RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
2 August 2004  
 
(04-3293) 
Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries 
Thirty-Seventh Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 7 JUNE 2004 
 
Chairperson:  Ambassador Ian de Jong (Netherlands)  
 
 
Subjects discussed : 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA ........................................................................................................1  
B. WTO  WORK PROGRAMME FOR LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (LDC S) .................................1  
(i) Accession of LDCs .............................................................................................................. ........1  
(ii) Market Access  for LDCs ......................................................................................................... ....4 
(iii) Trade-related Technical Assistance fo r LDCs............................................................................6  
C. OTHER BUSINESS ......................................................................................................................11  
 
 A. A
DOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The Chairman  formally welcomed Nepal as a full WTO Member.  He hoped the 
Sub-Committee would be welcoming other LD Cs as WTO Members in the near future. 
2. The Sub-Committee adopted  the proposed agenda contained in document WTO/AIR/2311. 
B. WTO  WORK PROGRAMME FOR LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (LDC S) 
3. The Chairman  said that he intended to build on past work and to focus attention on three 
important elements of the Work Programme, namely:  accession of LDCs;  market access for LDCs;  
and trade-related technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives for LDCs.   
(i) Accession of LDCs  
4. The Chairman  said that in line with the Doha Ministerial Declaration, the LDC Work 
Programme and the subsequent adoption of th e Guidelines on Accession for LDCs, Members had 
continued to attach priority to the accession of LDCs.  At the 36th Session of the Sub-Committee on 
Least-Developed Countries, the Secretariat was requ ested to prepare a note on "Technical Assistance 
for Acceding LDCs".  He invited the Secretariat to introduce the document  to the Sub-Committee. 
5. The representative of the Secretariat  said that eight LDCs were in the process of accession, 
namely Bhutan, Cape Verde, Ethiopia, Lao PDR,  Samoa, Sudan, Vanuatu and Yemen.  These 
countries were faced with the challenging task of putting into place the WTO-related legal and 
enforcement structure.  Technical assistance was, ther efore, of critical importance.  He said that the 
Secretariat note contained in document WT/COM TD/LDC/W/32, provided a brief overview of the 
type of technical assistance required to assist LDCs in their accession process.  It also included a non-exhaustive summary of the type of technical ass istance offered by the WTO Secretariat, by WTO WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
Page 2  
 
Members and other international organizations.  He  said the section on the assistance offered by the 
WTO Secretariat showed there had been a signifi cant increase in the number of technical assistance 
activities for acceding LDCs since the launch of the Doha Development Agenda.  The increase was in 
response to paragraph 42 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration which instructed the Secretariat to 
reflect the priority of LDCs' accession in the annua l technical assistance plan s.  The Secretariat note 
also recognized that the WTO could not, on its own, meet all the challenges facing acceding LDCs.  
In that regard, mention was made of the Integrat ed Framework (IF) and the need for the Diagnostic 
Trade Integration Study (DTIS) of an acceding LD C to have a strong accession component that would 
include an in-depth assessment of institutional and le gislative needs related to the accession process.  
He continued by saying that apart from the IF , a number of organizations individually provided 
technical assistance to acceding LDCs.  He emphasi sed that the information contained in the section 
on country-specific technical assistance was not e xhaustive and was based largely on the WTO/OECD 
database.   
6. The representative of Canada
 welcomed the Secretariat note.  The note was useful and 
showed that coherence and co-ordination amongst in ternational organizations was increasing.  She 
said country ownership and effective co-ordinatio n amongst Ministries in government, between the 
governments and the private sectors, as well as betwee n recipient governments and the donor agencies 
were important. 
7. The representative of Nepal  thanked the Chairman for having welcomed Nepal as a new 
Member.  He said his delegation was aware that LDCs were the weakest members of the global community.  LDCs were characterised by poor in frastructure and low level of economic development 
and had not been able to fully reap the benefits of  globalization.  The increased marginalization of the 
LDCs in the process of globalization was a major con cern to all.  He said that there was an urgent 
need to help LDCs integrate into the multilatera l trading system.  The Sub-Committee on LDCs could 
be instrumental in providing LDCs with a level pl aying field in international trade by easing their 
accession to the WTO, by increasing market access oppor tunities for their products and by addressing 
their supply-side capacity-building needs.  On acces sion, he believed the Secretariat note underscored 
the increasing need and importance of technical assistance for LDCs and provided a summary on the state-of-play of acceding countries.  Nepal, a recen tly acceded country, supported the view that the 
accession process for LDCs should be simple, less onerous and cost-effective.  His delegation was 
pleased to see in the note that a number of countri es were expected to comp lete the process towards 
the end of the year.  He hoped that the guidelin es adopted by the General Council would be fully 
adhered to in order to accelerate the accession proc ess.  He emphasised the need for enhanced and 
focused technical assistance in  the post-accession period for countries like Nepal and Cambodia so as 
to enable them to fulfil their accession commit ments.  As a newly acceded LDC, Nepal looked 
forward to having substantial assistance from Member  countries and international organizations in 
order to duly fulfil its commitments as well as to ma intain sustained capacity for dealing with future 
implications of commitments undertaken.  He said that market access was another area where LDCs 
needed assistance.  His delegation was thankful to the recent Australian and Canadian initiatives 
which provided duty-free and quota-free access for products of LDCs.  In order to ensure 
sustainability and predictability, his delegati on continued to look forward to having binding 
arrangements for duty-free and quota-free market access for all products of LDCs from Member countries.  This would provide a solid basis for th e exports of LDCs.  He said that no country could 
survive and prosper without building supply-side capacity in a sustainable way.  His delegation 
appreciated the detailed analysis by the Secretariat in its note on Assistance to Address Supply-Side Constraints which had reviewed a number of related issues.  Addressing supply-side constraints was important in order for LDCs to make use of market  access initiatives.  He thought that the removal of 
the supply-side bottlenecks was the key to the mean ingful integration of the LDCs into the global 
economy.  The issue of supply-side constraint s should be addressed within a comprehensive 
framework and it deserved a sustained focus by the international community.  There was an urgent 
need for the international community to generate  an enhanced level of resources through advocacy 
and coherence so that programmes addressing supply- side constraints could be implemented.  The  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
 Page 3 
 
