RESTRICTED  
  
WT/MIN(15)/SR/9  
2 February 2016  
(16-0698)  Page: 1/8  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015   
 
SUMMARY RECORD OF THE NINTH MEETING 
HELD AT THE KENYATTA INTERNATIO NAL CONVENTION CENTRE (KICC), 
NAIROBI, KENYA ON SATURDAY, 19 DECEMBER, AT 5.30 P.M. 
Chairperson: Her Excellency Dr Amina Mohamed (Kenya)  
Subjects discussed: 
 
1   ACTION BY MINISTER S (AGENDA IT EM 2) .................................................................. 3  
2   DATE AND VENUE OF THE ELEVENTH SESSION (AGENDA ITEM 3) AND 
ELECTION OF OFFICERS (AGENDA ITEM 4) ...................................................................... 4  
3   CLOSURE OF THE SESSI ON .......................................................................................... 4  
 
 1.1.  The Chairperson called the meeting to order.  
1.2.  The representative of Cuba, on behalf of  the ALBA, thanked the Chairperson for the efforts 
she had made to achieve an outcome at the Te nth Ministerial Conference of the WTO. ALBA 
expressed its regret that the reaffirmation of  the Doha Development Agenda had not been 
explicitly reflected in a firm manner in the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration despite the intensive 
work done at the WTO in this regard over the past fourteen years to contribute to development. 
The group feared that the decision would have serious consequences in defending the interests of the majority of developing country Members in any future work, including for the weakest 
Members such as the LDCs and the SVEs. This was due to the idea that new issues could be 
introduced without having concluded the majority of mandates contained in the DDA.  
1.3.  ALBA would not give up in defending th e Doha Round. Members could not abandon the DDA 
without concluding all its mandates within its architecture which had been built multilaterally for 
more than twenty years. Otherwise, they would not be respecting the mandate given to them by 
their Ministers and they would thus be acting against the interest of the organization. ALBA would not accept commitments on new issues which would lead to the introduction of "WTO plus" 
disciplines or to the establishment of new rules wh ich would limit Members' political space, special 
and differential treatment and the exercise of sovereignty. 
1.4.  ALBA was concerned that the negotiations on issues fundamental to the WTO were being led 
by only a few Members and submitted only at a later stage to the rest of the Membership, most of 
which were developing country Members. It re iterated its firm commitment to defend the 
continuation and conclusion of all the mandates of the DDA. It would continue to defend 
multilateralism and a multilateral trading system which was fair and non-discriminatory and which 
would contribute to bring down the existing as ymmetries and promote sustainable development. 
1.5.  The representative of India said she understood that the Ministerial Declaration had already 
been adopted. She had walked in when the claps had gone on. She said that quite a big majority 
of people – the G-33, India and the African Group – had clearly come out saying they had wanted 
to reaffirm the DDA. She was disappointed that it had not happened with the sense of the usual WT/MIN(15)/SR/9 
 
