WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/409
6 August 2001
(01-3885)
Original:  English
LDC TRADE MINISTERS' MEETING
Zanzibar, Tanzania, 22-24 July 2001
The following communication, dated 24 July, has been received from the Permanent Mission
of Tanzania.
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ZANZIBAR DECLARATION
MEETING OF THE MINISTERS RESPONS IBLE FOR TRADE OF THE LEAST
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
Zanzibar, United Republic of Tanzania
We, the Ministers responsible for trade of the Least Developed Countries, meeting in
Zanzibar, soon after the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries inBrussels with a view to adopting a common position on LDC agenda prior to the 4
th WTO Ministerial
Conference to be held in Doha from 9-13 November 2001,
Recalling various Ministerial  declarations of the LDCs made on different occasions after the
conclusion of the Uruguay Round Agreements;
Concerned  at the marginalization of LDCs in the multilateral trading system as manifested in
their insignificant share of 0.4 per cent in world trade;
Further concerned  at the slow pace in the accession process of LDCs as reflected in
the fact that not a single LDC has been able to accede to the WTO since its establishment;
Recalling the commitments  made inter alia  at Marrakesh, Singapore, Geneva and Brussels by
the international community in assisting LDCs to secure beneficial and meaningful integration into
the multilateral trading system and the global economy;
Reaffirming  the LDCs proposals contained in the Sun City (South Africa) Communiqué;
Welcoming  the recent market access initiatives in favour of the LDCs;
Determined  to reverse the marginalization of our countries in international trade and enhance
LDCs’ effective participation in the multilateral trading System:WT/L/409
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1. Call upon  all our development partners for understanding and recognition of the
special structural difficulties faced by LDCs in making them viable trading economies;
2. Agree  to take all possible steps, within our own capacities, to reverse the process of
exclusion and marginalization of LDCs in world trade;
3. Seek adequate and meaningful support from all our development partners, through:
• New and additional assistance in upgrading trade related infrastructure in the LDCs;
• Cancellation of all LDCs’ debts,
• Meeting the ODA targets, financial and technical assistance for institutional
strengthening and capacity building, essential for enhancing the level of development,reducing supply side constraints and making LDCs viable trading economies;
• Strengthening UNCTAD technical assistance and capacity building programme on
multilateral trade negotiation issues by providing additional budgetary resources in
UNCTAD regular budgetary provisions;
4. Call upon  the 4
th WTO Ministerial Conference to agree on:
• Binding commitment on duty free and quota free market access for all products from
LDCs on a secure, long term and predictable basis with realistic and flexible Rules of
Origin to match the industrial capacity of the LDCs;
• Full implementation of the commitments made in the Marrakesh Declaration and
Ministerial decisions in favour of LDCs and the Ministerial Decisions on Measuresconcerning the Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Programme on LDCs and
Net- Food Importing Developing Countries;
• Binding and full implementation of the provisions of Special and Differential
treatment, including adoption of new Special and Differential measures to take into
account problems encountered by LDCs in implementation;
• Full implementation of the commitments undertaken at the Third United Nations
Conference on the Least Developed Countries, particularly mainstreaming
Commitment Five of the Brussels Prog ramme of Action into WTO Work Programme
and the full implementation of the Integrated Framework;
• Facilitating the accession of LDCs into the WTO with a more streamlined process of
accession, under terms consistent with their development, financial and trade needsand commitments not higher than those undertaken by LDC WTO members,
including transitional periods mandated by WTO Agreements starting from the dateof accession;
• Reaffirming the right to apply the TRIPs Agreement in a way that allows member
countries to have easy access to medicines to combat HIV-AIDs, TB, Malaria and
other killer diseases;
• Further reaffirming that TRIPs Agreemen t is not interpreted in a manner that
endangers food security;WT/L/409
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• Putting technology issues in the work programme of WTO as a priority with a view to
implementing in full relevant provisions on transfer of technology before the 5th
WTO Ministerial Conference;
• Ensuring that, in view of the LDCs’ limited capacity to negotiate and undertake
further commitments, the scope of the future WTO work programme is manageableand agreed by all members by consensus,  and that any future negotiations are based
on an agenda accommodating LDCs’ interests;
5.A g r e e  to collectively present this declaration and the accompanying Negotiating
Objectives and Proposals
1 for consideration and inclusion in the decisions of the 4th WTO Ministerial
Conference;
6. Decide  to institutionalize the LDC Trade Ministers’ Meeting to take place at least
once every two years to precede the WTO Ministerial Conference;
7. Express  our profound appreciation to the Government of the United Republic of
Tanzania for hosting this Conference in Zanzibar  and thank UNCTAD and WTO secretariats for their
assistance in its preparation.
