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TN/CTD/M/53  
 
5 August  2019 
(19-5061) Page: 1/3 
Committee on Trade and Development  
Fifty-Third Special Session    
 
  
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 3 APRIL  2019 
Chairperson :  Ambassador Francois Xavier Ngarambe  (Rwanda ) 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGEN DA ................................ ................................ ....................  1 
B. ELECTION OF THE CHAI RPERSON  ................................ ................................ ............  1 
C. STATEMENT BY THE CHA IRPERSON  ................................ ................................ .........  1 
D. OTHER BUSINESS  ................................ ................................ ................................ .... 3 
 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGEN DA 
1. The agenda as contained in Airgram  WTO/AIR/TN/CTD/ 5 of 20 March 2019 was adopted . 
B. ELECTION OF THE CHAIRPERSON  
2. Consequent to the  consensus reached in the consultations held by the Chair person  of 
the General Council to elect the Chair of the Special Session  of the 
Committee  on Trade  and Development  (CTD SS), Members formally agreed to appoint 
Ambassador  Dr Francois  Xavier  Ngarambe of Rwanda as the new Chairperson . 
C. STATEMENT BY THE CHA IRPERSON  
3. Taking up agenda item C, t he incoming Chairperson made a brief statement. He said that , 
despite all the hard work in the past years, the negotiations in the Special Session were at an 
impasse. Positions had remained entrenched and efforts to find common ground had failed. There 
had been no deliverables on Special and Differential Treatment (S&D) for a long time.  He added 
that Members needed  to do some soul -searching and introspection on ways to extricate 
themselves from an exercise where time and resources were being spent.  
4. The Chairperson  stated that at  the Buenos Aires  Ministerial Conference,  Ministers had 
engaged in a broad debate on trade and development and  pointed towards exploring other options 
that could potentially facilitate results in this work. Since then, his predecessor had been working 
with Members to build  on where the Ministers left in Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, no headway had 
been made. His predecessor  had informed that , in her report to the TNC in December 2018,  the 
G90 was actively looking at ways to restart discussions and take forward the work in th e CTD  SS. 
The Chair's understanding was that the G90 was in the process of reviewing  its proposals with a 
view to tabling a revised submission in the Special Session in the near future . Once the  G90 did 
this, he was  confident that Members would engage cons tructively and work towards identifying 
deliverables for the forthcoming Ministerial.  
5. Underlying the importance and urgency of timely submission of the revised proposals  as a 
prerequisite for  the resumption of work in the Special Session, he urged the proponents to do the 
needful as soon as possible , if they aspired to achieve  results  in this area  by the next Ministerial.   TN/CTD/M/53  
 
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  He acknowledged that t ranslating these thoughts into reality might seem  challenging,  but it was  
certainly not impossible. He assured Members that , in accepting the Chairmanship of th e CTD  SS, 
he was committed to do ing everything in his capacity to make the task less daunting. However, he 
added that in his  search for a possible wa y forward, he would  need Members' guidance . What he 
needed  was to listen to them so as to better understand their perspectives , and to elicit 
suggestions on how the work in the Committee should proceed , in order  to make some tangible 
progress for the forth coming Ministerial in June next year.  
6. The Chair  announced that  in the following weeks , he would  begin a process of informal 
consultations with Members in different formats. He indicated his preference to begin with  bilateral 
meetings  and encourage d delegation s to contact him directly or through the Secretariat to share 
their perspective. The Chair added  that he held the principles of transparency and inclusiveness in 
the highest regard and his way of working would  always be open to all.  
7. The Chair sa id that after addressing the last agenda item, "Other Business" , he would switch 
to informal mode to allow Members to express their views on the way forward . 
8. The representative of South Africa  said that her delegation was  proud to see the 
Ambassador of Rwa nda Chair  take up this important role . Historically, Africa has been a key player 
in the establishment of the CTD  SS and  paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration . The 
African Union’s Agenda 2063 – "The Africa We Want " also recognized development as a core 
objective of the multilateral trading system and it  remain ed as the number one priority  for this 
constituency.   
9. The representative  reaffirmed her country's position that the provisions for S&D remain ed an 
integral part of existing and future WTO Agreements.  She also stated that  South Africa  remained 
committed to work with Members to advance the work in the CTD  SS, in accordance with 
paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and the Decision adopted by the General Council 
on 1 Aug ust 2004 . Her country was looking forward to working with the Chair  and all Members.  
10. Speaking on behalf of the LDCs, t he representative of Chad stated, that his country  attache d 
great importance to S&D as part of the formulation  and implementation  of WTO international trade 
rules. His constituency had peculiar deficiencies in terms of implementation capacities, the level of 
economic, institutional, social, financial and technological development and hence , needed special 
flexibilities  to better integrate into the Multilateral Trading System ( MTS). He also stated that the 
pursuit of S&D for LDCs as part of the formulation and implementation of WTO rules was not an 
end in itself. It was meant to enable these countries to achieve a real p ositive dynamic of 
integration into world trade, and to allow them to benefit from a greater share of international 
trade growth. This was a reality WTO Members had recognized and agreed upon at the creation of 
the WTO and the establishment of the Marrakes h Agreement. This principle of making positive 
efforts to integrate developing countries , in particular , the least developed among them into world 
trade was the very foundation of the WTO.  
11. This principle was subsequently enshrined in  the Doha Declarati on, in paragraph 44, which 
stated that the S &D provisions were an integral part of the WTO Agreements, that Members would  
take into account the concerns expressed regarding their implementation , and that they should  be 
reviewed with a view to strengthening  them and making them precise, effective and operational.   
The LDC s attache d great  importance to these principles and advocate d for S&D in the WTO that 
promote d their structural transformation, industrialization, diversification, economic development 
and implementation of rules based on their capacities . 
12. The representative of Jamaica , on behalf of the ACP  Group  (African, Caribbean and Pacific 
Group  of States ), said that the CTD  SS had an essential role to play for developing countries and 
LDCs in the WTO. She assured the Chair of the ACP's confidence in his abilities to take on this very 
difficult task and s tated that  he could count on the Group's support.  
13. The representative of China  stated that his country sincerely hoped that under the Chair's 
leadership the CTD  SS could have a shift in gear, so that something tenable could be achieved at 
the next Ministerial Conference . Assuring the Chair of China's support , he recalled that the 
Special  Session  had a n explicit mandate which must be respect ed by Members.   TN/CTD/M/53  
 
