RESTRICTED  
  
WT/COMTD/LDC/M/75  
 
9 October 2015  
(15-5272)  Page: 1/7  
Sub-Committee on Least Developed Countries 
Seventy-Fifth Session    
 
  NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 18 SEPTEMBER 2015 
Chairperson: Ambassador Roderick Van Schreven (Netherlands) 
 
A. ADOPTION OF TH E AGENDA .................................................................................... 1  
B. ARRANGEMENTS TO FACILITATE THE PARTICIPATION OF LEAST 
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES IN THE TENTH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ....................... 2  
-  Briefing by the Secretariat ......................................................................................... 2  
C. ACCESSION OF LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ....................................................... 3  
-  State of Play in the Accession Working Parties of the Least Developed Countries: 
Oral Report by th e Secretariat ............................................................................................ 3  
-  Third China Round Table on WTO Access ions: Post-Accession – Maximizing the 
Benefits of the WTO Membership and Global Economic Integration, Dushanbe, 2-4 June 
2015 (WT/COMTD/ LDC/23) ................................................................................................ 3  
D. MARKET ACCESS FOR LEAST DEVELOPED CO UNTRIES ............................................. 5  
-  Notification by Thai land (WT/COMTD/N/46) .................................................................. 5  
E. FOLLOW-UP TO MINISTERIAL DE CISIONS/DECLAR ATIONS .................................... 6  
-  Statement by the LDC Coordinator .............................................................................. 6  
F. OTHER BUSINESS .................................................................................................... 7  
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The Chairman of the Sub-Committee on Least Developed Countries (hereinafter the "Sub-
Committee") recalled that the meeting had been tentatively scheduled for the beginning of 
July 2015, but due to a request from the LDC Grou p Coordinator (Bangladesh) to focus work on 
negotiations in July, the meeting was rescheduled after the summer break. 
2. In view of a request from the LDC Coordinator  with respect to the order of the agenda, he 
requested that Item E, "Follow-up to Ministerial Decisions/Declarations", be taken up after Item B, "Arrangement to Facilitate Participation of LDCs in the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference", in order to allow enough time for discussion of the former item. 
3. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDC Group, reiterated that the LDC 
Group had requested to have the July meeting postponed to after the summer break. He 
acknowledged the proposed changes in the order of the agenda. 
4. The Sub-Committee adopted the agenda of the meeting contained in 
WTO/AIR/COMTD/LDC/2 as amended. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/75 
 
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  B. ARRANGEMENTS TO FACILITATE THE PARTICIPATION OF LEAST DEVELOPED 
COUNTRIES IN THE TENTH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
- Briefing by the Secretariat 
5. The Chairman noted that the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference (MC10) was less than three 
months away. He said that similar to previous WTO Ministerial Conferences, the LDCs would 
receive special support for their participation in the upcoming MC10. 
6. The representative of the Secretariat, Mr. David Shark, (Deputy Director-General), also 
Chair of the WTO MC10 Task Force, briefed the Sub-Committee on arrangements being made to 
facilitate the participation of LDCs at MC10. 
7. In relation to financing LDCs to participate in the Ministerial, he said that a Trust Fund had 
been established, which could be consulted in the information document WT/BFA/W/34. Eligible 
candidates for the Trust Fund included WTO LD C Members and Observers which were up-to-date 
with their contributions to the organization as per the rules established by the General Council. Therefore, Members in Category III of arrears would not qualify for the Trust Fund. 
8. He went on to say that the Trust Fund was established to help finance three officials, i.e. one 
Minister and two delegates. It would cover one business class ticket for the Minister and two 
economy tickets for the two delegates. All bookings would be made directly by the WTO and its 
travel agency; and each participant would be contacted directly with the selected itinerary to 
finalize the booking. He informed Members that each official would also receive a per diem of 
US$100, which would be paid in cash in the local currency. No daily subsistence allowance (DSA) would be paid after MC10. He requested officials to collect their DSA in person from the 
Intercontinental Hotel between 13-14 December an d from the Kenyatta International Conference 
Centre (KICC) as of 15 December. An authorization letter should be granted and signed by the person in question if they requested someone else  to collect their DSA on their behalf. He pointed 
out that Members and Observers would be respon sible for organizing their own visas and any 
other necessary administrative procedures. Releva nt information could be consulted in document 
WT/MIN(15)/INF/3. 
9. He recalled that invitation letters had already been sent to permanent missions on 
28 August 2015. He advised LDC delegations to pay careful attention to the information and specific requirements mentioned in that invitation . He also brought to Members' attention that the 
Fourth China Round Table on Accessions would be held prior to MC10 from 13 to 14 December 
2015 and that the invitations for this activity had b een sent in conjunction with the ones for MC10. 
10. Regarding travel arrangements, he requested th e LDCs to provide the Secretariat with the 
names of beneficiary officials before the end of September so that tickets could be arranged. Due 
to tight deadlines and a large number of people tr avelling to Nairobi during December, he urged 
Members to respect the deadlines in order to ensu re a smooth booking process. Officials financed 
by the Trust Fund would arrive one day before the start of either the Minist erial Conference or the 
Fourth China Round Table. They would depart on  the last day or the day after the end of the 
Conference depending on the flights available.  
11. Funded LDC participants would be accommodated at the Serena Hotel, situated 1km from 
the KICC. The Secretariat would take care of hotel bookings for funded officials. Due to capacity 
constraints, the hotel would not be able to provide accommodation for additional officials. Upon 
arrival at the airport, a shuttle bus would take funded officials from the airport to the hotel and shuttles would be running during the Fourth China Round Table and to the KICC, where the 
Ministerial Conference would be taking place. 
12. He noted that the accreditation process would be similar to that of previous Ministerial 
Conferences. Further information on accreditation could be found in document WT/MIN(15)/INF/5. 
For more information, Members could contact registration.mc10@wto.org . All administrative and 
logistical arrangements were coordinated by Mrs. Muriel Salette-Carroz (Travel/Finance Specialist). WT/COMTD/LDC/M/75 
 
