WT/MIN(21)/3  
 
4 November 2021  
(21-8372) Page: 1/6 
Ministerial Conference  
Twelfth Session  
Geneva, 30 November -3 December 2021  Original: English  
 
 
OACPS MINISTERIAL DECLARATION ON THE  
TWELFTH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE  
The following communication, dated 2 November 2021, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Jamaica on behalf of the ACP Group.  
 
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Preamble  
We, Ministers of the Members of the Organi zation of the African, Caribbean and Pacific States 
(OACPS) with portfolio responsibility for World Trade Organization (WTO) affairs, meeting in 
Brussels, Belgium, on 28 October 2021, with in the framework of the preparation for the Twelfth 
WTO Ministerial Conference (MC12), to be held from 30 November to 3 December 2021 in Geneva, 
Switzerland,  
 
Recalling  the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO and reaffirming our commitment to the 
developmental mandates and issues adopted at the Ministerial Conference in Doha in 2001, as well 
as Ministerial Conferences that have followed;  
 
Reaffirming  all our Declarations communicated to the WTO during previous Ministerial Conferences;  
 
Expressing  grave concern about the long -term public health, economic, financial and trade impact 
of the COVID -19 pandemic on our member States, including the lack of equitable and fair access to 
vaccines, diagnostics and medical treatments and supplies to prevent, contain and treat the virus;  
 
Recogni zing that no country is safe until all countries are safe and are in a position to effectively 
contain the spread of the virus and its variants;  
 
Being mindful  that the pandemic has cost millions of lives, nega tively affected livelihoods and 
continues to leave the world in peril;  
 
Concerned  about the rising food prices and food insecurity as a result of the pandemic;  
 
Also concerned  that the pandemic has reversed the gains made towards our national development 
goals, and threatens the achievement of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 
by 2030, in respect of which trade plays a pivotal role;  
 
Also expressing  deep concern about the severe impact of climate change and natural disasters 
which cont inue to undermine the effective integration of OACPS Members into the global value 
chains;  
 
Further concerned  that upon reflection of our declaration at MC11 on the challenges of job 
creation, poverty, inequality and exclusion across the global economy, th e conditions in these areas 
have worsened;  
 
Noting  that OACPS Members are developing countries that are diverse in characteristics and include, 
but are not limited to, Least -Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States (SIDS), 
Small Vulnerabl e Economies (SVEs), Landlocked Developing Countries (LLDCs), Preference 
Dependent Economies (PDEs), Net Food Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs), Low Income WT/MIN(21)/3  
 
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  Countries (LICs), Middle Income Countries (MICs), Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC), Heavil y 
Indebted Middle Income Countries (HIMICs), limited commodity exporting countries, and countries 
in war, post -conflict, and post -natural disaster situations;  
 
Reaffirming that the WTO should be inclusive, transparent and rules based, and should always 
seek to accommodate the heterogeneity of its membership in the implementation of existing trade 
agreements and the negotiation of new agreements, and that effective and appropriate special and 
differential treatment for developing countries and LDCs is an int egral part of current and future 
WTO agreements;  
 
Emphasizing  the need for the WTO to ensure that its rules, on a priority basis, enable, and support 
least-developed countries and developing countries in pursuing policies to achieve industrialization, 
structural transformation and diversification and resilience of their economies, in order to raise the 
standard of living of their population, foster full employment, assist in recovery from the impact of  
climate change, the pandemic as well as facilitate OACPS Members to build back better and stronger; 
and 
 
Further emphasizing  the continued need for targeted and sustainable financial, technical and 
capacity building assistance programmes to support OACPS Members to implement their 
agreements, to  manage their trade policy reform processes, and to be able to benefit from 
opportunities presented in international trade, thereby facilitating their strategic integration into the 
global economy in a manner that advances their growth and development.  
 
We affirm  the need for WTO Ministers to use MC12 as an opportunity to further strengthen, with 
the WTO playing a central role, an inclusive, transparent, fair, consensual, rules -based and 
development -oriented multilateral trading system that results in equit able growth and development, 
taking into account the fact that the majority of WTO Members are developing countries seeking to 
increase their share in world trade  
 
In this regard,  
 
WTO 's response to the COVID -19 Pandemic  
1. We call for the decision to put the WTO in a position to, inter alia : 
 
a. aid in the availability of, and contribute to the ramping up and diversification of production 
for, COVID -19 products including vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics to prevent, treat 
and contain the spread of the virus, including addressing intellectual property rights 
related aspects.  
b. foster the Organi zation's collaboration with other international organi zations and 
stakeholders in areas that would mitigate the trade effects of the pa ndemic, especially on 
MSMEs;  
c. facilitate the WTO Secretariat 's ability to collaborate with Members to monitor pandemic -
related trade measures;  
d. preserve policy tools and create policy space to address the issue of pandemic -induced 
challenges to food and liv elihood security from a trade policy perspective;  
e. streamline its response initiative into the work programme of WTO Councils, Committees 
and Working Groups in a manner that preserves the developmental agenda and promotes 
economic resilience and recovery;  
f. collaborate with multilateral financial institutions and private sector stakeholders to ensure 
inadequate access to finance does not occasion a contraction of global trade;  
g. explore ways to address the escalating freight costs and irregular maritime transp ort 
services and, in this regard, convene a meeting of the key stakeholders, including the IMO 
and UNCTAD to discuss the current situation and frame responses; and  WT/MIN(21)/3  
 
