WT/GC/W/858  
 
9 December 2022  
(22-9194) Page: 1/2 
General Council  
19-20 December 2022  Original: English  
 
IMPLEMENTATION  OF THE MINISTERIAL DECLARATION ON THE WTO RESPONSE TO 
THE PANDEMIC AND PREPAREDNESS FOR FUTURE PANDEMICS  
COMMUNICATION FROM THE AFRICAN GROUP (ANGOLA ; BENIN;  BOTSWANA;  BURKINA FASO;  
BURUNDI; CABO VERDE;  CAMEROON;  CENTRAL  AFRICAN REPUBLIC; CHAD;  CONGO;  
CÔTE  D'IVOIRE;  DEMOCRATIC  REPUBLIC OF CONGO; DJIBOUTI;  EGYPT;  ESWATINI;  GABON; 
THE GAMBIA; GHANA;  GUINEA; GUINEA -BISSAU;  KENYA;  LESOTHO;  LIBERIA ; MADAGASCAR; 
MALAWI;  MALI; MAURITANIA; MAURITIUS;  MOROCCO; MOZAMBIQUE; N AMIBIA;  NIGER; 
NIGERIA;  RWANDA;  SENEGAL; SEYCHELLES;  SIERRA LEONE;  SOUTH AFRICA;  TANZANIA;  
TOGO; TUNISIA;  UGANDA;  ZAMBIA  AND ZIMBABWE ) 
The following communication, dated 8 December 2022, is being circulated at the request of the 
African Group.  
 
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1.  The 12th Ministerial Conference (MC12) adopted the Ministerial Declaration on the WTO 
Response to the COVID -19 pandemic and preparedness for future pandemics. The Declaration 
recognize d that global recovery remains highly divergent across the Membership, and that the 
pandemic continues to pose evolving challenges, in particular related to the possible spread of new 
variants of COVID -19 and uneven paces of vaccination . Further, supply -chain disruptions; rising 
food insecurity and concentration of supply highlights the role of the multilateral trading system in 
supporting the expansion and diversification of production of essential goods and related services 
needed for current and future pandemics, including through identifying opportunities and 
addressing barriers. Members underscore d the critical role the WTO can play in promoting inclusive 
growth including industrialization, development, and resilience.  
2.  In addition, Member s recognize d that increasing the level of global preparedness to COVID -19 
and future  pandemics  requires strengthened productive, scientific and technological capacity across 
the world. Members also acknowledged that developing solutions to public health crises beyond 
COVID -19, including those relating to HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other ep idemics, as well 
as neglected tropical diseases, and for diversifying manufacturing locations  is necessary in 
preparedness and resilience building for future pandemics .  
3.  Member s made political undertakings, identified a number of areas that require multila teral 
cooperation and solutions to ensure better preparedness, acknowledged the importance of 
experience sharing and the development of effective solutions to deal with future pandemics. In 
this regard, paragraph 23 of the Declaration contains a forward -looking agenda that the 
membership should embark on including:  
• the importance of understanding how WTO rules have supported Members during the 
COVID -19 pandemic, and their role in future pandemics.  
• the need to review and build on all the lessons learned and  the challenges experienced 
during the COVID -19 pandemic,  
• to build effective solutions in case of future pandemics including on balance of payments, 
development, export restrictions, food security, intellectual property, regulatory WT/GC/W/858  
 
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  cooperation, services, tariff classification, technology transfer, trade facilitation, and 
transparency, in an expeditious manner.  
 
4.  The General Council should call on the  relevant  WTO bodies to identify issues that fall within 
their mandates, update their agenda items to reflec t those mandates and develop work 
programmes to deliver on the forward -looking agenda in an expeditious manner as called for by 
the Ministers.  
5.  The General Council should regularly review progress made to ensure that the WTO has a 
structured approach to respond to future pandemics. It is important to learn from the experience 
of other International Organization (IOs) who are developing structured mechanisms to ensure 
better preparedness to deal with future pandemics.   
 
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