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  13. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf  of the LDC Group, expressed his sincere 
gratitude to Members for their contributions to the LDC Trust Fund. The LDCs considered this 
support valuable in facilitating their participation in WTO Ministerial meetings. 
14. The representative of the European Union under lined that the participation of LDCs in the 
WTO and MC10 remained a top priority for the EU . In this regard, she announced that the EU 
would make a contribution to the Trust Fund worth EUR 100,000. Moreover, Sweden would also be providing an additional SKr 500,000 (approximately, Sw F 60,000). 
15. The Chairman expressed the importance of LDC pa rticipation at the Ministerial Conference to 
guarantee inclusiveness of the WTO. He thanked the Secretariat and donors for their support to 
enable the participation of LDCs in MC10. He high lighted that it was the first time that the WTO 
would be holding a Ministerial Conference in Africa and he considered this encouraging, as it would 
send a strong message that Africa could play a more active role in the multilateral trading system 
(MTS). 
16. He suggested that the Sub-Committee take note of the Secretariat briefing as well as the 
statements made. 
17. It was so agreed. 
C. ACCESSION OF LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
- State of Play in the Accession Working Parties of the Least Developed Countries: Oral 
Report by the Secretariat 
- Third China Round Table on WTO Accessi ons: Post-Accession – Maximizing the 
Benefits of  WTO Membership and Global Economic Integration, Dushanbe, 
2-4 June 2015 (WT/COMTD/LDC/23) 
18. The Chairman recalled that LDC accessions was one of the core elements of the WTO Work 
Programme for LDCs. The Sub-Committee had long attached high importance to this item. He said 
that eight LDCs were at various stages of their accession process. The year 2015 had been an 
active year in terms of accession work. Seychelles became the 161st Member in April 2015 and 
Kazakhstan was expected to become the 162nd Member before MC10. Furthermore, he noted that 
Liberia was on schedule for conclusion at MC10 and Afghanistan was working towards completing 
its accession. 
19. He also noted that 2015 had witnessed some other important accession-related events. The 
Third China Round Table on WTO Accession was held in June in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, with a 
thematic focus on post-accession. The "Dushanbe Statement" was circulated to Members in 
document WT/COMTD/LDC/23. Furthermore, the Fourth China Round Table would be held in 
Nairobi just prior to MC10, with a focus on "Domestic Reforms for Competitiveness and Deeper 
Trade Integration in the Global Economy". 
20. The representative of the Secretariat (Directo r, Accessions Division) provided the state of 
play of LDCs' accessions in the WTO. At the outs et, he stated that the accession of LDCs was a 
high priority for the Director-General. Since 1995, there had been a total of 55 Accession Working 
Parties, of which 34 had been completed. Of the 34 acceded Members, seven were from LDCs and of the 21 Working Parties, eight included LDCs (Afghanistan, Bhutan, Comoros, Equatorial Guinea, 
Ethiopia, Liberia, Sao Tomé and Principe and Sudan). 
21. He recalled paragraph 42 of the Doha Declaration, which stipulated to facilitate and 
accelerate negotiations with acceding LDCs, as well as the General Council Decision in 2012, which reinforced the need to strengthen, streamline and operationalize the 2002 Guidelines for the 
accession of LDCs. 
22. Subsequently, he presented the systemic contri butions of Article XII LDC Members, as well 
as Afghanistan and Liberia, which were close to acceding. He drew attention to the high level of 
commitments taken by Article XII LDCs, which had bound either 100% or almost all of their goods 
tariffs at an average final bound rate of 23% while original LDC Members had an average binding WT/COMTD/LDC/M/75 
 