 
WTO, as a primary organization dealing with the comprehensive aspects of trade, could and should 
play an important role in helping the LDCs to de velop their supply-side capacities.  He thanked the 
WTO Secretariat for the technical assistance re ceived which had focused on seminars to train 
officials.  He said that at the bilateral level,  Nepal's continuous requests for specific technical 
assistance in some technical areas like SPS, TBT, and Customs Valuation, had yet to materialize.  On 
the Integrated Framework, Nepal had complete d the DTIS in 2003 and was in the process of 
implementing Window II projects.  He said that it  would be difficult for Nepal to fulfil all its 
commitment without having substantial technical assistance.  The nature of technical assistance 
received so far was generally limited to training and c onsultancy.  He said that Nepal needed technical 
assistance in trade-related support services and requ ested Members and international agencies to 
consider Nepal's difficulties in the context of their accession commitments.  
8. The representative of Djibouti  welcomed Nepal as a full Member of WTO.  He emphasised 
the importance of co-ordination in the delivery of  technical assistance for acceding LDCs and said 
that the WTO could not, on its own, meet the chal lenges facing acceding LDCs.  He encouraged the 
Secretariat to co-ordinate with the other IF ag encies such as UNCTAD, to facilitate the accession of 
LDCs.   
9. The representative of the European Communities  welcomed the presence of Nepal as a full 
Member.  The Secretariat's note was useful and his de legation shared much of the analysis and points 
made in it.  His delegation agreed with the point  made in the note that acceding governments have the 
primary role of establishing their priorities and n eeds in respect of the technical assistance required 
from the international community and the WTO.  The IF was one vehicle for supporting the accession 
process through the mainstreaming of trade in the national development strategies.  The IF had made 
an important contribution to the accession process of Cambodia and Nepal.  He suggested that 
Cambodia and Nepal could be used as informal case- studies for other countries that were still in the 
process of accession.  He agreed with the Secretaria t that the survey of technical assistance activities 
contained in the note was not exhaustive as it was ba sed on the database which was at times outdated.  
There were a number of activities mentioned whic h were associated with either the European 
Communities or individual member states.  He said th at although there were a number of other recent 
activities which had not yet been reflected in the da tabase, the Secretariat note did not need to be 
comprehensive by providing a full list of all the activities.   
10. The representative of Benin  congratulated the delegation of Nepal on its accession and 
thanked the Secretariat of the WTO and bilateral and multilateral partners for helping the LDCs in 
their efforts to become better involved in world tr ade.  He said that the technical assistance activities 
provided to acceding LDCs were important in terms of understanding the rules and principles of the 
WTO.  He encouraged the WTO Secretariat and bilate ral and multilateral partners to continue to assist 
the LDCs.  The Secretariat and bilateral and multilate ral partners should continue to assist LDCs that 
did not have representation in Geneva.  He underscore d the importance of evaluating the progress 
made in each acceding country and to  identify any shortcomings.   
11. The representative of the United States  welcomed Nepal as a full Member.  She said the 
Secretariat note provided an overview of the tec hnical assistance activities for acceding LDCs and 
that it might be useful to have regular updates on th e note.  She agreed with the representative of the 
European Communities on the need to learn from the experiences of Cambodia and Nepal.  She said 
the United States had significantly increased its assi stance to acceding LDCs and had established an 
aid project focused on WTO accession.  Cape Verd e was the first country to benefit from the new 
project and a resident adviser had been appointed to  work with the Government since February 2003.  
In the last two years, almost a million dollars wo rth of technical assistance had been spent on 
accession-related activities in Cape Ve rde, enabling Cape Verde to par ticipate in and prepare for its 
accession process.  She said the United States was al so providing support to other LDCs such as 
Yemen and Ethiopia.  The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) participated 
in a World Bank team assessment on capacity-build ing in April 2004 and was in the process of WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
Page 4  
 