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  consensus done at the WTO. The disappointment was not something she could explain. Doha had 
been dear to India and would continue to remain that way. India had insisted on keeping the framework through which the Public Stockholding had been obtained and the peace clause had been given by the General Council. That was not something which India could let go of. Therefore, 
mentioning the division became inevitable, and all Members were sitting and going along with this. 
But on behalf of that large group of Members,  she emphasized that the reaffirmation was the 
mandate which all of them had come to Nairobi with. That was the main thing. 
1.6.  She was surprised that a few amendments which Members had given had not gone through. 
She said she had clearly mentioned under Cotton that for the developing countries, India would not accept the date. That date of 2017 had gone through, which was completely unacceptable. She had thought that if there had been a session in the next room where Members would be given the 
chance to speak on each of the points, she would raise it and seek the Chairperson's assistance to 
have that removed because that was not for the first time she would be saying it. It had been said long back in all the midnight sessions that they had held. She did not know how that had slipped 
through. She appealed to the Chairperson to delete the date given there. 
1.7.  On Paragraphs 9, 10 and 11 on Export Competition, India had wanted it to be for the 
developed country Members. Developed country Members should not apply export subsidies. 
Developed country Members should not raise thei r export subsidies. Developed country Members 
should ensure that any export subsidy had at most minimal trade distorting effects and would not displace or impede the exports of another Member. The word developed had been dropped and it had become inclusive of developing country Members which was not acceptable to India. 
1.8.  The representative of the Bolivarian Repu blic of Venezuela joined the statement made by 
ALBA. Venezuela expressed its regret that the reaffirmation of the DDA was not explicitly reflected 
in a firm manner in the Nairobi Ministerial Declaration. This was due to the idea that new issues 
could be introduced without having concluded the majority of mandates contained in the DDA. 
Venezuela was concerned that it could open the door to new issues which would lead to the introduction of "WTO plus" standards or the establishment of new rules and regulations which 
would limit Members' political space, special and differential treatment and the exercise of 
sovereignty. 
1.9.  Regarding the exercise of democracy, Venezuela recalled that the future of the organization 
could not be decided by a few without listening to the majority. A couple of months earlier, 
Members' leaders in New York had approved the Sustainable Development Goals. In 
Objective 17.10, they had agreed to "promote a universal, rules-based, open, non-discriminatory and equitable multilateral trading system under the World Trade Organization, including through 
the conclusion of negotiations under its Doha Development Agenda." In Nairobi, Members could 
not contradict what had been agreed by their leaders. Otherwise, they would not be respecting the commitment taken up by their Ministers and they would be running counter to the credibility of the 
organization. With a constructive spirit, Venezuela wished to thank the Chairperson. 
1.10.  The representative of China thanked the Go vernment of Kenya, particularly H.E. President 
Kenyatta and Cabinet Secretary Mohamed for their able leadership and strong organization. He 
also thanked the Director-General and the Secretariat for their hard work and efforts during many 
sleepless nights. The Ministerial Declaration and Decisions adopted for the first time in the history 
of the WTO promised to eliminate export subsidies for agricultural products – a big victory for global agricultural trade. The Nairobi Ministerial Conference would be remembered for its historic 
contribution to development. Therefore, he offe red his congratulations to the Chairperson and to 
the Government and People of Kenya for the great historic achievement.  
1.11.  The representative of Senegal commended all delegations for their efforts to reach the 
current outcome and congratulated them along with  the WTO Secretariat. In terms of substance, 
his delegation was satisfied to see that there wa s an LDC Package that had taken shape even if 
some essential elements remained pending, for instance the essential matter of Special and Differential Treatment. The decision on the Implemen tation of Preferential Treatment in favour of 
Services and Services Suppliers of LDCs and Increasing Participation in Services Trade was a 
significant progress. That decision allowed a fifteen-year transition period for the Members concerned and developing country Members in a position to do so.  Senegal wished to state that 
the understanding of the time-period of fifteen year s would start from the time the solution on the 
preference would be decided rather than as of the date when the decision had been taken. In WT/MIN(15)/SR/9 
 
