WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/424
24 October 2001
(01-5224)
DECLARATION OF THE GROUP OF 77 AND CHINA
ON THE FOURTH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE AT DOHA, QATAR
Communication from Cuba
The following communication, dated 22 October, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Cuba, with the request that it be circulated to Members.
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1. The Group of 77 and China support  the rules-based multilateral trading system (MTS) as one of
the essential instruments for the promotion of economic development, the facilitation of developing
countries’ integration into the global economy, and the eradication of poverty worldwide. We
recognise the critical importance of the rules-based multilateral trading system and  of transparent
decision-making process in the WTO managing globalisation and reducing the scope for unilateral
actions.
2. Developing countries have a clear interest in strengthening the system in a manner that
promotes their development. In many respects multilateral rules need to be improved to become more
responsive to the trade and development interests of developing countries and to achieve equitable
objectives.
3. Due to the systemic shortfalls in the international economic and trading system, a large majority
of the developing countries have, so far, failed to accrue a share in the global economic prosperity.
Moreover, the global economic slowdown/recession is going to affect all including most seriously the
developing countries and the poorest among them.
4. In the above context, we note with great concern that the benefits of the existing multilateral
trading system continue to elude developing countries. Progress towards full liberalization in sectors
of particular interest to them is lagging behind, and significant imbalances between rights and
obligations exist in multilateral trade agreements (MTAs), as well as in conditions of market access.In this regard, the decreasing participation of developing countries in the world trade should be
urgently addressed.  Addressing these asymmetries and the development deficit should receive
primacy in all future work programmes in WTO since the key to sustained global economic growth
lies in unlocking the potential growth of developing countries. The development dimension must be
fully incorporated into the MTS.WT/L/424
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5. We express deep disappointment on the lack of any meaningful progress on implementation
issues, despite a clear consensual decision in May and December 2000 by the WTO General Council
to address and adopt decisions no later than the 4th Ministerial Meeting. We note that the developing
countries have identified 104 implementation issues which emanate from the inadequate or faulty
implementation of agreements, in letter and spirit; those arising from incorrect interpretation of theprovisions of those agreements; and those which arise from inherent asymmetries and imbalances
within the WTO agreements. We reiterate the need for full and faithful implementation and the
redressal of existing imbalances arising from the Uruguay Round Agreement, which is an important
step towards confidence building and restoring the credibility of the multilateral trading system and,
therefore must be meaningfully resolved, with urgency before the 4
th Ministerial Meeting and without
any extraneous linkages.
6. We note that the Uruguay Round Agreements have not resulted, as promised, in greater market
access to the developed countries’ markets for the exports of developing and least developed
countries. The continued existence in developed countries of tariff peaks, tariff escalations and other
non-tariff barriers such as arbitrary and complex rules of origin, technical barriers to trade, and
sanitary and phytosanitary measures used for protectionist purposes, as well as abuse of the so calledtrade remedies such as anti-dumping, countervailing duties and safeguard actions particularly in
sectors of interest for developing countries including textiles and clothing, agriculture and other agro-
industrial products has had a serious negative impact on the trade and development prospects of the
developing and least developed countries and has prevented these countries from reaping the benefits
of trade liberalization. The Ministerial Meeting in Doha should address the negative impact of thesemeasures on market access opportunities for developing countries with a view to their elimination.
7. We believe that since the Special and Differential (S&D) provisions in the existing UR
agreements, are mostly in form and not in substa nce, WTO Agreements shou ld take into account the
special development needs of developing countries, including LDCs, in a more meaningful andeffective manner and call upon developed countries to urgently undertake positive measures to
respond to the development, financial and trade needs of developing countries without reciprocal
obligations. It also needs to ensure their effective applicability in terms of the intended objectives, by
making those provisions more precise and effective. These provisions need to be legally binding and
must be operationalised and made enforceable so that these do not remain merely “best endeavour
clauses.”  The Members should agree to conclude a Framework Agreement on the S&D Provisions.
8. The on-going mandated negotiations in the areas of Agriculture and Services as well as
mandated reviews need to result in improved market access opportunities and more fair and equitable
rules for developing countries. We urge the Doha Ministerial Conference to redouble efforts in this
regard.
9. Trade in agriculture has been hitherto characterized by high levels of protection through the use
of high level of subsidies and a range of tariff and non-tariff barriers in the developed countries.