planning specific trade capacity-building activities in  consultation with the Government of Ethiopia.  
In the context of the need for assistance on the post-accession for LDCs, she said her delegation was 
committed to working with Nepal and other new LD C Members.  She sought clarification from the 
representative of Nepal on what was meant by the term "trade-related support services". 
12. The representative of the Secretariat
, said the IF was addressing the issue of co-ordination in 
the delivery of technical assistance and explained th at there were four LDCs in the accession process 
which were benefiting from the IF, namely Ethiopia, Lao PDR, Sudan and Yemen.  The DTISs of these countries contain chapters on the accession process.  He said that the IF was the main instrument 
for addressing the technical assistance needs of LD Cs including those in the process of accession.  He 
asked the representative of the Eu ropean Communities to include in  the WTO/OECD database their 
recent accession-related activities.   
13. The representative of Djibouti
 said the IF was one instrument to help LDCs’ integration into 
the international trading system and that work should be harmonized and co-ordinated among the six 
organizations which had different areas of competen ce.  He reported that a meeting on co-ordination 
within the context of the IF had been held in Djibouti.   
14. The Chairman  said continued targeted technical assistance and capacity-building were 
important in order to assist LDCs in their accession process.  It was necessary to continue to ensure 
that all technical assistance wa s well co-ordinated among acceding governments, Member countries 
and other organizations.  Technical assistance for acc eding LDCs would continue to be discussed in 
future sessions of the Sub-Committee.   
15. The Chairman  proposed that the Sub-Committee take note  of the Secretariat document 
contained in WT/COMTD/LDC/W/32 and of the statements made. 
 16. It was so agreed
.  
(ii) Market Access for LDCs 
17. The Chairman  said several Members, on an autonomous basis, had accorded preferential 
market access to LDCs.  Members had also notified new or modified measures affecting market 
access for LDCs.  That was in line with paragraph 42 of the Doha Declaration, where Ministers 
committed themselves to the objective of "duty-free and quota-free access" for LDCs and agreed "to 
consider additional measures for progressive improvements in market access for LDCs."  He said that at the 36
th Session of the Sub-Committee, the Notification by Australia contained in 
WT/COMTD/N/18 was discussed and some Members had raised some questions.  At that meeting, he 
had proposed that the representative of Australia r espond in writing or at future meetings of the 
Sub-Committee.   
18. The representative of Australia  said she had intended to distribute answers to the questions 
posed by the representatives of Bangladesh, Nepal and Switzerland, but had received the document 
late.  She had given a hard copy of the document to  the delegations of Banglad esh, Nepal, Switzerland 
and the Secretariat and that she would forward the electronic copy of the document  to the Secretariat 
for distribution to all Members of the Sub-Committee.  
19. The Chairman  recalled that Canada's notification in document WT/COMTD/N/15 had been 
discussed in previous sessions of the Sub-Committee.  Canada had notified the Committee on Trade and Development of some changes to its  notification as contained in document 
WT/COMTD/N/15/Add.2.   
20. The representative of Canada said that  the m odification had two parts, one was the extension 
of the General Preferential Tariff (GPT) and Least-Developed Country Tariff (LDCT) scheme;  the  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
 Page 5 
 