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  h. ensure that the WTO 's experience with the COVID -19 pandemic allows for the creation of 
a blu eprint to respond to future global crises, and contribute to the resilience of the 
economies of its Members.  
Fisheries subsidies  
2. We call for the negotiation process to be transparent, equitable inclusive and take into account 
the proposals and contribution s of all WTO Members and Groups of Members, including the ACP 
Group. We reaffirm our commitment to deliver a balanced agreement on fisheries subsidies at 
MC12. We, therefore, call for an agreement on fisheries subsidies that:  
 
a. adheres to the mandate of SDG 14.6, as reaffirmed by WTO Ministers at the Eleventh 
Ministerial Conference (MC11) in Buenos Aires, Argentina, including as it relates to the 
provision of effective and appropriate special and differential treatment for developing 
countries and LDCs;  
b. recog nize that special and differential treatment is not only required for the 
implementation of the disciplines but also to provide policy space that supports 
development, and that technical assistance and capacity building should be provided 
without it being conditional on accepting specific obligations;  
c. exempts small players whose share of global fish catch is below an appropriate de minimis  
threshold from certain provisions of the Agreement;  
d. excludes subsidies for disaster relief and artisanal/small -scale fi shing, and allocation of 
licences and quotas for fishing rights;  
e. ensures that sovereign rights of Members within their maritime jurisdictions are respected, 
national judicial processes are unfettered, and Members ' right to determine national 
fisheries mana gement systems are preserved; and  
f. contains notification commitments that are proportionate to responsibility for harmful 
subsidies and IUU fishing, which do not create unnecessary burdensome obligations such 
as those which would reveal commercially sensiti ve information, and which provides longer 
compliance periods for the developing countries and LDCs.  
Agriculture  
3. We call for an outcome on agriculture that:  
 
a. facilitates substantial reduction in trade -distorting domestic support;  
b. prioritise the elimination of Final Bound Total Aggregate Measures of support, considering 
the urgent need to level the playing field for global agricultural trade, as well as to ensure 
that an agreement prevents circumvention of subsidies commitments;  
c. preserves the policy space for developing countries and LDCs under Article 6.2 of the 
Agreement on Agriculture, for them to pursue their rural development, agricultural 
transformation and livelihood objectives;  
d. addresses the subsidies, market access, tran sparency and development related concerns 
of cotton producers in developing countries and LDCs;  
e. achieves a permanent solution on public stockholding for food security purposes (PSH) 
that includes all products, has food security as its objective, covers exi sting and new 
programmes, contains requisite safeguards to prevent market distortions and appropriate 
notification commitments but with simplified formats that are easy to use for developing 
countries and LDCs, accompanied by necessary technical assistance ;  WT/MIN(21)/3  
 
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  f. delivers on a Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) that assist developing countries and 
LDCs to temporarily increase tariffs beyond their bound duties to address market 
imbalance emanating from surges in agricultural imports and price depression, and which  
does not have onerous requirements for its application when needed;  
g. removes export restrictions in respect of purchases by the World Food Programme w ith 
the understanding that the World Food Programme takes procurement decisions on the 
basis of its princi ples to "do no harm " to the supplying member and promote local and 
regional food procurement ;  
h. contains a work programme aimed at addressing issues related to tariff simplification, 
tariff escalation, preference erosion, designation of special products and unjustified non -
tariff barriers that impede the market access opportunities of developing countries and 
LDCs; and  
i. Addresses the impact of soaring food prices on NFIDCs.  
Special and differential treatment  
4. We call for an outcome on special and d ifferential treatment in line with paragraph 44 of the 
Doha Ministerial Declaration, including the agreement specific proposals put forward by the G90.  
We recall that special and differential treatment is an integral part of WTO negotiations and 
should be available to all developing countries and LDCs in existing and future WTO Agreements. 
We recogni ze the right of WTO Members to opt out of special and differential treatment 
provisions if they choose to do so.  
 
Services  
5. We call on Members to note the ACP G roup's submission JOB/SERV/305, which elaborates the 
impact of the C OVID -19 pandemic and services challenges and opportunities, especially in the 
travel, hospitality, air freight, maritime and land transport sectors. For Members of the OACPS, 
these service s sectors constitute the engine of physical trade and contribute towards enabling 
services trade in all modes of supply.  We call for the implementation of Ministerial Decision on 
Preferential Treatment to Services and Service Suppliers of Least Developed C ountries and to 
better operationalize related decisions in order to facilitate and advance LDCs ' participation in 
services.  
 