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  coverage of 54% of tariff lines with an average fi nal bound rate of 65%. He further mentioned that 
LDCs which acceded pursuant to Article XII had witnessed faster trade and GDP growth, showed better resilience in crises, increased competitiveness and presented greater attractiveness to foreign direct investment in comparison to original LDC Members. For instance, from 1995-2015, 
the average annual trade growth of Article XII LDC Members had been 10.8% as compared to 
6.8% for original WTO Members. Furthermore, th e results of accession-related domestic reforms 
were also illustrated by two Article XII Members that had graduated from LDC status; Cabo Verde 
in 2008 and Samoa in 2014. 
23. He noted that in relation to the state of play  for LDC Accessions, there were eight Accession 
Working Parties at present, three of which were eith er near conclusion or active. He drew note to 
the final Working Party meeting on the Accession of Liberia, scheduled for 6 October 2015, and 
underlined the engagement of the Director-General  to encourage and support the Government of 
Liberia, led by President, despite the Ebola crisis and other challenges. He also mentioned that the Working Party for Afghanistan was near conclusion and that a draft Accession Package had been 
circulated in March 2014. The Chief Negotiator would be in Geneva at the end of the September. 
Furthermore, the Chair of the Sub-Committee, who was also the Chairman of the Accession 
Working Party for Afghanistan, had been in close contact with Kabul to encourage the Government 
to proceed in the accession process. 
24. He informed Members that Comoros was active and was almost ready for its first Working 
Party meeting in November 2015. Furthermore Timor-Leste had submitted an application on 7 April 2015, but it was incomplete since it was excluding an annex. Similarly, South Sudan had 
submitted an application (WT/L/852) with a complete annex, which was circulated on 20 April 
2012. However, the application would not be considered until peace, growth and stability has been established in the country. Ethiopia was inactive multilaterally, but had ongoing preparatory 
activities on the domestic front. Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea and Sudan were dormant in the 
accession process, and Sao Tomé and Principe  could not proceed since it was subject to 
administrative measures.  
25. He continued by highlighting the important role of China's technical assistance and capacity 
building activities via the three-pillared Chin a's LDCs and Accessions Programme, of which two 
pillars focused on accessions (Accession Internship s and China's Round Tables). He drew attention 
to the Third China Round Table, which had taken place in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, from 2-4 June 
2015, with the theme "Maximizing the Benefits  of WTO Membership and Global Economic 
Integration". 
26. He reiterated the importance the Director-General attached to post-accession 
implementation and support, especially for LDCs . On average, an accession process lasted ten 
years, and several Article XII Members had asked for assistance for implementation of their commitments. In relation to post-accession best practices, he informed Members that it was 
difficult for acceded Members to focus on implementation since they were so focused on 
negotiations during the accession process. In this regard, the Secretariat had sent out questionnaires to 33 of the Article XII Members in order to understand the main post-accession concerns. So far, the Secretariat had received 13 responses. Based on the Secretariat survey on 
post-accession practices, seven issues were raised: policy framework for post-accession; 
institutional structural adjustment; legislative framework for implementation; transparency; technical assistance and capacity building; outreach; and participation in the WTO. He also 
informed Members that this year there would be a section on post-accessions in the Director-
General's Annual Report. 
27. He also took the opportunity to notify Members that the Secretariat had produced a book on 
WTO Accessions and Trade Multilateralism, written from a spectrum of different voices, including 
Members, acceding governments, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and 
academics.  
28. In conclusion, he stressed that accession was a challenging task requiring a wide array of 
expertise and resources. To successfully conclude  an accession process, key players included: the 
Chief Negotiator of the Acceding Government; th e Chairman of the Accession Working Party and 
support from the Secretariat. In some challeng ing instances, the Director-General played a 
facilitating role. He paid tribute to bilateral partners such as China, EU, India, and the US, as well WT/COMTD/LDC/M/75 
 
