 
 
DOHA WORK PROGRAMME ON SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL TREATMENT 
AND OUTSTANDING IMPLEMENTATION ISSUES 
 
Communication from Bangladesh (on behalf of th e LDC Group), India, Indonesia,  Mauritius 
(on behalf of the African Group) and Trini dad and Tobago (on behalf of the ACP Group) 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 31 March 2004, is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of Kenya. 
 
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The mandate 
 1. Paragraph 12 of the Doha Ministerial Decl aration lays down the mandate on outstanding 
implementation issues,  in which  the Ministers stated:  “ We attach the utmost importance
 to the 
implementation-related issues and concerns rais ed by Members and are determined to find 
appropriate solutions to them…We agree that ne gotiations on outstanding implementation issues 
shall be an integral part of the Work Programme we  are establishing, and that  agreements reached at 
an early stage in these negotiations shall be t reated in accordance with the provisions of 
paragraph 47 below.  In this regard, we shall pr oceed as follows: (a) where we provide a specific 
negotiating mandate in this Declaration, the rel evant implementation issues shall be addressed under 
that mandate; (b) the other outstanding implemen tation issue shall be addressed as a matter of 
priority by the relevant WTO bodies, which shal l report to the Trade Negotiations Committee, 
established under paragraph 46 below, by th e end of 2002 for appropriate action.”  In addition, there 
has been an additional category of implementation is sues, which have been sent for consideration to 
the relevant subsidiary bodies, in accordance w ith the Doha Decision on Implementation-Related 
Issues and Concerns.  2. In paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declar ation, Ministers reaffirmed that the provisions 
for special and differential treatment are an integral  part of the WTO Agreements.  Ministers noted the 
concerns expressed regarding their operation in addr essing specific constraints faced by developing 
countries, particularly the least-developed countri es.  Ministers endorsed the work programme on 
S&D issues  set out in paragraph 12 of the Doha D ecision on Implementation-Related Issues and 
Concerns.  The Doha mandate on S& D issues had three main elements, namely (i) to review all S&D 
provisions  with a view to strengthening them and making them more precise, effective and 
operational, (ii) to identify those S&D provisions  which should be made mandatory, and (iii) to 
consider how S&D treatment may be incorporated in to the architecture of WTO rules.  The report on 
the first two elements was to be sent to the General Council with clear recommendations for a 
decision by July 2002.  WT/GC/W/528 
TN/C/W/16 Page 2 
 
 
 State of play since Doha  
 
3. The relevant subsidiary bodies of the WT O were mandated by the Doha Ministerial 
Declaration to deliberate upon certain implem entation issues and make recommendations for 
appropriate action by the General Council/TNC by D ecember 2002.  However, there has been hardly 
any progress in the successful resolution of the im plementation and S&D issues in the period after 
Doha.  As the implementation and S&D issues ar e an integral part of the Doha Ministerial 
Declaration, the co-sponsors of this paper have been  consistently arguing that these issues will have to 
be addressed on a priority basis, as decided by the Ministers at Doha.  There was no substantive 
discussion on these issues at the Cancún Ministerial Conference.   In the post-Cancún phase too, there 
has been no discussion on the implementation and S&D issues.  
 
Way forward 
 
4. The lack of progress over the Doha mandate  on the implementation and S&D issues is a 
source of deep concern to developing countries.  Th e fulfilment of this mandate on a priority basis is 
extremely important to developing countries, pa rticularly the least developed among them.  We 
therefore believe that there is an urgent need  to agree on a work programme for resolving the 
outstanding implementation issues and to opera tionalize S&D provisions within a specified time 
frame.  The co-sponsors of this paper firmly believe  that work on all the issues pursuant to the Doha 
Work Programme should move in tandem to achieve balanced overall progress.  
 5. A clear road map with specific benchmar ks to fulfil the mandate on the outstanding 
implementation issues and S&D issues in a time bound manner is essential.  The co-sponsors of this 
paper propose that all work on S&D issues should be  dealt in CTD-SS.  We remain committed to 
engaging constructively in discussing these issues,  including the need for strengthening the 
negotiating machinery to address this important comp onent of the Doha Work Programme, and expect 
active engagement and political will from all members towards this objective.  
 
 
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