                                                     
1 Reproduced as Annex I.WT/L/409
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ANNEX I
LDCs’ Development Agenda at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference
Negotiating Objectives and Proposals of the Least Developed Countries
CONTEXT
Ministers responsible for Trade, representing the least developed countries, met in Zanzibar,
Tanzania on 24 July 2001, and agreed on common negotiating objectives for the fourth WTOMinisterial Conference to be held in Doha, Qatar, 9 to 13 November 2001.
Ministers recall and strongly reiterate their common view, as expressed in the Sun City
Communiqué adopted at the end of the co-ordinating workshop for senior advisors to ministers oftrade in LDCs in preparation of the third WTO Ministerial Conference that the key challengeconfronting the multilateral trading system is to ensure that issues of development are addresseddecisively. The promotion of development should fo rm the core business of the multilateral trading
system.
To this end, Ministers took the view that the 4
th WTO Ministerial Conference, coming as it
does soon after the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries in Brussels,should result in a clear commitment to implemen t the commitments agreed at the Brussels LDC
Conference.  With regard to WTO Agreements, the 4
th Ministerial Conference should further make
significant movement on addressing implementation issues, confirmation of the principles of specialand differential treatment and trade policy flexibility to accommodate the interests of least developedcountries and a commitment to ensuring an inclusive and transparent negotiating process, before,during and after the Doha Conference.  Furthermore, the LDC Ministers also took the view that thescope of future multilateral trade negotiations will have to take into account the inability of LDCs toparticipate effectively in negotiations on a broad agenda and implement new obligations due to thewell-known limited capacity of the LDCs.
In the light of the above well-known background, Ministers responsible for Trade of Least
Developed Countries have made the following propos als which will be brought to the WTO General
Council Meeting scheduled for 30 and 31 July 2001 and will be further pursued in the context ofpreparing for the 4
th WTO Ministerial Conference at Doha and beyond.  These negotiating proposals
are divided into four categories: market access, implementation, “built-in agenda” and new issues.Special and differential treatment being a crosscutting issue has been treated under each of thesedifferent categories as appropriate.WT/L/409
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A. MARKET ACCESS
1. Among the various efforts made at regional and multilateral levels in favour of LDCs in the
last decade, the initiative to improve market access for LDCs was first contained in the 1996Singapore Ministerial Declaration by which WTO me mbers agreed to a plan of action in favour of
LDCs. Among the stated objectives of this initiative, was that of taking positive measures, forexample, to provide duty-free market access on an autonomous basis, for products of LDCs and thusaiming at improving their overall capacity to respond to the opportunities offered by the tradingsystem.
2. While recent initiatives undertaken by major trading partners in favour of LDCs such as the
Everything But Arms and African Growth Opportu nity Act should be welcomed, further efforts
aiming at providing meaningful market access for LDCs are required to fulfill the following basicconditions:
a. Ensure security of the preferential market access through:• Establishment of a commitment that provides a contractual status to duty free and quota free
preferences through the negotiation of a new legal instrument to make market access secure, stableand predictable. Any temporary withdrawal of duty free treatment should be disciplined in a
contractual manner;
• Duty free treatment should be provided to all products. Any temporary exceptions could
provide for duty-free tariff quotas, which would be subject to an agreed phase-out programme;
• Existing S&D treatment provisions under the various WTO Agreements should be improved
in an effective manner with a view to ensuring the duty-free access is not nullified by non-tariffmeasures; and
• Technical and financial assistance to meet the cost of compliance with SPS measures and
technical standards.
b. Rules of originRules of origin requirements should be realistic and flexible to match the industrial capacity of LDCs
in order to ensure the effective and full utilisation of preferences. The rules of origin should also be
harmonised among preference-giving countries and subject to simplified customs documentation and
procedures.