 
other was on changes to the list of beneficiary countries for the GPT and the LDCT.  Canada had 
extended the GPT and the LDCT for a further ten years,  to 30 June 2014.  She said that regarding the 
changes to the list of beneficiary countries, effe ctive 30 May 2002, Senegal had been designated as a 
LDCT beneficiary country.  Effective 24 July 2003, Mongolia had been designated as a GPT 
beneficiary country.  She explained that Canada  had withdrawn entitlement to the GPT scheme from 
the ten countries that had acceded to the European Union.   
21. The representative of Switzerland  said there had been some recent developments concerning 
his country's Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) in favour of LDCs .  His delegation would 
notify Members of the changes to its notificati on contained in document WT/COMTD/N/7/Add.1.   
22. The Chairman  proposed that the Sub-Committee take note  of the notifications by Australia 
and Canada and of the statements made.  He also  proposed that the record of the discussions on 
market access notifications be forwarded to the CTD in order to fulfil the Sub-Committee’s duty of 
reporting back. 
23. It was so agreed . 
24. The Chairman  said that as part of the LDC Work Programme, the Sub-Committee was to 
annually review market access improvements for LDCs undertaken by the Members including the 
identification of reported market access barriers and products in the markets of interest to LDCs.  The 
annual reviews were based on factual studies by th e Secretariat and the next market access study 
would be considered at the 38th Session of the Sub- Committee.  He invited the Secretariat to provide 
an outline of the paper.   
25. The representative of the Secretariat   explained that the main reason for briefing Members on 
the next market access study was to request da ta.  The previous studies were contained in 
WT/COMTD/LDC/W/28 and WT/COMTD/LDC/W/31.  He said that the structure of the next study 
would remain the same with the first part of the study focusing on export performance of LDCs, 
including the types of products exported by LDCs. The study would also focus on preference utilisation and the Secretariat would seek certain data  from Members.  First, data on tariff preferences 
and especially data which take into account the lat est improvements in market access.  Second, there 
was a difference between the latest tariff data available in the IDB and recent improvements for market access.  He asked Members to submit the da ta directly to the Secretariat, and also sought 
updated data from those developing countries whic h granted preferential market access to LDCs 
under the 1998 Waiver.  The third type of data re quired was customs data which some preference 
granting countries had made publicly available.  He explained that the Secretariat would meet with the 
LDC Group to also get their market access data.  
26. The representative of Zambia
 said his delegation had found the last market access study 
useful.  He said there was a need for some recommendations on how to effectively utilise the 
preferences rather than just identifying the pr oblems.  In order for LDCs to benefit from the 
preferences, it was important to bind market access, make the rules of origin flexible and address SPS 
measures.  
27. The representative of Nepal  said that his delegation was pleased that the representative of the 
United States had expressed her delegation’s commi tment to work with Nepal in the post-accession 
process.  Nepal needed assistance in the areas of SPS and TBT.  
28. The representative of Djibouti  asked whether the Secretariat could make an assessment of the 
technical barriers and obstacles affecti ng the export of products from LDCs.   
29. The representative of Canada , in response to the points ra ised by the representative of 
Zambia, said that it was not within the mandate of the Secretariat to speculate and hypothesise.  The WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
Page 6  
 
information gathered by the Secretariat could be used as a basis for discussions among Members on issues such as those raised by  the representative of Zambia. 
30. The representative of the Secretariat
 said the three issues raised by Zambia, namely binding 
market access schemes, flexible rules of origin and addressing Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures  
(SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT), were important and had been mentioned in the previous 
market access studies.  They were important in terms of determining the overall picture of market 
access.  One important point which preceded the thr ee issues was the actual extent of utilization of 
preferences.  The intention of th e study was to provide some information for debate on the extent of 
the utilization.  He said there were some new data  available online for a number of major markets and 
that it would provide a better picture of the extent of utilisation .  The ability of LDCs to access the 
preferential rate differed amongst LDCs.  The aim of  the study was to provide the data and not to 
speculate on the reasons for the differences.  The Secret ariat's mandate was to provide a factual study.   
31. The representative of the United States  asked whether the Secretariat could look at whether 
preference giving countries required LDCs to reque st duty-free access.  She said the United States' 
GSP programme required countries to request their needs in a particular form.   
32. The representative of Djibouti  asked the Secretariat about the nature of the obstacles LDCs 
face in exporting their products.   
33. The representative of the Secretariat  said the objective of the study was to identify barriers to 
market access and that the intention of the study was to identify the burdens and issues as mentioned 
by the representatives of Zambia and the United States.   
(iii) Trade-related Technical Assistance for LDCs 
34. The Chairman  said that at the 36th Session of Sub-Committee, the Secretariat was requested 
to prepare a Note on Assistance to Address Supp ly-Side Constraints.  The note, contained in 
document WT/COMTD/LDC/W/33, described some of the characteristics of LDCs' supply-side 
constraints and provided a factual analysis of how the WTO was working with other partner institutions to meet the ch allenge of addressing them.  
35. The representative of the Secretariat
 said LDCs faced a number of constraints in participating 
in international trade.  The issue of supply-side  constraints was not new to the Committee and had 
already surfaced in a number of previous discussions.  He said it was the first time that the Sub-Committee was taking up the issue under one si ngle item.  There was no common understanding 
as to what constituted supply-side constraints or those impediments affecting the capacity to produce 
and trade competitively.  It was difficult to genera lise discussion on supply-side constraints as each 
LDC confronted different situations.  He continue d by saying that most of the LDCs' supply-side 
needs went beyond the mandate of the WTO.  Ho wever, the WTO did offer technical assistance, 
which usually focused on Agreem ent-specific issues.  The WTO had also tried to respond to the 
LDCs' supply-side challenge through a number of co-operation arrangements with other institutions 
that had technical expertise and financial resources.   The note listed several of the arrangements that 
could address the supply-side concerns of LD Cs, including the coherence mandate, the Joint 
Integrated Technical Assistance Programme (JIT AP) and the IF.  In the Secretariat's view, 
co-ordination and cooperation with other regi onal and multilateral institutions, as well as with 
bilateral donors, was of utmost importance to help LDCs respond to supply-side challenges.  The note 
had dedicated considerable space to the IF.  As many had repeatedly stated, including LDC Trade 
Ministers at the meeting in Dakar, Senegal, the IF had the potential to enhance LDCs' supply-side 
capacities.  The IF offered an inst rument, the Diagnostic Trade Integration Study (DTIS), to identify 
LDCs' supply-side constraints.  With its links  to the national development plans and Poverty 
Reduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs), the IF also provi ded a platform to address those constraints with 
various parts of government and development partners.  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
 Page 7 
 