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  China firmly believed that S&D was an integral part of the WTO rules - a general principle applying 
to all developing countries and LDCs in particular.  
14. Making an intervention on behalf of the African Group, t he representative of Camero on said 
that the Chair could count on the support of the African Group in advancing the work in the 
CTD SS. Paragraph 44 of the Doha Declaration provided  a clear mandate  to find an effective and 
operational solution to the concerns raised on the effectiven ess of S&D provisions , in order to allow 
beneficiary countries to integrate effectively in the global economy  and to mitigate the difficulties 
they faced.  
15. He recalled that  the African Group , along with the G90 , had tabled  ten S&D proposals to  
facilitate and promote the objectives set forth for industrialization, diversification and structural 
adjustment in their economies.  These proposals included, inter alia , among others,  the 
TRIMS  Agreement, GATT Articles XVIII (a) and (c), the  SPS and TBT Agreements , and the 
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures.  To date, it has not been possible to make 
effective progress  and develop  consensus on any  one of these proposals . The African Group 
believed  that it was in the general int erest of this institution to develop a consensus in finding 
concrete solutions to the trade difficulties th at its weaker Members faced.  The representative said 
that the African Group was open to working with all Members , and particularly with the G90 , to 
table concrete proposals very soon. The African Group reaffirmed its commitment to listen to the 
inputs and comments from Members  to find effective, operational and pragmatic solutions to the 
proposals.  
16. The representative of Norway  said that the previous round of negotiations had been difficult , 
but there had been some hope at the end of Ambassador Tan's period as Chair, particularly in the 
meetings in small groups, where Members seemed to have interacted more genuinely and 
positively.  
17. The rep resentative of Japan  stated that d evelopment  and S&D is one of the most important 
issues and also one of the biggest challenges that Members  faced today at the WTO. Japan ha d 
been engaged in the discussion s in a constructive manner in the past  and looked forward to 
working positively with the Chair . 
18. The representative of  the Russia n Federation  stated that the meetings in small groups had 
been useful because Members had been able to express themselves more freely, but at the same 
time, since the groups w ere separated, there had been a lack of information and access to what 
had happened in the other groups. Therefore,  his delegation  welcomed the Chair's words on 
transparency and inclusiveness. Development had a pivotal place in the WTO  rules. No doubt, the  
Membership was faced with challenging time s, as wide differences remained in perceptions  about 
the concept of development and how to achieve it.  The representative assured the Chair that the 
Russian Federation  was ready to work closely with Members to advance the work in the 
Special  Session.  
19. The representative of Trinidad and Tobago  stated that d evelopment , especially  the S&D, 
continued to be important to Trinidad and Tobago as a developing country.  
D. OTHE R BUSINESS  
20. No Member had raised any issue under this item. 
 
21. The Chair  thanked Members for attending today's meeting. He hoped that over the coming 
weeks Members would work constructively in advancing  the work in the CTD  SS. 
 
22. The meeting was closed . 
 
 
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