B. IMPLEMENTATION
3. Within the current process of preparations for the Doha Conference, solutions to
implementation issues have become a very crucial element. As an objective to obtain a MinisterialDecision on LDCs at Doha including a comprehens ive set of measures in favour of LDCs, theWT/L/409
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following proposals are aimed at achieving substantive improvements in areas of special interest to
LDCs as far as implementation issues are concerned.
Agriculture4. Immediately implement bound duty free and quota free market access conditions to exports
originating in LDCs, which should cover all agricu lture products in their primary, semi-processed and
processed forms.
5. Implementing in a full and effective manner the Decision on Measures concerning the
possible negative effects of the reform programme on LDCs and Net Food-Importing DevelopingCountries (NFIDCs).
Services6. Full and effective implementation of Article IV of General Agreement on Trade in Services
(GATS), to strengthen LDCs’ domestic services capacity, e.g. through access to technology anddistribution channels and information networks, to en able LDCs to participate in the trade in services
in the modes of  supply and sectors of special interest to them, such as tourism, construction, transport,
etc.
7. Commitments should be made by developed countries in Mode 4, movement of natural
persons, and limitations on Mode 4 should be eliminated.  Members shall take steps so thatadministrative practices do not impede the full and effective implementation of their commitmentsunder GATS as regards the supply of services under Mode 4.
Subsidies8. The current imbalances in the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (ASCM)
should be redressed by:
• Strengthening the effectiveness of non-actionable subsidies, including those for development,
diversification and upgrading infant industries as well as to allow for freight rebate schemes to takeinto account the important role which subsidies play in the development process of LDCs;
• Modifying Annex I of the ASCM to provide LDCs the flexibility to finance their exporters,
consistent with their developmental objectives;.• Providing in Annex VII that an LDC that graduates will be excluded from the Annex only if
its GNP per capita remains above the level mentioned in the Annex for a continuous period of fouryears. Furthermore, delay in excluding a country from the annex would ensure that the increase in itsGNP per capita is not due to a temporary economic development, which in the long run cannot besustained;WT/L/409
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• Exemption from competitiveness thresholds of subsidies applied by LDCs; and
• Provision of financial resources to enable LDCs to meet their special needs, in particular with
respect to the subsidies covered by article 8.2c (green subsidies).
Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT)
9. Technical assistance should be provided to LDCs for their implementation of these
Agreements with a view to responding to the sp ecial problems faced by them.  Such technical
assistance could include, among other things, building-up capacities in the fields of accreditations,standards, metrology and certification.
10. The effective participation of LDCs in the international and regional  standards setting bodies
should be accorded priority and adequate technical assistance and financial resources should beprovided.
Textiles11. Meaningful market access improvements for LDCs should be provided so as to enable them
to prepare themselves to meet increased competition after the end of the integration process.
12.  Rules of origin requirements should be realistic and flexible to  match the industrial capacity
of LDCs in order to ensure the effective and full utilization of preferences. The rules of origin shouldalso be harmonized among preference-giving countries and subject to simplified customsdocumentation and procedures.
TRIMs13. LDCs should be exempted from the disciplines of TRIMS.
TRIPs14. The following issues are of special concern to LDCs:a. Implementation of all the provisions dealing with transfer of technology to LDCs, in
particular article 66.2, TRIPs, by providing the necessary incentives.
b. WTO members should conduct a review and monitoring process, so as to ensure a full and
effective implementation of article 66.2 of TRIPs;
c. Access to medicines and TRIPs: LDCs reaffirm the flexibility contained in the TRIPS
agreements whereby nothing should preclude the right for members to take actions in a way thatallows for easy access to medicines to combat communicable diseases in particular HIV/AIDS,tuberculosis and malaria;WT/L/409
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d. The transitional period for LDCs should be extended  to match their capacity to implement
and benefit from the TRIPs Agreement, based upon an assessment of technological capacity of LDCsby the year 2006.
e. Reaffirmation of the flexibility embodied in the TRIPs Agreement.Customs Valuation15. Transitional period provided for in Article 20 of the Agreement  on Customs Valuation should
be extended in order to allow them to acquire the necessary technical assistance and expertise to
implement the agreement, without thereby affecting their comparative advantages.
16. LDCs should also be allowed to continue their reservation concerning minimum values for a
longer period.