 
36. The representative of Zambia  said that as per the mandate of the WTO Secretariat, the note 
was factual, had good content and depth, and re flected the importance of addressing supply-side 
constraints in an effort to integrate the LDCs into  the multilateral trading system.  He explained that 
the WTO had a limited role to play but could assi st mainly through cooperation with organizations 
that had the mandate and capacity to address supply-side  constraints.  The issue of supply-side was an 
important developmental issue a nd should be kept on the agenda of the next session of the 
Sub-Committee.  Addressing supply-side constraints was linked to the market access opportunities that are part of the Doha Development Agenda.  Si nce most LDCs do not have the supply capacity to 
take advantage of those opportunities, the distinc tion between the WTO mandate and its limitations on 
supply-side issues was important.  The WTO ha d the capacity to address issues such as capacity-
building for rule-making, compliance and enforcemen t, and market opening.  Addressing other issues 
of supply-side constraints such as strategy formul ation, product and market development, national 
capacity-building for business and for exports, export  and product diversification and standards were 
the responsibility of the International Trade Centre (ITC).  The Secretariat paper should have included 
a section on how ITC was addressing supply-side constr aints.  The ITC’s role was key in addressing 
the supply-side issues and for that reason, it needed more funding to meet the growing needs of LDCs.  
He said that the ‘hard’ supply-side i ssues, sometimes also referred to as ‘ bricks and mortar’,  included 
elements such as infrastructure, customs, technolog y, and finance issues, which were important for 
improved trade performance of LDCs.  These areas mainly fell under the responsibility of organizations such as the World Bank, the Food a nd Agriculture Organization (FAO), and the United 
Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).   It was, therefore, important for the WTO to 
strengthen its co-ordination of activities with such organizations.  He noted that in terms of UNIDO 
and its cooperation with the WTO, particularly through the Memorandum of Understanding in which 
UNIDO would assist developing countries to respond  to the Doha market access opportunities, more 
funding was needed to assist more LDCs than the few that were included in the first phase of 
implementation.  In the context of addressing supply-side issues, there was a limit as to what the 
Secretariat could do.  Much depended on the WT O Members.  Some WTO Agreements might be 
important sources of addressing s upply-side constraints such as Article 66.2 of TRIPS and Article IV 
of GATS.  Implementation of such provisions, as well as other international commitments such as the 
UN LDC III Programme of Action and the UN Conf erence on Financing for Development, were 
important.  He added that if market access was bound, rules of origin were flexible and SPS measures 
were addressed, it might be possible for developed countries to invest in LDCs and build their supply 
capacity.  He continued by saying that in the context of the IF, implementation and follow-up to the 
post-DTIS phase had to be improved in order to c ontribute to supply-side capacity-building.  He 
added that LDCs had to take the lead role in follow-up and implementation.  Most LDC governments 
did not, however, have enough resources to respond to the supply-side challenges identified in the 
DTIS.  It was also important to involve donors in the overall IF process.   
37. The representative of Djibouti
 said that in order to have the capacity to trade a country needed 
good infrastructure such as port and communication fac ilities.  Co-ordination with organizations that 
had the capacity and mandate to addr ess supply-side constraints was im portant.  It was also important 
that such organizations had the necessary funding.   
38. The representative of Bangladesh  said the Secretariat paper on supply-side constraints 
provided a good basis for further deliberation.  LDCs  had articulated that market access alone was not 
sufficient if there was no domestic capacity or approp riate infrastructure to produce goods.  He agreed 
that the WTO’s mandate was limited, but said it was not difficult for the WTO to deliver and that it 
should, therefore, not limit its focus on rule making, implementation and market opening through 
negotiations.  As indicated in the Secretariat note, the WTO was committed to finding ways of 
addressing supply-side constraints facing LDCs.  He  said his delegation was aware of the IF’s 
limitations, such as not being able to develop ports  or build roads and bridges.  The IF was an 
instrument for LDCs' greater participation in worl d trade and LDCs had in the previous year given 
examples of the types of projects that could be funded under Window II of the IF Trust Fund.  There was scope for organizations, through the IF, to address supply-side constraints through modest WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
Page 8  
 