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  order to preserve the Doha architecture and see it continued after the Ministerial Conference, the 
post-Nairobi agenda should attach the highest po ssible priority to all the issues dealt with in 
Nairobi that had seen significant progress but had not yet reached consensus. Senegal 
congratulated President Kenyatta, the Chair of th e Ministerial Conference and the WTO for all the 
work accomplished in Nairobi. 
1.12.  The representative of Tanzania said that on behalf of the President of the United Republic of 
Tanzania, a Chair of the East African Community, he congratulated the Government and the People 
of Kenya for the successful hosting of the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference. Tanzania also 
congratulated the Chairperson and the WTO leadership for the success and the outcomes, and wished the Director-General all the best on the way forward. 
1.13.  The representative of Egypt expressed his appreciation for the Chairperson's hard work in 
trying to bring convergence in Members' positions, while taking on board their sensitivities and 
concerns. He also thanked the Director-General and the Minister-Facilitators. Egypt had stressed the importance of providing policy space to NFIDCs and LDCs to provide them with the opportunity 
to enhance their agricultural sector, development and food security. It was imperative that they 
enhanced their export of agriculture goods having access to an export subsidy programme limited in scope to mainly supporting small farmers – a means which would directly contribute to the said 
objectives, to rural development and the promotion of their agriculture sector. 
1.14.  Egypt had emphasized and continued to underscore the importance of providing NFIDCs and 
LDCs the flexibility to continue benefitting from Ar t. 9.4 where they would have favoured to benefit 
from it indefinitely. It was constructively pursui ng a meaningful outcome in Agriculture. Egypt had 
always shown extreme flexibility in participating throughout the negotiating process in the past 
few months and in the past few days in many areas respecting Members' sensitivities and red lines. Egypt expected to receive the same consideration of its sensitivities from the whole 
Membership. In the spirit of compromise and out of  respect to the host country, Kenya, given the 
circumstances, Egypt would go along with the te xt as had been presented to the Membership. 
1.15.  The Chairperson said that all statements had been noted and would be included in the 
records of the Ministerial Conference. She then emphasized that over the past four days and 
nights, she had seen a tremendous amount of co mmitted work and constructive engagement from 
all delegations. She was grateful for the spirit of cooperation and goodwill shown by all participants. 
1  ACTION BY MINISTERS (AGENDA ITEM 2) 
1.16.  The Chairperson drew attention to the results of the intensive work, and she would 
therefore propose that they reverted to Item 2 "Action by Ministers".  
1.17.  The Ministerial Conference had before them the following texts: 
a. A draft Nairobi Ministerial Declaration; 
b. Three draft Decisions submitted by the General Council; 
c. And six draft decisions in the areas of negotiations. 
1.18.  As it had been agreed, the text of the draft Ministerial Declaration contained in document 
WT/MIN(15)/W/33/Rev.3, brought together all the draft Decisions, and referenced them all under Part II. 
1.19.  The three draft Decisions submitted by the General Council, were:  
a. Work Programme on Small Economies (WT/MIN(15)/W/24);  
b. TRIPS Non-Violation and Situation Complaints (WT/MIN(15)/W/25); 
c. Work Programme on Electronic  Commerce (WT/MIN(15)/W/26). WT/MIN(15)/SR/9 
 
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  1.20.  Regarding the negotiations, the Draft Decisions were: 
a. In Agriculture 
i. Special Safeguard Mechanism for Developing Country Members (WT/MIN(15)/W/45); 
ii. Public Stockholding for Food Security Purposes (WT/MIN(15)/W/46); 
iii. Export Competition (WT/MIN(15)/W/47). 
b. On Cotton (WT/MIN(15)/W/48) 
c. On LDC issues 
i. Preferential Rules of Origin for Least Developed Countries (WT/MIN(15)/W/38); and 
ii. Implementation of Preferential  Treatment in favour of Services and Service Suppliers 
of Least-Developed Countries and Increasing LDC Participation in Services Trade (WT/MIN(15)/W/39). 
1.21.  She proposed that the Ministerial Conferen ce adopted the draft Ministerial Declaration, the 
three draft decisions submitted by the General Co uncil and the draft decisions on Agriculture, 
Cotton and LDC issues as referred to in Pa rt II of the Ministerial Declaration.   
1.22.  The Ministerial Conference so agreed
1. 
1.23.  She thanked all delegations for making it possible, for their sense of responsibility, and for 
their perseverance in trying to find solutions. 
2  DATE AND VENUE OF THE ELEVENTH SESSION (AGENDA ITEM 3) AND ELECTION OF 
OFFICERS (AGENDA ITEM 4) 
2.1.  The Chairperson recalled that the Rules of Procedure for Sessions of the Ministerial 
Conference required that the date of each regula r session should be established by the Ministerial 
Conference at a previous Session. The Rules also pr ovided for the election of a Chairperson of the 
Ministerial Conference and three Vice-Chairpersons to  hold office from the end of the Session until 
the end of the next regular Session. In accordance with established practice, she proposed that the 
Ministerial Conference requested the General Council to hold consultations with a view to deciding 
on the date and venue as well as on the Offi cers of the Eleventh Ministerial Conference. 
2.2.  The Ministerial Conference so agreed.  
3  CLOSURE OF THE SESSION 3.1.  The Director-General
2 congratulated everyone on the Nairobi Package. He recalled that, two 
years earlier, in Bali, Members had done someth ing that the WTO had never done before — they 
had delivered major, multilaterally-negotiated outc omes. It had taken 18 years, a lot of hard work, 
flexibility, creativity and political will. In Nairobi, they had seen those same qualities at work. And 
once again, they had delivered.  
                                               
