WT/MIN(15)/32  
 
18 December 2015  
(15-6718)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015  Original: English  
 
PACIFIC GROUP MINISTERIAL STATEMENT 
DELIVERED AT WTO 10TH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE  
IN NAIROBI ON 17 DECEMBER 2015 
 
The following communication is being circulated at the request of the Delegation of Fiji on behalf of the Pacific WTO Group Members.  
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1. We the Ministers and Heads of Delegations of the Pacific WTO Group met in Nairobi, Kenya 
on 14 December 2015 on the margins of the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference: 
2. Extend  our thanks to the Government and peop le of Kenya for the warm welcome and 
gracious hospitality in this beautiful country.  
3. Congratulate  the WTO on its 20
th Anniversary and its achievements over the last two 
decades. The visible contribution of the WTO to the global trading system include,  inter alia,  
retaining its position as a stable multilateral rules-based system in the world, its achievements an 
institution for development and in addressing trade disputes. We acknowledge in this regard the 
adoption of the Trade Facilitation Agreement and its benefits in reducing trade costs and look forward to the promised technical assistance and ca pacity building support that is associated with 
the agreement.  
4. Acknowledge  the increased engagement of the Small Island Developing States in the 
multilateral trading process, the Pacific Group has yet to fully benefit from the opportunities 
created under the multilateral trading system includ ing global value chains. In this regard, there is 
an urgent need to adequately address development interest of the developing Members, especially 
LDCs and SVEs in the Doha Round of negotiations, which remain a concern to the Group.  
5. Emphasis  the importance of preserving a fair, predictable, inclusive and transparent, rules-
based multilateral trading system, that promotes the rights of all Members particularly the small 
Members in the ever-evolving international trade environment, noting that the Pacific Group, 
constitutes LDCs and SVEs that are also are Small Islands Development States (SIDS), which 
attaches great importance to trade as a vehicl e to achieve robust development and enhance our 
integration into the global trading system.  
6. Express grave concerns on the watering down of the references to small and vulnerable 
economies (SVEs) in recent negotiations, particularly in preparation for this Conference. The Pacific 
Members are already in the margins of the global trading system. Based on WTO statistics, the Pacific Group’s share of global merchandise exports averages 0.00% for 2012-2014. Similarly the Group’s share of commercial services exports in global trade range from 0.00% to 0.02%. The 
Pacific Group renews the call for the WTO to ensure that the small and vulnerable economies like 
the Pacific are not left outside the multilater al trading system. The Pacific Group therefore 
reaffirms the importance of continuing work under the mandate of paragraph 35 of the Doha 
Declaration to frame responses for the full integration of small
 economies like the Pacific into the 
multilateral trading system to facilitate their successful integration.  
 WT/MIN(15)/32 
 
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  7. Stress that fisheries is not only a trade issue but an integral part of the way of life for 
Pacific island nations. Fisheries provide food and livelihoods and the sector is crucial for Pacific development. As custodians of their oceanic resources for future generations, the Pacific Group accordingly have the responsibility to ensure sustainability for these. The Pacific Group urges 
Members to consider the extremely limited disciplin es in the small package proposed by the ACP in 
addressing the two destructive subsidies to fisheries resources. This would help fulfill the recently adopted 2030 Sustainable Development Goal 14.6 which mandates all countries to eliminate 
harmful subsidies on fisheries by 2020.   
8. Express disappointment that nothing had been agreed on the core issues and other DDA 
issues in the Geneva process for Ministers to endorse at this Tenth Ministerial Conference. 
Members are now faced with the challenge of reaching consensus on a possible Nairobi package. 
We urge Members to bridge the gaps in their posi tions and show flexibility in order to deliver a 
Nairobi package based on elements of the mini-package that are on the table. 
9. Emphasise  the importance of continuing negotiations on the DDA post-Nairobi to deliver 
development outcomes and that these negotiations including in the core areas of Agriculture, 
Services and NAMA, should also provide appropriate and effective flexibilities for LDCs and SVEs including the flexibilities provided in the 2008 modalities. 
10. Support  the statements made by the SVEs, ACP and LDCs. 
  
Nairobi, Kenya 
17 December 2015 
 
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