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  as multilateral partners including the Aid for Trade and the Enhanced Integrated Framework 
partners. 
29. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDC Group, expressed his appreciation 
for the comprehensive and informative report. He underlined the importance of understanding the 
factors driving LDCs' accessions. He acknowledged the complexity of the accession process, which 
required serious engagement and top leadership. Additionally, he requested that LDCs be given 
clear examples on how difficulties could be surmounted drawing on  case-by-case accession 
processes. Subsequently, he asked the Secretariat whether the 2012 Guidelines, which reinforced 
the Doha Mandate to facilitate negotiations with acceding LDCs, had been totally adhered to in all the accession cases. In this regard, he reques ted for systematic review of the results of  
accessions that had taken place, vis-à-vis  the benchmarks provided in the 2012 Guidelines. He 
said that the survey on post-accession should be  encouraged as they could provide post-accession 
best practices that could be utilized by other Article XII Members. In conclusion, he urged acceded Members to respond to the post-accession questionnaire. 
30. The representative of Nigeria expressed his appr eciation for the presentation on accessions. 
He recalled that the accession process had been long, complex and difficult. Nonetheless, the WTO 
provided the framework and opportunity to pr omote growth, development and integration of 
acceding countries into the MTS. 
31. The representative of Yemen conveyed his gratitude to the Secretariat for its informative 
presentation. He suggested that the Secretar iat organize a dialogue between Members and 
acceding governments, possibly during the Geneva Week, to discuss how the Guidelines assisted 
the LDCs in the accession process. He also re quested that the proposal submitted by the LDC 
Group in 2011 relating to post-accession work programme be revived in the work of the Sub-Committee.  
32. The Chairman acknowledged Yemen's request. In consultation with the Secretariat, he 
proposed that Yemen's proposal would be taken up at  a later time as there was insufficient time to 
address it before the next Sub-Committee meeting. He reiterated that progress on accession for 
L D C s  w a s  i m p o r t a n t ,  a s  i t  w o u l d  p r e s e r v e  c o n f i d e n c e  i n  t h e  M T S .  H e  a l s o  u r g e d  M e m b e r s  t o  
conclude the ongoing LDC accession negotiatio ns as early as possible and emphasized the 
importance for Members to adhere to the LDC Accession Guidelines. 
33. He suggested that the Sub-Committee take note of the Secretariat briefing as well as the 
statements made. 
34. It was so agreed. 
D. MARKET ACCESS FOR LEAST DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
- Notification by Thai land (WT/COMTD/N/46) 
35. The Chairman informed Members that Thailand had made a notification, circulated as 
WT/COMTD/N/46, on its Duty-Free and Quota-Free (DFQF) Scheme. 
36. The delegation from Thailand took the opport unity to announce that since 9 April 2015, 
Thailand had granted DFQF Market Access to LDCs. This preferential tariff treatment covered 6,998 
products originating from LDCs, accounting for 73.21% of all tariff lines in Thailand. He informed Members that more information could be found on  the official Customs Department of the Royal 
Thai Government website: http://www.customs.go.th/ .  H e  r e i t e r a t e d  T h a i l a n d ' s  s u p p o r t  i n  t h e  
implementation of all Bali outcomes, including for LDCs. 
37. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDC Group, applauded Thailand's 
initiatives and took the opportunity to emphasize that discussion on DFQF would remain a priority 
in the run-up to MC10. He assumed that export opportunities created by the DFQF Scheme would 
help LDCs further expand their exports to Tha iland. Subsequently, he urged other Members to 
contemplate similar initiatives to help LDCs integrate into the MTS. Furthermore, in the context of 
the Secretariat's Annual Report on LDC Trade and Market Access Conditions, he requested the Secretariat to analyse the export figures of LDCs in disaggregated form, in particular separating WT/COMTD/LDC/M/75 
 