1 The Ministerial Declaration was circulated in WT/MIN(15)/DEC. The Decisions were circulated as 
follows: Work Programme on Small Economies in WT/MIN(15)/40-WT/L/975, TRIPS Non-Violation and 
Situation Complaints in WT/MIN(15)/41-WT/L/976, Work Programme on Electronic Commerce in WT/MIN(15)/42-WT/L/977, Special Safeguard Mechanism for Developing Country Members in WT/MIN(15)/43-WT/L/978, Public Stockholding for Food Security Purpos es in WT/MIN(15)/44-WT/L/979, Export Competition in 
WT/MIN(15)/45-WT/L/980, Cotton in WT/MIN(15)/46-WT/L/981, Preferential Rules of Origin for Least Developed Countries in WT/MIN(15)/47-WT/L/917/Add.1 and Implementation of Preferential Treatment in 
favour of Services and Service Suppliers of Least De veloped Countries and Increa sing LDC Participation in 
Services Trade in WT/MIN(15)/48-WT/L/982. 
2 The Director-General's statement was circulated in document WT/MIN(15)/49. WT/MIN(15)/SR/9 
 
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  3.2.  The decision the Ministerial Conference had taken that day on export competition was truly 
historic. It was the WTO's most significant outcome on agriculture. The elimination of agricultural 
export subsidies was particularly significant. WTO Members — especially developing country Members — had consistently demanded action on the issue due to the enormous distorting 
potential of those subsidies for domestic production and trade. In fact, the task had been 
outstanding since export subsidies had been banned  for industrial goods more than 50 years ago. 
The decision tackled the issue once and for all. It removed the distortions that those subsidies 
caused in agriculture markets, thereby helping to level the playing field for the benefit of farmers 
and exporters in developing and least-developed countries. The decision would also help to limit similar distorting effects associated with export credits and state trading enterprises. And it would 
provide a better framework for international food aid — maintaining the essential lifeline, while 
ensuring that it would not displace domestic producers.  
3.3.  The Ministerial Conference had also taken important steps to improve food security, through 
decisions on public stockholding and towards a special safeguard mechanism. It had agreed a 
package of specific decisions for LDCs containing measures to enhance preferential rules of origin 
for LDCs and preferential treatment for LDC servic es providers. It also contained a number of 
steps on cotton, such as eliminating export subs idies, and providing duty-free-quota-free market 
access for a range of LDC cotton products immediately.  
3.4.  In addition, the Ministerial Conference had approved the WTO Membership of Liberia and 
Afghanistan. He thought Members were all committe d to supporting those two LDCs to boost their 
growth and development. They had also seen continued commitment to help build the trading 
capacity of LDCs through the excellent support shown at the EIF's pledging conference. And, 
finally, a large group of Members had agreed on  the expansion of the Information Technology 
Agreement. This was another historic breakthrough . It would eliminate tariffs on 10% of global 
trade — making it the first major tariff cutting deal since 1996. 
3.5.  He congratulated everyone. That was the product of hard work and commitment — and the 
shared belief in the art of the possible. While Me mbers celebrated those outcomes, they had to be 
clear-sighted about the situation they were in . Success had been achieved despite Members' 
persistent and fundamental divisions on the nego tiating agenda — not because those divisions had 
been solved. They had to face up to that problem and address it.  
3.6.  The Ministerial Declaration acknowledged the differing opinions. It instructed Members to find 
ways to advance negotiations in Geneva. They should decide — the world should decide — about 
the future of the organization. The world should decide what path the organization should take. 
Inaction would in itself be a decision, but the pr ice of inaction was too high. It would harm the 
prospects of all those who rely on trade — and it  would disadvantage all those who would benefit 
from a reformed, modernized global trading system in the future — particularly in the poorest countries. They would thus have a very serious task ahead of them in 2016.  
3.7.  But in Nairobi, they marked that success.  He would like to tribute once again to the 
Government and the People of Kenya for hosting MC10. Their hospitality had been warm, and their 
dedication to the task at hand had been complete. The WTO was indebted to Kenya. He paid tribute to President Kenyatta for his leadership, for gracing the Ministerial Conference with his 
presence, and for his continuous support. He thanked his wife and his family. They were not there 
with him, but they were always in his heart. 
3.8.  To the Minister-facilitators, chairs, Amba ssador-facilitators and friends, he expressed his 
sincere thanks for their tremendous efforts, and for steering the Membership to where they were 
that day. He also extended his appreciation to all WTO Members for their engagement and to the Secretariat for their hard work and dedication. 
3.9.  He expressed his deepest gratitude to Cabinet Secretary Amina Mohamed. Her guidance, 
support and tireless commitment had been an inspiration to all. The Director-General then presented to the Chairperson a ceremonial gavel as a token of gratitude. He was delighted that the organization had given her some good reasons to use it. 
3.10.  Members had come to Nairobi determined to deliver for all those they represented — and 
particularly for the one billion citizens of the African continent. At the outset he had warned that WT/MIN(15)/SR/9 
 