projects that did not involve building the infrastruct ure.  There was also scope to improve the DTIS 
which focused more on the macroeco nomic framework of LDCs and less on supply-side constraints.  
He continued by saying that his delegation was interested to hear from UNIDO and ITC, two 
organizations directly involved with addressing supply-side constraints.   
39. The representative of Canada
 thought that supply-side constr aints were vast and could be 
addressed through a number of ODA initiatives.  Supply- side constraints could not be addressed only 
through the IF and trade.  The majority of s upply-side constraints had to be addressed through a 
country’s development strategy.  It was, therefore, important to ensure that trade was included in the 
development plans and strategies.   
40. The representative of the United States  said the Secretariat note was a good basis for 
discussing supply-side constraints and that ther e were a number of reasons affecting LDCs' 
integration into the world economy, including issues of governance.  In addressing supply-side constraints, it was important to work closely with organizations such as ITC and UNIDO.  She 
estimated that about 70 per cent of the United St ates’ bilateral trade cap acity-building activities 
focused on supply-side constraints.  She emphasised th e role of the IF and the need for trade to be 
included in the national development plans.  In tegrating a trade chapter in the poverty reduction 
strategy papers was key, especially as trad e helps to generate economic growth.   
41. The representative of the European Communities
 said the definition of supply-side constraints 
was broad and that the WTO, on its own, could only  play a limited role.  The note was useful as it 
focused on areas where the WTO was contributing, name ly through partnerships with other agencies 
such as UNIDO and through joint initiatives such as  the IF and JITAP.  The European Communities 
was providing assistance based on the pr ioritised needs of beneficiary co untries.  It was important for 
countries to integrate trade-related activities within  the broader and more comprehensive development 
programmes through the IF.  He said capacity-building at the regional level was important and that the 
European Communities was undertaking a numbe r of activities as a follow-up to the Cotonou 
Agreement.  In the area of SPS and TBT, one of the recurring problems was the lack of testing 
capacity and laboratories.  Exporting countries did no t have the technical support to test and produce 
certificates.  Capacity-building at the regional level, as well as increased south-south trade should be explored as market entry requirements may be less demanding than in the more developed markets.   
42. The representative of Tanzania
 welcomed Nepal as a full Member of the WTO and recalled 
that LDC Ministers met in Dakar, Senegal on 4 a nd 5 May 2004.  The Trade Ministers adopted the 
Dakar Declaration which covered, among other issu es, the accession of LDCs , agriculture, market 
access, commodities, technical assistance and capacity-b uilding.  The Ministers were concerned that 
the LDCs’ share of the world trade had continued to be low despite the existence of a number of 
market access schemes.  LDCs were confronted wi th a number of problems and needs, in particular 
non-tariff barriers, SPS and TBT measures, rules of origin and the fluctuation of export commodity 
prices.  LDCs had a number of requests in the c ontext of IF and JITAP activities which aimed at 
addressing some of the supply-side constraints.  Collaboration with agencies such as UNCTAD and 
ITC was important, but in addition to the collaborati on with other agencies, Member states also had a 
role to play.  He explained that LDCs had elaborat ed their concerns in the Dakar Declaration and that 
the Declaration should be taken into account a nd be reflected in the Ju ly Package of the WTO 
negotiations  
43. The representative of India  also welcomed Nepal as a full Member of WTO.  He said the IF 
and JITAP programmes had common objectives and that  the Secretariat should indicate whether there 
was co-ordination between the two programmes.  
44. The representative of the Secretariat  said there had been recommendations that in those 
countries that benefited from both JITAP and the IF, there should be co-ordination including having 
one focal point for both programmes.    WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
 Page 9 
 