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  the exports of oil from overall exports from LDCs .  T h i s  w o u l d  h e l p  t o  g a i n  a n  o v e r v i e w  o n  t h e  
impact of the DFQF initiatives in industrial development. 
38. The Chairman commended the delegation of Thailand, the second developing Member 
besides Chile to have notified a new DFQF scheme for LDCs since Bali, for their initiative which 
should encourage others to extend similar preferences to LDCs. 
39. He suggested that the Sub-Committee take note of the notification made by Thailand, as 
well as the statements made. 
40. It was so agreed..  
E. FOLLOW-UP TO MINISTERIAL DECISIONS/DECLARATIONS 
- Statement by the LDC Coordinator 
41. The Chairman recalled that all items of the WTO Work Programme for LDCs were standing 
items on the agenda of the Sub-Committee. He emphasized that this item, proposed by the LDC 
Group, had not been taken up in recent year s. As per the WTO Work Programme, Members had 
been invited to report on measures taken in fulfilment of Decisions and Declarations taken in 
favour of LDCs.  
42. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDC Group, expressed his appreciation to 
have this item included on the agenda. He recalled that the Work Programme for the LDCs 
highlighted the commitments made by Ministers at the Ministerial meetings in Marrakesh, 
Singapore and Geneva and by the international community to help LDCs secure beneficial and meaningful integration into the MTS and the glob al economy. Since a large number of Decisions 
had been taken by the international community under the aegis of the WTO and other fora, he 
expressed that it would now be an opportune ti me to have a discussion on the follow-up of 
Ministerial Declarations/Decisions in this forum, in order to make an assessment of those Decisions and identify any follow-up actions.  
43. Furthermore, he emphasized that the Work Programme mentioned how the Sub-Committee 
ought to put all due emphasis on the priority ar eas for LDCs in WTO negotiations throughout its 
work. In this regard, the Sub-Committee should include this item on the agenda once a year. He 
proposed to have this item discussed in the next meeting, including based on a Secretariat Report 
on the progress made in the implementation of Decisions/Declarations in favour of LDCs. 
44. The representative of Nigeria expressed his support to the LDC Coordinator on this item, and 
echoed the importance of providing an up-to-date account on the implementation of 
Decisions/Declarations relating to LDCs. He expressed that this item was timely, appropriate and 
beneficial to the work  of the Sub-Committee. 
45. The representative of the United States said that her delegation would need time to revert 
to capital with regard to the request made by the LDC Coordinator for a Secretariat report on the 
progress of implementation of Ministerial Decisions/Declarations.   
46. The representative of the Secretariat (Director, Development Division) recalled paragraph 23 
of document WT/COMTD/LDC/11/Rev.1, which stat ed that "the Sub-Committee shall establish an 
item on its agenda entitled: 'Follow-up to Ministerial Decisions/Declarations' where Members will be invited to report on measures taken in fulfilment of these Decisions and Declarations (High-Level Meeting; Brussels Conference; Istanbul Conference; WTO Ministerial Declarations and 
Decisions)". He informed Members that the Secr etariat would be willing to prepare a Note as 
guided by Members. However, given the lack of time until the next Sub-Committee meeting, he suggested that a decision be taken at the next meeting.  
47. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of  the LDC Group, underlined the importance of 
a report from the Secretariat reviewing the progress  made in the implementation of the Ministerial 
Decisions/Declarations. He acknowledged the time constraints before the convening of the next 
Sub-Committee meeting. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/75 
 
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  48. The representative of Nigeria reiterated his support for the request put forward by the LDC 
Coordinator. He was of the view that the Sub-Committee could deal with the matter as requested 
without necessarily duplicating the work of the Committee of Trade and Development. He sought 
clarification from the Secretariat in terms of the precise mandate of the Sub-Committee vis-à-vis  
the proposal made by the LDC Coordinator.  
49. The Chairman proposed that this item be included on the agenda of the next Sub-Committee 
meeting. Furthermore, he mentioned that he woul d remain in touch with concerned delegations to 
make progress on the matter. 
50. He suggested that the Sub-Committee take note of the Secretariat briefing as well as the 
statements made. 
51. It was so agreed. 
F. OTHER BUSINESS 
52. The Chairman informed Members that an LDC event would be held in the morning of 
12 October 2015, under the aegis of the Sub-Committee, commemorating the 20th Anniversary of 
the WTO. The event would be followed by th e regular meeting of the Sub-Committee in the 
afternoon.  
53. He reported that at the next regular meeting of the Sub-Committee, the Secretariat would 
present its Note relating to Market Access for products and services of export interest to LDCs. In 
light of trade-related technical assistance and capa city-building initiatives for LDC, the Secretariat 
of the Enhanced Integrated Framework would provid e an update on its activities. He would also 
explore with the Market Access Division of the WTO Secretariat to see whether there could be a 
briefing on the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility. It was important to see how this Facility 
functioned and how it could help LDCs to assess their trade facilitation needs. 
54. In absence of any other business, the meeting was adjourned. 
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