Deeply concerned by the lack of progress on the on-going mandated negotiations under article 20 of
the AoA, we stress the need for the 4
th Ministerial Conference to take the necessary decisions for
achieving the fundamental reform of agriculture, leading to its incorporation into the rules and
disciplines of the WTO, through:
• The adoption of effective modalities  for eliminating the trade and production- distorting
measures as well as the trade impeding impact of such instruments on developing countries’exports in agriculture;
• Developed countries' undertaking to eliminate tariff peaks, tariff escalations; to
substantially reduce bound tariffs; to substantially reduce domestic support; and toWT/L/424
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eliminate all forms of export subsidies. An improved differential and favourable treatment
which is operational, effective and binding, is critical to promote the development potential
of agriculture in the developing countries;
• The redressal of the inequitable nature of existing provisions of the Agreement on
Agriculture. In this regard the proposal by developing countries on “Development Box”
should be included in the provisions of a renewed and more equitable agreement as well as
other proposals made by developing countries on S&D and the concerns of single
commodity producers and SIDS. Proposals made by developing countries on non-trade
concerns namely food security and rural development shall also be addressed.   As agreed,
the appropriate mechanisms should be established to ensure the implementation of the
commitments made in the Decision on Measures in favour of Net Food importing
Developing Countries and LDCs.
10. Trade preferences remain crucial in increasing developing countries shares in international trade
and they should be meaningful and not tied to non-trade conditionalities.
11. We note with deep concern the substantial lag in the participation of  developing countries in
the trade in services. The ongoing mandated negotiations on trade in services shall be conducted on
the basis of progressive liberalization as a means to promote the economic growth of all trading
partners and the development of the developing countries.  We, therefore, re-affirm the importance of
the Guidelines and Procedures for Negotiations adopted by the Council for Trade and Services on 28th
March 2001 (document S/L/93), which shall form the basis for continuing the negotiations with a
view to achieving the objectives of the General Agreement on Trade in Services, as stipulated in the
Preamble, Article IV and Article XIX of that Agreement.
12. We consider that negotiations should make operational the provisions under the TRIPS
Agreement relating to the transfer of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users oftechnological knowledge, and seek mechanisms that allow for the disclosure of the sources of
traditional knowledge and genetic resources used in inventions, in order to achieve a fair and
equitable sharing of benefits.   In this regard, the TRIPS Agreement should be supportive of and not
run counter to the objectives and principles of the CBD with view to ensuring the protection of
biological resources and to promote disciplines to protect traditional knowledge and geneticresources.  The TRIPS review shall fully take into account the developmental dimension and during
the course of this review Members should agree not to invoke dispute settlement procedures against
the developing countries.
13. We affirm that nothing in the TRIPS agreement should prevent governments from taking
measures for protecting public health and nutrition as well as from ensuring affordable access to
essential medicines and life saving drugs in keeping with public health concerns of developingcountries.
14. We  underline the importance of the review of the Agreement on Trade Related Investment
Measures and reiterate that appropriate amendments in the TRIMs Agreement are necessary for
developing countries to enable them to pursue their goals for development and rapid industrializationincluding indigenisation. We also stress that there should be a positive approach to requests for further
extension of the transition period for developing countries under the TRIMs Agreement and in
accordance to the 8 May 2000 Decision by the General Council. We further affirm that there should
not be any expansion in the list of the measures covered by the disciplines of the TRIMs Agreement
and during the course of the review Members should agree not to invoke dispute settlementprocedures against the developing countries.WT/L/424
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15. There is an immediate need for a meaningful in tegration of the textile and clothing sector, in
view of very limited liberalization of trade, af fecting items under specific quota restraints and
meaningful increase in access possibilities for small suppliers from developing countries. Measures in
this regard should include, inter alia , accelerated liberalization through removal of restrictions in
accordance with the ATC and application of moratorium on antidumping, anti-subsidy and safeguardmeasures resorted to by industrialized countries.
16. Measures to address implementation and mandated negotiations including the review of various
WTO agreements already constitute a broad agenda for work. We recognize that issues such as trade
and investment, competition, transparency in government procurement, trade facilitation, are
important.  However, any decision to conduct negotiations on these issues in WTO should be on a
consensual basis and would need to be carefully assessed in respect of any implication on developingcountries and their capacity to engage in negotiations. Furthermore, proposals of the developing
countries to redress the development deficit in WTO must constitute first priority for any additional
negotiations.
17. We note that developing countries have highlighted some issues like trade and debt, trade and
finance and trade and transfer of technology in the preparatory process for Doha and earlier Seattle.
The establishment of mechanisms to meaningfully address these issues, which are of utmost concern
to developing countries, should be urgently considered.
18. We consider that developing countries continue to be constrained among others by limited
technical and institutional capacities to fully adapt their national laws and fulfil their obligations as
required and take full advantage of the provisions of the multilateral trade agreements. We urge
developed-country Members of the WTO to fulfil their obligations and undertakings with regard to
capacity building and other technical assistance support to developing and least developed countries
in letter and spirit. There is a need to enhance and ensure the provision of necessary resources on apredictable and regular basis and that technical cooperation activities should be funded from the
regular budget of the WTO. We call for strengthening technical assistance and capacity building
activities of WTO, the international agencies of United Nations and other relevant organizations.
