WT/MIN(15)/W/7  
 
10 November 2015  
(15-5952)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015  Original: English  
 
 AFRICAN GROUP TEXTUAL PROPOSAL ON A DECLARATION FOR THE 10TH WTO 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
The following communication, dated 10 November 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of the Kingdom of Lesotho on behalf of the African Group. 
 
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INTRODUCTION  
1. The African Group is a strong supporter of a rules based multilateral system that seeks to 
integrate African Countries into the Global Trading System and prioritizes the needs of developing and least developed Members of the WTO. The Group strongly believes that the DDA negotiations 
must achieve an objective set out in the Doha Ministerial Declaration, namely that, "seeks to place 
the needs and interests of developing Members at its heart and continue to make positive efforts designed to ensure that developing Members, and especially the LDCs secure a share in the 
growth of world trade commensurate with th e needs of their economic development". 
 
2 .  T h e  e s s e n c e  o f  t h i s  s u b m i s s i o n  i s  t o  r e a f f i r m  M e m b e r s '  c o m m i t m e n t  t o  a d h e r e  t o  a n d  respect all mandates for the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and for the post MC10 remaining 
DDA issues to continue being negotiated within the DDA framework and respective mandates. 
Moreover, the essence of the submission is to pr eserve key principles enshrined in DDA mandates 
such as the development dimension in its various manifestation, special and differential treatment, 
less than full reciprocity, decision making by consensus and single undertaking. 
 3. The African Group considers the WTO to be a key part of the global economic governance. In this capacity, the WTO is expected to make tang ible contributions to the sustainable development 
goals under the auspices of the Post -2015 Development Agenda adopted by the United Nations. 
 4. In view of the foregoing, the Africa n Group hereby submits a textual proposal
1 aimed at 
contributing towards consultations on the content of the outcome document for the Tenth WTO 
Ministerial Conference (MC10) to be held in Nairobi, Kenya during 15 - 18 December 2015. The 
submission is limited to Parts I and III of the Declaration. The Group pledges its full cooperation 
with all Members with a view to ensuring that MC10 becomes a resounding success. 
 
NAIROBI MINISTER IAL DECLARATION 
ADOPTED ON 18 DECEMBER 2015  
1  PART I 
1.1.  We, the Ministers, have met in Nairobi, Kenya, from 15 to 18 December 2015 at our Tenth 
Session. As we conclude our Session, we would like to express our deep appreciation to the Government and people of Kenya for the exceptional organization and the warm hospitality we 
have received in Nairobi. 
1.2.  We reaffirm the principles and objectives set out in the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing 
the World Trade Organization and recall the Declarations and Decisions we adopted at Doha and at 
the Ministerial Conferences we have held since then and reaffirm our full commitment to give 
effect to them. 
                                               
1 The Africa Group reserves a right to make further proposals as appropriate WT/MIN(15)/W/7 
 
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  1.3.  We take note of the reports from the General Council and its subsidiary bodies. We welcome 
the progress arising from these reports, and the Decisions stemming from them, in strengthening 
the effectiveness of the WTO as an organisation and the multilateral trading system as a whole. 
1.4.  We further welcome the advances made in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA), as 
represented by the Decisions and Declarations we have adopted at our present session. These 
Decisions and Declarations signify that we have taken yet another step forward in the negotiations and attest to our strong resolve to complete the DDA as has been reaffirmed by our Leaders in the 
Sustainable Development Goal 17.10. 
1.5.  We reiterate the need for the WTO to remain the premier negotiating forum to improve 
multilateral trade rules and respond to the dire need for this institution to deliver on substantive market access for trade and competitiveness of ou r weaker and vulnerable Members, in particular 
L D C s .  H o w e v e r ,  i t  i s  i m p e r a t i v e  t h a t  t h e  a c h i e v e m e n t s  w e  h a v e  m a d e  o v e r t i m e  o n  i n c l u s i v e ,  
Member-driven, consensus-based, and transparent co nduct of negotiations should be maintained.  
1.6.  We recognise that the DDA is a significan t multilateral attempt to respond to trade and 
development interests of developing Members and redress the imbalances codified in the rules 
resulting from the previous rounds of multilateral trade negotiations. Further we recognize that a comprehensive conclusion of the DDA with economically meaningful and balanced outcomes will 
provide impetus to global trade liberalization and facilitation, and improve the trading prospects of 
developing Members, and enhance the primary ro le of the WTO in global trade governance. 
1.7.  We recognise and affirm the role the WTO can play in contributing towards achievement of 
2030 sustainable development agenda. 
2  PART III – POST NAIROBI WORK 
2.1.  We reaffirm our commitment to the WTO as the pre-eminent global forum for trade, including 
negotiating and implementing trade rules, settl ing disputes and supporting development through 
the integration of developing countries into the gl obal trading system. In this regard, we further 
reaffirm our commitment to the Doha Development Agenda. 
2.2.  We furthermore reaffirm, the Ministerial De clarations and General Council Decisions relevant 
to the Doha mandates and commit to take concrete steps to conclude remaining negotiations 
issues under the DDA framework. 
2.3.  We take note of the progress that made  towards carrying out the Doha Work Programme, 
including the decisions we have taken during this Ministerial Conference. These decisions are an 
important stepping-stone towards the completion of  the Doha Round. We reaffirm the Declarations 
and Decisions we adopted at Doha, and all subsequent Declarations and Decisions including the Decision adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004; the Hong Kong Declaration of 2005; 
the Bali Ministerial Declaration of 2013. 
2.4.  We recognise that all participants have worked hard and constructively to make progress 
required under the Doha mandates and acknowledge some progress has been made to date. We 
equally recognise that more work needs to be done to enable us to proceed towards the full, 
successful and multilateral conclusion of the negoti ations pursuant to paragraphs 45, 47 and 48 of 
the Doha Ministerial Declaration in fulfilment of the commitments we took at Doha. In those areas 
where we have reached a high level of converge nce on texts, we undertake to maintain this 
convergence as the basis for further negotiations towards the conclusion of the DDA. 
2.5.  Taking note of the progress made so far, we instruct our officials to continue working on 
outstanding issues of the Doha Development Agen da with a renewed sense of urgency under the 
auspices of the Trade Negotiations Committee. Furt her, we instruct the Chairman of the General 
Council to convene a special meeting of the General Council no later than 31 March 2016 and every three months thereafter to review the progress of work done towards expeditious and 
successful conclusion of the Doha Develo pment Agenda in a time-bound manner. 
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