 
45. The representative of UNIDO  explained that the signing of  a Memorandum of Understanding 
with the WTO aimed to enhance cooperation a nd to implement a joint technical cooperation 
programme.  The programme’s objective was to in crease developing countries’ exports by removing 
supply-side constraints, by developing confor mity to technical requirements and by supporting 
integration into the multilateral trading system.  Armenia, Bolivia, Cuba, Egypt, Jordan, Kenya, 
Ghana and two LDCs, Cambodia and Mauritania, had participated in the first phase of the 
programme.  Seminars were held jointly with WT O in Cambodia, Cuba, Bolivia and Egypt during the 
first half of 2004 and others we re being organized.  UNIDO had for 35 years provided assistance to 
LDCs in their industrialisation effort.  A key in put in promoting industrialisation was assisting 
developing countries to develop their own capacities re lated to standardisation, metrology, testing, 
and quality control.  In almost a ll LDCs, the standards, metrology and testing facilities had been either 
established or upgraded by UNIDO.  He added th at recent UNIDO activities in the trade-related 
technical assistance area were included in the WTO-OECD publication on trade-related technical assistance.  UNIDO was implementing two projects funded by NORAD and benefiting Cambodia and Lao PDR.  In the South Asia region, a sim ilar NORAD funded UNIDO implemented project was 
providing assistance to Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and the Maldives.  UNIDO was also concluding a 
project with the European Union for a Quality Support programme for Bangladesh and also an 
initiative in Nepal, both planned to  be approved later in 2004.  Deve loping countries, particularly the 
LDCs were facing constraints in complying w ith the Agreements on TBT/SPS.  In Cambodia, 
UNIDO, with funding from Austria, was providi ng assistance in the TBT area.  He said the 
UNIDO/UEMOA programme launched in 2001 for the est ablishment of a system for accreditation, 
standardization and quality promotion was unde r way.  The objective was to facilitate the 
participation and access of the UEMOA countries in regional and international trade.  The 
beneficiaries of the project were Burkina Faso, Benin, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, 
Senegal and Togo.  The project was financed by th e European Union and would be completed by the 
end of 2005.  National capacity -building in all technical areas covered by the programme was 
progressing.  Technical assistance was being delivered for achieving the accreditation of analytical 
laboratories and accreditation was expected by the en d of 2004 or early 2005.  Work was progressing 
in relation to the ISO 9000 certification of arou nd 60 enterprises and a number of experts had been 
trained.  Progress had been made in the developm ent of the structures required for achieving effective 
regional cooperation in the areas of quality.  Pr ocedures for the establishment of three permanent 
regional structures within the UEMOA Commission had been approved.  These were the UEMOA 
Accreditation Secretariat, the Standardization, Cer tification and Quality Promotion Secretariat and the 
Metrology Secretariat.  In addition, UNIDO was assisting the eight UEMOA countries to establish a common standardization programme and a common lega l framework for the protection of consumers.  
He continued by saying that as agreed with UE MOA, the EU and UNIDO, an assistance project had 
begun for improving the quality of cotton fibre.  UNIDO had developed a pilot programme for 
industrial restructuring and the upgrading of some industrial sectors of the UEMOA countries.  The 
objectives of the programme were to support the pr ocess of integration, supply capacity-building, 
growth and employment of industries and to fa cilitate market access in the context of trade 
liberalization. 
46. He explained that with a financial contribution from Germany, ECOWAS and UNIDO had 
developed a programme for the seven non-UEMOA countries of ECOWAS, namely, Cape Verde, 
Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.  In the case of Sierra Leone, UNIDO 
participated in the WTO-led inter-agency trad e clinic.  The components identified for UNIDO's 
assistance and included in UNIDO's integrated pr ogramme for Sierra Leone were strengthening the 
National Bureau of Standards and the country's conf ormity assessment system.  Assistance was also 
provided with the fishery sector to overcome the EU fish ban.  A traceability scheme to comply with 
the EU food safety directives was also considered .  He said UNIDO had prepared a trade 
capacity-building programme in Yemen with empha sis on the development of productive capacities.  
The Government of Yemen had confirmed cost sh aring for the establishment of a programme to 
upgrade the competitiveness of export-oriented en terprises.  UNIDO was actively approaching other 
donors to finance that project.  In continuation of  the successful implementation of several joint WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
Page 10  
 