Anti-dumping and countervailing actions17.   As LDCs are neither able to defend their industries  against dumped and subsidized imports
nor to protect the legitimate interests of their exporters, simplified procedures for taking anti-dumpingand anti-subsidy actions should be devised for the use of LDCs.
a. The “best endeavour” provisions of Article 15 of the Agreement on Anti-Dumping (AAD)
need to be operationalized so as to impart stabil ity to the initiatives undertaken to improve market
access for LDCs.
b. An agreed interpretation of Article 5:8 of the AAD to raise the threshold for the volume of
imports from LDCs from 3 per cent to 7 per cent, and exempting them from cumulation.
c. An agreed interpretation of Article 27:10 of the ASCM to increase the threshold for imports
from LDCs from 4 per cent to 10 per cent and exempting them from cumulation.
Safeguards
18. LDCs should be exempted from all safeguards actions. LDCs that are implementing safeguard
actions should be exempted from undertaking compensatory measures.
C. BUILT-IN AGENDA
19. The current negotiations on agriculture and trade in services are mandated under the “Built-In
Agenda” of the Agreement on Agriculture and General Agreement on Trade in Services. The TRIPsAgreement also has its own built-in agenda  in the form of reviews of specific provisions.WT/L/409
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Agriculture
20. In order for LDCs to bring closer the reform process to their developmental concerns and to
capitalize on trading opportunities, the following actions are required:
a. Article 15.2 of the Agreement on Agriculture (A oA) should be maintained, so as to ensure
that LDCs shall not be required to undertake reduction commitments on domestic support, exportcompetition policies, and market access throughout the agricultural reform process.
b. Undertake steps towards immediate abolition of export subsidies for agricultural products
which are of particular export interest to LDCs, within the special sessions of the Committee onAgriculture before the review of the Second Phase in March 2002.
c. Immediately implement bound duty-free and quota-free market access conditions to exports
of LDCs, which will cover all agricultural products in their primary, semi-processed and processedforms. Such market access opportunities to LDCs should be accompanied with elimination of non-
tariff barriers against LDC exports in orde r to ensure genuine trade growth in LDCs.
d. Establish a consultative group, within relevant Committees, which will: receive requests from
LDCs for technical and financial assistance in the areas of SPS and TBT; assess each request toidentify the types of technical/financial assistance that will best meet its purposes; and identifypossible donor(s).
e. Introduce a fast-track dispute settlement mechanism for cases involving LDCs, and, where
appropriate, enable quick compensation for trade losses incurred by an LDC as a result of trademeasures found to be inconsistent with the SPS and the TBT Agreements.
f. Introduce contractual and operational provision under the TRIPs which will facilitate LDCs'
access to appropriate agricultural technologies and practices.
g. Any new commitments and measures for LDCs should ensure coherence between Bretton-
Woods conditionality and the WTO commitments.
h. Set up an inter-agency revolving fund, comprising of existing and new financing facilities as
appropriate, to facilitate adequate financing at concessional terms for LDCs and NFIDCs in times ofhigh world market prices; technical and financial assistance to LDCs and NFIDCs to improve theiragricultural productivity and infrastructure, in addition to the regular bilateral and multilateralactivities of donors in this area; review and monitoring at the regular meetings of the Committee onAgriculture of the implementation of the provisions of technical and financial assistance by bilateraland multilateral donors; provision of food aid, through the Food Aid Convention or otherwise, whollyin grant form in years of high world market prices without attachment of trade conditions.
i. Trade and production distorting domestic support measures in developed countries should
substantially and progressively reduced during the course of the reform programme.WT/L/409
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Trade in Services
21. As far as LDCs are concerned the following areas are of special interest to them:a. The structure of the GATS should be preserved, particularly the “positive” list approach,
which enables them to select the sectors, sub- sectors and mode of supply where they makecommitments;
b. Special priority shall be given to liberalization of market access in sectors and modes of
supply of export interest of LDCs, especial ly in tourism, transport and construction;
c. The negotiations in the area of emergency safeguard measures should permit LDCs to set out
the conditions under which governments can differen tiate as between foreign and domestically owned
enterprises operating in their territories;
d. The negotiations should aim at achieving a further liberalization of movement of persons
(mode 4) for LDCs on a sectoral basis and addressing issues that are impeding their market accessincluding issuance of visas, administrative procedures and lack of transparency, economic needs tests;
e. Tourism services sector is of immediate export interest to LDCs. In order to ensure trade in
this sector is taking place in a fair and competitive environment, necessary multilateral measures fordisciplining anti-competitive practices in the tourist originating countries may be required.