6. We call on WTO Ministers to use MC12 to:  
 
a. provide certainty that barriers are removed, including arbitrary travel advisories, which  
are not science -based, that act as barriers to tourism trade;  
b. harmonize recognition of vaccine and test certifications to avoid obstacles to movement 
of persons and travel; and  
c. consider the services sector opportunities that arose from the pandemic, speci fically 
reducing barriers to our education, ICT and creative industries professionals delivering 
through virtual means.  
WTO Reform  
7. We recogni ze that all organi zations will need to adapt to the evolving characteristics of their 
respective environment, inclu ding the broader global economic landscape. The WTO is no 
exception. We, therefore, call for a discussions relating to WTO reform. Discussions should be 
comprehensive, structured, transparent and inclusive.  
 
8. We support calls for discussions on reform in the WTO. Such a discussion should be transparent 
and must address the interest of all Members. We note the call for establishment of a working 
group on WTO Reform and call for a clear, transparent and inclusive term of reference to guide 
its work . 
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  9. We are calling for the urgent reconstitution of the Appellate Body, which is a fundamental organ 
of the WTO.  
 
10. We believe that WTO reform should:  
 
a. adhere to the principles of transparency, inclusiveness, fairness and equity in the balance 
of WTO Members ' rights and obligations;  
b. ensure the interest of developing counties and LDCs are advanced through the application 
of special and differential treatment in WTO agreements;  
c. foster greater coherence between trade and development, including an enhanced role b y 
the WTO to raise standards of living and employment, and for promoting sustainable 
development as enshrined in the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO;  
d. facilitate their inclusive growth and development, integration of OACPS countries in global 
value chains in view of increasing their participation in global trade, and facilitation of their 
movement up production value chains;  
e. enable the WTO to work efficiently and effectively through its Councils, Committees and 
Working Groups to support and accommo date the work of its heterogenous membership, 
in a manner that does not apply undue burden nor punitive measures in order to achieve 
implementation of reforms; and  
f. reaffirm and strengthen the multilateral character of the WTO.  
Accessions  
11. We urge WTO Member s to take into account the development and capacity constraints of OACPS 
Members that are pursuing accession to the WTO, and call for concessions to be commensurate 
with their size, capacity and development needs. The COVID -19 pandemic has had a negative 
impact on the accession processes of OACPS Members and we urge WTO Members to give special 
consideration in this regard.  
 
12. We urge WTO Members to adhere to the General Council's Decision of 25 July 2012 on Accession 
of LDCs operationalising the 2002 LDCs Acc ession Guidelines.   
 
Aid for Trade  
13. We call on donors to continue to support the trade capacity building efforts of all Members of 
the OACPS and ensure that Aid for Trade assistance is in the form of new funding, without 
diverting from existing bilateral assistance in other areas.  
 
Decisions in favour of LDCs  
14. We underscore the importance of LDC issues in the WTO, including the need for a longer and 
uniform transition period to assist graduated LDCs in adjusting to their post -LDC status in the 
multilateral trading system.  
 
15. We call for full implementation of previous WTO Ministerial Decisions in favour of LDCs. We call 
for an outcome at MC12 on the proposal for graduation of LDCs.  
 
Standing Agenda Items  
16. Electronic Commerce Decision  
 
a. We recall the  Decision of the General Council in December 2019 to reinvigorate the Work 
Programme on E -commerce, including structured discussion on all trade -related topics 
brought forward by Members.  These include important issues such as data localisation, 
internal t axes, data flows, source code, digital divide and infrastructure development.  WT/MIN(21)/3  
 
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  b. We recogni ze the need for further analysis on the impact of the moratorium on consumers 
and businesses as well as the impact on government revenues and digital industrial 
develop ment in our countries.  
c. We call on WTO Members to resolve the question of the moratorium by MC12.  
17. Trade -Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Non -violation Situation Complaints 
moratorium  
 
a. We urge WTO Members to make permanent the moratorium on the a pplication of 
Subparagraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994 on non -violation and situation 
complaints (NVCs) to the TRIPS Agreement.  
18. Small Economies Work Programme  
 
a. We reaffirm Paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and the Decision o f 
subsequent WTO Ministerial Conferences on the small economies work programme, and 
that due regard be given to the priorities of these economies in all areas of the negotiations 
to ensure their further integration into the multilateral trading system.  
b. We affirm that trade and climate change and natural disasters are critical to the tool box 
of elements the WTO must tackle given the vulnerabilities of our members to climate 
change and natural disasters.  
Ministerial Declaration outcome document  
19. We call on WTO Ministers to agree on an outcome document containing a clear work plan for 
decisions by the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13) on outstanding work.  
 
20. We urge the Twelfth WTO Ministerial Conference to give due consideration to this Declaration.  
 
Done in Brussels, 28 October 2021  
 
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