Technical assistance should not be subject to conditionalities.
19. We stress the importance for all countries of consistency between national trade policies and the
multilateral trade agreements. In this regard, we reiterate our concern and call for the elimination ofthe continuing use of coercive economic measures against developing countries, through, inter alia ,
unilateral economic and trade sanctions which are in contradiction with international law, in particular
new attempts aimed at extraterritorial application of domestic law, which constitute a violation of the
United Nations Charter and of WTO rules.
20. There is an urgent need to implement the commitments undertaken in the Plan of Action
adopted at the Third United Nations Conference on the Least Developed Countries (LDC III) in
particular Commitment 5, “Enhancing the Role of Trade in Development” and Commitment 7,
“Mobilizing Financial Resources”.  There should be a binding commitment to grant LDCs duty free
and quota free access by the developed countries for their exports.
21. The developed countries should also give due regard to the interest of other developing
countries for future improved market access commitments.
22. The Integrated framework (IF) remains a viable  mandate for delivering co-ordinated trade and
trade-related technical assistance to LDCs.  The IF trust fund requires adequate funding and greater
transparency in its implementation, including the basis for selecting beneficiary countries.WT/L/424
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23. In view of the increasing marginalization of Least Developed Countries (LDCs) in world trade,
we urge the Ministerial Conference of WTO to take into account the spirit and recommendations of
the Declaration of the recently LDCs Trade Ministers Meeting held in Zanzibar, to enhance their
participation in the multilateral trading system.
24. LDC applicants for WTO membership should be allowed to accede on a fast track on the basis
of flexible agreed criteria and obligations commensurate with their stage of development and based on
the S&D treatment in favour of LDCs. The commitments of acceding LDCs should not exceed those
of LDCs currently Members of WTO.
25. We reaffirm that ILO is the competent body to set and deal with all issues relating to labour
standards. We therefore firmly oppose any linkage between trade and labour standards. We are alsoagainst the use of environmental standards as a new form of protectionism. We believe that issues
relating to such standards should be dealt with by the competent international organizations and not
by the WTO.
26. Developing concepts such as global coherence with other intergovernmental organizations like
ILO and UNEP should be cautioned against as it may be used to link trade with social and
environmental issues for protectionist purposes.
27. We stress the need to address the specific problems of small economies , which are being
increasingly marginalized in the multilateral trading system.  Therefore, the ministerial decisionshould reflect the need to address the specific problems faced by small economies and to agree on a
relevant work programme for them.
28. We also take note of the problems of the land-locked developing countries and SIDS emanating
from the constraints due to their geographical location.  Ways to address these problems should beidentified.
29. We recognize that regional and sub-regional integration amongst developing countries is
essential to reversing the process of marginalizati on and constitute a dynamic building block for their
effective participation into the multilateral trading system. However, we are concerned with RTAs,
involving developed countries, which discriminate against many developing and the least developed
countries. We, therefore, call for the elimination of tariff differentials that discriminate againstdeveloping countries in RTAs amongst the developed countries.
30. We take note of current work on enhancing coherence and complementarity amongst the
Bretton Woods institutions and the WTO, whose policies and obligations should be mutually
supportive in promoting the development objective of the MTS, especially those of developingcountries, with a view to ensuring policy consistency, improved co-ordination on technical and
financial assistance, improving foreign direct inve stment (FDI) flows, reduction of the debt burden
and eradicating poverty.  To this end, the imposition of cross conditionalities or additional conditions
on governments shall be avoided.
31. The universality of the World Trade Organization should be achieved as soon as possible in
order to strengthen the multilateral trading system.  We strongly believe that appropriate assistance
should be made available to developing countries seeking accession.  They should be offered terms
that do neither exceed nor are unrelated to the commitments of developing-country and LDC
Members of WTO.  We urge that all WTO Members refrain from placing excessive or onerousdemands on applications from developing countries.  Therefore, there is a need for a transparent,
streamlined and accelerated accession process that is in keeping with WTO rules and disciplines.WT/L/424
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32. We recognize the very extensive market access and other commitments made by the newly
acceding developing countries.  This should be taken into account in future trade negotiations.
33. We call upon the need of continuing the work program on e-commerce. We also reaffirm the
need to bridge the digital divide and eliminate all restrictions to the participation of developingcountries and to the access to modern technologies.
34. The clarification of the applicable WTO rules to Electronic Commerce will be of interest to all
Members.  Future work in this context should aim to create new opportunities for the expansion of
trade, and in particular, for greater participation in international trade on the part of developing
countries and for their small and medium sized enterprises.
35. We reiterate the need to urgently reach a decision in WTO with regard to the request for
permanent observers status that have been submitted by regional and other intergovernmental
organizations from developing countries.
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