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  they had not been looking at a perfect outcome.  And what they had delivered was not perfect. 
There were still so many vital issues which they should tackle. But they had delivered a huge amount. They had shown, once again, what th ey could do when they worked together.  
3.11.  The decisions the Ministerial Conference had taken in Nairobi would help to improve the 
lives and prospects of many people — around th e world and in Africa. It had been tough. The 
process had not been perfect. But when delegations had left Geneva, the international media had already written their headlines: 'WTO talks break down' . 'Another failure at the WTO' . That was 
exactly how it had been in Bali and they had seen it again in Nairobi. But those catastrophic 
headlines had again been proved wrong.  
3.12.  In the past, all too often, WTO negotiations had had a habit of ending in failure. But, despite 
adversity – despite real challenges – Members were  creating a new habit at the WTO: success.  
3.13.  The Chairperson said that when Members had started their journey that week, 
H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta had highlighted that  the deliberations of the Conference would be 
critical in unlocking the economic potential of many countries, with positive benefits on global 
trade as a whole, on development and on political and social stability. With those objectives in 
mind, the intensive discussions and negotiations that they had had during the past four days involved fundamentally important matters, including on some of the most sensitive and long-
standing issues in the trading system. They had faced challenging moments. Tough calls had to be 
made.   
3.14.  In Nairobi, Members had been able to achieve remarkable results – and that could not be 
overstated. They had agreed on a package of ou tcomes that would have a positive impact on 
developing country Members, and in particular LDCs – as it had been their common aspiration.  
3.15.  The Ministerial Conference had adopted outc omes which also embodied historic progress in 
Agriculture, an area that represented a deeply important aspiration of many Members, and which 
would establish the path for agricultural reform, an d on securing food for the most disadvantaged.  
3.16.  The Ministerial Conference was able to agr ee on a Ministerial Declaration, which reaffirmed 
the centrality of the WTO in the international trade scenario, which highlighted its fundamental 
contributions to economic stability in the past tw enty years, and which sketched the path forward 
for its future work – a Declaration which reaffirmed clearly the commitment to continue to work on the outstanding issues in the negotiations, including in the core areas that were fundamentally important for so many Members. 
3.17.  The Ministerial Conference had also finali zed the accessions of Liberia and Afghanistan, two 
additional LDCs who would soon join the WTO family. Additionally, negotiations had been 
concluded among 53 WTO Members, both developed and developing, on expanding the 
Information Technology Agreement – something which had the potential to benefit all 162 WTO 
Members. 
3.18.  Of course, Members were all aware that outstanding issues remained, and would need to be 
addressed, and systemic concerns continued to chal lenge the negotiating pillar of the WTO. But, as 
the Chairman of the General Council had said during the Opening Session, "this is a moment in which we should collectively look back and remind ourselves of the reasons why we are here – the reasons which underpin the creation of the multila teral trading system." She completely agreed 
with him. She believed they had to start from there – the principles that the organization 
represented: the fundamental principle that deci sions were taken by all Members, that nothing 
could be agreed and modified without all voices speaking as one. 
3.19.  She hoped that the Conference and its outc omes would also trigger a process of reflection 
that would ultimately result in a renewed and stronger WTO. Members had a collective responsibility to find a way to positively channe l their aspirations. Let Nairobi be remembered as 
the place that had allowed the WTO to transcend from the growing complexity of its challenges.   
3.20.  And as Members concluded the session and as they marked the 20th anniversary of the 
organization, they had once again demonstrated that multilateral results could be negotiated and agreed by the WTO. Following the success in the UN Conference on Trade and Finance, the UN WT/MIN(15)/SR/9 
 