f. LDCs should receive recognition and credit for their autonomous liberalization.TRIPS
22.
a. Regarding Article 27.3b, the review process should clarify that plants, animals  and parts of
plants and animals, including gene sequences and biological processes for the production of plants,
animals and their parts, must not be granted patents.  A provision should be incorporated to the effectthat patents must not be granted without prior consent of the country of origin of products referred toin the paragraph above.  It should be also clarified that Members have the option to select their ownsui generis  system (appropriate national system of protection) for plant variety protection, including
recognizing traditional knowledge and the rights of farmers to use, save and exchange seeds.  The sui
generis  system can  also be in line with the OAU model law on community rights and biodiversity, the
Convention on Bio-diversity and the FAO’s International Undertaking:
b. Essential drugs included in the WHO list should be excluded from patentability.c. On geographical indications, the mandated review of 24.2 of TRIPS should encompass the
extension of the protection to other products than wines and spirits.
d. LDCs should be provided with access to genetic resources.WT/L/409
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e. There is need for legal instruments for the protection of intellectual property on genetic and
biological resources, traditional knowledge and folklore.
Accession23. Cumbersome and time consuming procedures as well as lack of clear and objective rules and
disciplines for accession negotiations pose serious difficulties for LDCs that are seeking accession.Therefore, within the spirit of the commitments undertaken in the Programme of Action for the LDCsfor the decade 2001-2010 adopted at the Third United Nations Conference on LDCs, a ministerialDecision should be adopted in Doha aimed at supp orting the efforts of all LDCs seeking to accede to
WTO which should include the following principles:
• The automatic recognition of the status of acceding LDCs, and to facilitate the LDCs
accession process by WTO members, on the basis of terms that take into account their stage ofdevelopment, the Uruguay Round Decision on Measures  in Favour of Least Developed Countries and
on the basis of special and differential treatment;
• Ensuring that the accession process is more effective and less onerous for LDCs and tailored
to their specific economic conditions, taking into consideration LDCs’ limited administrative
capacities;
• Streamlining procedures and documentation required, minimizing the number of working
party and bilateral meetings, consolidating, reduc ing and expediting Members’ exchanges with LDC
applicants to a manageable level;
• LDCs should not be subjected to obligations or commitments that go beyond what is
applicable to WTO LDC members;
• Establishing clear, simplified and fast-track procedures for the accession of LDCs that are not
yet members of the WTO;
• Providing for automatic eligibility of all acceding LDCs for all provisions on special and
differential treatment in existing WTO agreements including the same and unconditional transitionalperiods as stipulated in the respective Agreement for LDCs, counted from the date of accession;
• In view of LDCs’ special economic situation and their development, financial and trade
needs, WTO members should exercise restraint, in seeking concessions in the bilateral accession
negotiations on market access for goods and services in keeping with the letter and spirit of theprovisions of the Ministerial Decision on Measures in Favour of the Least Developed Countries;
• WTO members should seek no commitments and/or obligations from an acceding LDC as a
condition for its accession, on membership in the Plurilateral Trade Agreements and acceptance ofoptional sectoral market access, other optional legal instruments of the GATT 1994 or any other WTOAgreements;WT/L/409
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• Provide adequate and predictable technical, financial and other assistance to LDCs for their
accession process, including institutional as well as capacity building in human resources.
Capacity building and Technical Assistance24. Capacity building is at the core of needs from the LDCs in their efforts to fully and
effectively integrate into the world economy and the multilateral trading system  and should therefore
be at the core of the WTO multilateral agreements, taking into account full participation bygovernment, private sector and civil society, as well as mainstreaming trade into the povertyeradication strategies.  Pursuant to this, LDCs urge WTO members to adopt a Ministerial Decision oncapacity building and technical assistance in favour of LDCs.  Such Decision should focus and agreeinter alia  on the following urgent actions:
• Strengthening negotiating capacities of the LDCs as an essential element in integrating these
countries into the multilateral trading system.
