TN/CTD/30  
 
30 July 2015  
(15-3969)  Page: 1/5  
Committee on Trade and Development 
Special Session    
 
 REPORT BY THE CHAIRPERSON OF THE CO MMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT IN 
SPECIAL SESSION, AMBASSADOR TAN YEE WOAN (SINGAPORE),  
TO THE TRADE NEGO TIATIONS COMMITTEE 
_______________ 
 
 
I am making this report as Chairperson of the Special Session of the Committee on Trade 
and Development (Special Session) on the work undertaken so far during 2015. The report is 
factual and is being made under my responsibility.  
 
 
 
1.1.  The last written report on the work of th e Special Session was made in February this year 
(TN/CTD/29), in which the Chair had reported that the proponents, that is the African Group, the 
Africa Caribbean and the Pacific (ACP) Group and the LDC Group had tabled two lists of special and 
differential treatment (S&D) provisions that they woul d like to be taken up as part of the post-Bali 
Work Program.  
1.2.  The joint room document by the Afri can Group and the ACP Group contained 14 S&D 
provisions, whereas the submission by the LDC Group contained 25 such provisions (Annex A and B, respectively). The proponents had also indicated that they were in the process of preparing 
concrete textual proposals which they hoped to table soon in the Special Session. 
 1.3.  At the formal meeting of the Special Sessi on in March, I underscored the urgency of tabling 
the textual proposals for substantive work to begin as quickly as possible. Since March, I have 
been in contact with the proponents and met with their coordinators, their respective focal points on development and with other Members in variable geometry.   
1.4.  In my efforts to expedite submission of textual proposals and subsequently to start 
substantive work in the Special Session, I co nvened an informal small group meeting at 
Ambassador-level on 10 June 2015. The objective of this meeting was to receive an update from 
the proponents on the status of their work on textual proposals and to give delegations a heads-up 
of what they could expect in terms of the discussi on in a formal meeting that I would convene on 
24 June. I also thought it appropriate to discuss the issue of the pace of work, so as to have an 
indicative work plan for the Special Session to meet the July deadline.  
 1.5.   I reiterated at the informal small group meeting, that without the detailed proposals it was difficult to assess the scope of the Special Session's work. Therefore, I repeated my request to the 
proponents to circulate their proposals as soon as possible, preferably in time for Members to have 
some time to examine them before the 24 June  meeting. At the small group meeting, the 
coordinators/focal points of the African, LDC and ACP Groups, informed Members that they were in 
the process of finalizing the submission of a cons olidated list of proposals and hoped to table them 
in the coming days.   
1.6.  Subsequently, in the formal meeting of th e Special Session held on 24 June, to review the 
status of work on S&D proposals, the proponents indicated that they had completed the technical work on the proposals and were now awaiting political endorsement from the respective groups. They also reaffirmed their intention to submit  the textual proposals as soon as possible.  
 
 TN/CTD/30 
 
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1.7.  I am very happy to report that we have now received the detailed 25 S&D proposals jointly tabled by the G90.  These are contained in the dual symbol document number JOB/DEV/29 and 
JOB/TNC/51 dated 30 July 2015. This is a big step forward in our work. We will therefore be able 
to start substantive consideration of these proposals immediately after we return from the summer 
break. Of course, we shall need to work at a fast pace in order to ensure progress in time for the Nairobi Ministerial Conference. 
 
1.8.  I look forward to constructive engagement and cooperation from Members. We should come back from summer break with instructions from capitals so that we can hit the ground running and be in a position to deliver concrete results at  Nairobi. A concrete contribution on S&D will 
substantively beef up development outcomes at Nairobi. 
  
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  TN/CTD/30 
 
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  ANNEX A 
 
Room Document by the African Group and ACP group 
 
Special and Differential Treatment  
 This is a list of provisions proposed for negotiations under the mandate provided by paragraph 44 
of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, whereby WTO Members agreed that "all special and differential 
treatment provisions shall be reviewed with a vi ew to strengthening them and making them more 
precise, effective and operational".  
 
 Article 
1 Article XVIII – A & C of GATT 
2 Article XVIII – B  of GATT 
3 Understanding on BoP provisions 
4 Article XXVIII of GATT and its Understanding 
5 Art 15.1 AoA 
6 Art. 10.1 SPS 
 
7 Art 10.2 SPS 
8 Art 4 TRIMs 
9 Art 5.3 TRIMs 
10 Article 66.1 TRIPs  
11 Articles 70.8 and 70.9 TRIPs 
12 Art IV.1 GATS 
13 Article V.3 GATS 
14 Article 27.1 ASCM 
 
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  ANNEX B 
 
 RESTRICTED  
  
JOB/DEV/28  
 
3 February 2015  
(15-0758)  Page: 1/2  
Committee on Trade and Development 
Special Session  Original: English  
 
COMMUNICATION FROM THE LDC CONSULTATIVE GROUP 
The following communication, dated 3 February 2015,  is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Uganda on behalf of the LDC Consultative Group.  
_______________ 
  
LDC SPECIFIC SPECIAL AND DIFFERENTIAL (S&D) TREATMENT PROPOSALS  
The LDC Consultative Group at the WTO proposes that the following Articles of WTO Agreements 
be considered with a view to making them precise, effective and operational in line with paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  
 
 
S. No Relevant Article and Agreement 
1. GATT Articles XVIII A and C 
2. Article XVIII.B  
3.  Understanding on Balance of Payments Provisions 
(related to Article XVIII.B) 
4. Article XXVIII Modification of Schedules 
5. Agreement on Agriculture, Article 15.1 
6.  Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), Article 10.1 
7.  Agreement on the Application of Sanitary and 
Phytosanitary Measures (SPS), Article 10.2 
8.  Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade, 
Article 12.3 
9.  Agreement on Trade-Related Investment 
Measures (TRIMS), Article 4 
10.  Agreement on Trade-Related Investment 
Measures (TRIMS), Article 5.3 
11.  Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), Article 66.1 
12.  Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS), Article 70.8 
and 70.9 
13.  General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), 
Article IV.1 TN/CTD/30 
 
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  S. No Relevant Article and Agreement 
14.  General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), 
Article V.3 
15.  Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing 
Measures (ASCM) Article 27.1 
16.  Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing 
Measures (ASCM) Article 27.3 
17.  Annex F of 2005 Hong Kong Ministerial 
Decision - Agreement on Trade-Related 
Investment Measures 
18.  Article 20.3 Customs Valuation Agreement; 
Decision on Minimum Values 
19.  Agreement on Safeguards Article 9  
20.  Article XXXVI.6 GATT ; Declaration on the 
Contribution of the WTO to Achieving Greater Coherence in Global Economic Policymaking 
21.  Decision on Measures in Favour of 
Least-Developed Countries – Market Opportunities 
22.  Enabling Clause 
23.  Food security (Article XXXVI and XXXVIII.2b 
GATT) 
24.  GATT Article XVII on State Trading Enterprises 
and Interpretation related issue 
25.  Article 4.10 Dispute Settlement Understanding 
 
  
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