WTO/UNIDO seminars on the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, the WTO and UNIDO in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Indus tries of the Maldives, would organize a national 
seminar on the WTO Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures from 
28 to 29 September 2004.  At the seminar, the WTO would cover the topics related to the SPS 
Agreement, how to apply the transparency provisi ons and the dispute settlement mechanism in the 
WTO.  UNIDO would address issues related to tr ade capacity-building as well as on the infrastructure 
requirements for SPS compliance.  He said UNIDO ha d actively participated in the WTO Regional 
Workshop on cotton held in Cotonou from 23 to  24 March 2004.  UNIDO had noted the importance 
given to the cotton issue at the Third LDC Trad e Ministers Meeting in Dakar on 4 and 5 May 2004 
and was committed to cooperating in the framework of the Sectoral Initiative on cotton.  In that 
regard, UNIDO was in the process of developing a pr oposal in favour of cotton in African countries 
with a focus on trade and productive capacities.  Th e objectives of the project would be to enhance 
cotton's contribution to the economy, employment and exports in African country producers.  UNIDO was consulting with the WTO, UNCTAD and the ITC to cooperate in the project.  In collaboration 
with UNCTAD, the WTO and the ITC, UNIDO ha d organized two seminars in Africa, which 
contributed to raising awareness for an integrated  approach to trade capacity-building for LDCs.  
UNIDO provided training on TBT, SPS implications as well as trade facilitation.  The seminars were 
held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in June 2003 for seven  East African LDCs, and in Dakar, Senegal in 
October 2003 for 11 West African LDCs.  He  said UNIDO and the WTO cooperated in the 
programme for the South Asian Association of Re gional Co-operation (SAARC) and the Government 
of Bangladesh had jointly organized a workshop on th e Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade in 
Dhaka in November 2003.  Thirty high-level par ticipants from Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives and 
Nepal attended the Workshop.  UNIDO believed that a number of strategic choices needed to be made 
in order to make trade-related interventions su ccessful.  Capacity-building and export development 
had to be addressed in synergy. 
47. The representative of the World Bank
 said he recognized the role that supply-side constraints 
could play in hampering the capacity of LDCs to bene fit from international trade.  He said that most 
of the World Bank’s operational wo rk was geared towards overcoming supply-side constraints.  On 
trade-related activities, the World Bank attached gr eat importance to the IF.  Activities identified in 
the DTIS which were geared towards addressing suppl y-side constraints could be integrated into 
World Bank country assistance strategies.  The Wo rld Bank was supporting the implementation of the 
Standard and Trade Development Facility which serve d two objectives:  the first, to co-ordinate the 
delivery of technical assistance;  the second, to prov ide grants for pilot projects to build capacity in 
developing countries including LDCs.  The World Bank was increasing its activities in the area of trade facilitation and trade logistics.  A number of projects were being implemented focusing on 
customs reforms, port reforms, export developments, multi-mode transport initiatives, trade financing, 
product standards and other areas.  He said the World Bank had expanded the number of staff 
working in the area of trade facilitation and trade logi stics due to the increased demand for assistance.   
48. The representative of the ITC
 said a number of supply-side capacity-building activities had 
been undertaken in the context of the IF.  These included projects on agro processing for the Gambia, 
a project on the leather sector for Bangladesh and a project on export strategy for specific products for 
Uganda, Tanzania and Haiti.  In Cambodia, th e ITC was involved in activities focused on silk 
upgrading.  Under Window II of the IF Trust Fund, the ITC would begin to implement a project on 
the export of peaches and mushrooms for Lesotho.  The ITC saw the IF as a powerful instrument for 
assisting the LDCs in developing their products for exports.  He said the identification of priority 
supply-side constraints through the DTIS and acti on matrixes should be followed by co-ordination 
amongst donors, transparency and implementati on, and the LDCs being in the driving seat. 
49. The Chairman  said that the WTO’s mandate was limited but that a number of LDCs had 
requested the WTO to co-ordinate e fforts to address supply-side constr aints.  A number of delegations 
had pointed out that coherence a nd co-ordination of all activities and policies in the field were 
important.  He proposed that the note on supply-side constraints should remain in the agenda of the  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/37 
 Page 11 
 
 
next Session of the Sub-Committee to enable the cont ribution of other Members, in particular LDCs, 
who were not present.  He concluded the discussion by saying that addressing supply-side constraints 
remained a major challenge for all Members.  He proposed that the Sub-Committee take note  of the 
Secretariat note and of the statements made.   
50. It was so agreed .  
C. OTHER BUSINESS  
51. The Chairman  proposed that the 38th Session of the Sub-Committee be held at the end of 
October 2004. 
52. The meeting was adjourned . 
 
__________