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  Sustainable Development Goals and the UN Conference on Climate Change (COP 21), the WTO had 
played its key role in strengthening multilateralism. With the decisions and the Ministerial Declaration they had adopted, they had reaffirmed the centrality of the WTO in international trade 
governance and relations.  
3.21.  All those would not be possible without the hard work, creativity and flexibility that all 
Members had shown throughout the process. She ex tended her gratitude to the Chairman of the 
General Council who had been supporting her and the Director-General both in Geneva and in 
Nairobi, and the three Vice-Chairpersons for ensuring the success of the Plenary Sessions. 
3.22.  She commended the Minister-Facilitators. The work they had done that week had been 
nothing less than extraordinary. She would likewise thank all of the delegations who had participated in the Conference and the WTO Secretariat for their tireless efforts.  
3.23.  In particular, all her gratitude went to  the Director-General for never giving up. His 
determination, his leadership, his perseverance made all the difference. The WTO owed him a great debt. 
3.24.  She could not thank all of them enough. During the week, they had all contributed to 
making many things seemingly impossible come to fruition. They had done something remarkable that day that all of them should be proud of. Kenya, Africa, Multilateralism and the Multilateral 
Trading System thanked them. 
3.25.  In Nairobi, as in the past, Members ha d proven the naysayers wrong. The rules-based 
multilateral trading system was far from moribund. The WTO was simply irreplaceable. For over twenty years she had worked closely with the Se cretariat of the GATT and then the WTO. The 
quality of the staff of the WTO as she had said before was second to none. She paid particular 
tribute to a very close friend of her who she had known for many years – Mr Victor Do Prado.  
3.26.  She also thanked the amazing Team Kenya – Dr (Eng.) Karanja Kibicho, the Principal 
Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,  and Ambassador Stephen Karau, the Permanent 
Representative of Kenya to the United Nations, WTO & Other International Organizations in Geneva, Switzerland. She extended her gratitud e to her biological family, her husband, her 
daughter and her niece and her adopted family that was also present at the session. She thanked 
all of them for being there that day.  
3.27.  The Government and the People of Kenya wi shed everyone pleasant travels back to their 
various destinations and to their families – peace, security and safety. 
3.28.  The representative of Kenya joined everyo ne in thanking the Chairperson and the entire 
WTO Secretariat for the amazing work that they had seen in the last four days. Before the 
Ministerial Conference, he had never thought he could spend a whole night awake but it was 
evident that it was possible due to the people th at had been motivating and keeping them up and 
about. Kenya wanted to thank everyone for the great honour that they had given to Kenya as a country, to East Africa and to Africa to host the Ministerial Conference. Kenya knew that it would 
not be easy and commended everyone for the pati ence that they had shown that had culminated 
in a Ministerial Declaration that had been adopted that day. Kenya also knew that a lot of delegations had had to move their travel arrang ements because of the extension that they had 
had. Kenya was very grateful for their understanding and it hoped that the service that the 
country had given to make their stay in Nairobi very memorable – that this service they would 
never forget.  
3.29.  2015 had been a year that they had seen a lot of successes. They had just talked about the 
Financing for Development Conference, the Sust ainable Development Goals and COP 21. As a 
family, the WTO should actually exploit all those inherent synergies in the outcomes of those milestone conferences to benefit their people. 
3.30.  He thanked all the participants for being in Nairobi. He knew that about three-quarters of 
the people inside the room had seen Nairobi only within the walls of the KICC. Nairobi was much bigger than that. Since the session was concluding, he invited everyone to take the opportunity to take the excursions put together for them and to  take advantage of what Kenya and East Africa WT/MIN(15)/SR/9 
 
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  had to offer. He hoped that everyone would grab the opportunity in the future to come back to 
Kenya.  
3.31.  The Tenth Session of the Ministerial Conference closed at 6.20 p.m. 
__________