• Strengthening technical assistance for the implementation of multilateral trade agreements in
order for LDCs to exercise their rights under the Agreement and exploit the trading opportunities andmaking such technical assistance an integral part of commitments to be taken in future tradeagreements;
• Implementing expeditiously and effectively the Integrated Framework for Trade related
Technical Assistance in favour of all LDCs, and encourage new and additional resources andcontributions to the Trust Fund  and ensure greater transparency in its implementation including the
selection of beneficiary countries, as well as ensuring that comparative advantages of participatingorganizations are fully taken into account in the implementation process;
• Urging for a significant increase in the WTO, UNCTAD and ITC, regular budget provisions
to enable planning and programming for technical assistance as well as agreeing to an increase in theregular budgets of the other IF core agencies to pr ovide for a stable and predictable funding for the
implementation of the IF;
• Urging for an increase in the extra-budgetary resources for UNCTAD to carry out in a full
and effective manner the technical assistance and capacity-building activities on WTO and trade-related issues;
• Ensuring that the implementation of the Integrated Framework is regularly monitored and
reviewed  with regular reports by the Chairman of Integrated Framework Steering Committee so as to
determine if the trade-related capacity building needs of the LDCs are being addressed and that  they
achieve satisfactory results for enhancing their ca pacity to participate in the multilateral trading
system.
• Providing technical assistance and capacity-building programmes for LDCs, in order to
address the supply side constraints including information and communication technology (ICT), forthem to take advantage of trade opportunities identified through the mainstreaming process;WT/L/409
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• Technical assistance should be provided to increase participation and negotiating capacity of
LDCs in regional trade arrangements as a step to better participate in multilateral trade negotiationsand achieve coherent negotiating objectives.
• Develop the capacity of the private sector, civil society and the research and training
institutions to enable them to formulate construc tive proposals on the context and the implementation
of trade policies that will reflect strategies for poverty reduction.
D. NEW ISSUES
Trade and investment25. In approaching the question of possible negotiations on trade and investment, an important
point to note is that least developed countries are not demandeurs  of a multilateral framework in this
area. The implications for development of a multila teral investment agreement, of whatever type,
have not been fully discussed nor understood.  Hence the study process where work is going on in the
working group has to  continue.   However, in any future work in this area, it is necessary to ensure that
the outcome will contribute to facilitating investment flows to least developed countries whilepreserving their policy space and flexibility to pursue national development objectives geared toderiving maximum contribution of such flows to the achievement of these objectives.
Trade and competition policy26. As the discussions in the Working Group on Trade and Competition Policy have not yet been
completed, it is important to finalize the working groups deliberations prior to any decision whether toformally introduce this issue on any future negotiation agenda .    This is particularly valid as most
LDCs:
• do not have competition policy, laws and institutions in place and that, in few cases these are
underdeveloped;
• lack the capacity to enforce competition law and policy; the interrelationship between
competition policy and economic development is a complex one;
• have difficulties as to the complexity of  the modalities for introducing anti-competitive
policies in "dualistic economies", characteristic of most of them;
• need to identify the content and form of tec hnical assistance to be provided to developing
countries in order to introduce and implement competition law and policy becomes an imperative.WT/L/409
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Trade and Environment
27. LDCs attach importance to the ongoing discussions in the Committee on Trade and
Environment with a view to resolving the issu es related to the interface between trade and
environment policies. They are of the view that the mandate for the current work programme shouldbe extended and emphasize that under no circumstances should environmental considerations be usedfor protectionist purposes against LDCs’ products.
Transparency in government procurement28. LDCs have yet to fully comprehend the implications of a framework on  transparency in
government procurement in the WTO, especially as to how it would affect social and economicdevelopment.
29. The issues involved are complex, and divergent views continue to exist on a great number of
issues hence the study process in the Working Group has to continue.
Trade Facilitation30. LDCs concur with the general assessment that trade facilitation measures are necessary and
beneficial and they share the view that this area does not require new rule making. Existing rules andregulations both within and outside WTO are sufficient but may require improvement and a highdegree of implementation.  In the context of the LDCs, improved facilitation would require increasedfinancial and technical assistance to narrow the technology and human resources gap that existbetween them and developed trade partners.   Hence the study process in the Working Group should
continue.
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