. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/COMTD/W/191 
15 November 2012  
 
(12-6290) 
Committee on Trade and Development  Original:   English 
 
 
 
SUPPORTING MINISTERS' GUIDANCE FOR FOCUSED WORK  
IN THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT 
 
Proposal from Australia, Chile, Colombia and Singapore  
  
 The following communication, dated 14 November 2012, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegations of Australia, Chile, Colombia and Singapore
. 
  
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 1. The political guidance section of the MC8 Chair' s Summary records that Ministers "call for 
focused work in the Committee on Trade and Deve lopment (CTD)" and "call on WTO Members to 
fully operationalize the mandate of the CT D as a focal point for development work" 
(WT/MIN(11)/11).  
2. As one element, Members could benefit from presentations in the CTD on individual 
Members' participation in the multilateral trading system and its effect on that Member's economic 
development.  
3. Given the diversity of experiences among Members, any Member wishing to make a 
presentation would be able to determine the topi cs they would like to discuss in describing their 
individual experiences.  This would allow for maxi mum flexibility and avoid a "one-size fits all" 
approach.  Individual Members would be able to de termine the level of detail in their presentations, 
but simple, clear presentations are envisaged to maximise the opportunity for discussion.  To facilitate this discussion, Members may wish to share the ke y points of their presentations in advance.  As 
succinct presentations with the format and content determined by individual Members, there would be 
minimal burden on developing countries in presenting their country experiences, or participating in 
the discussion.  
4. These presentations would be distinct from th e more detailed and comprehensive reports 
prepared by Members as part of their periodic Tr ade Policy Reviews, as Members would identify the 
priorities they want to present on, rather th an following a standard format.  The proposed 
presentations would also be more succinct than  those that take place through the Trade Policy 
Reviews.  The presentations would also be dis tinct from discussions in the CTD Aid for Trade 
sessions, which focus specifically on development assistance and trade.  Although the role of 
development assistance could be one feature Members may wish to emphasise in their presentations, a range of other trade policy matters could be cove red in explaining how an individual Member has 
used trade for its development.  
5. Such a discussion could contribute to the effort to more "fully operationalize" the CTD 
mandate, which, inter alia , gives the Committee a role to "keep under continuous review the 
participation of developing country  Members in the multilat eral trading system" (WT/L/46).  Discussion WT/COMTD/W/191 
Page 2  
 
  of how individual Members have used participation in the multilateral trading system for their own 
development would make a positive contributi on to this process of continuous review.  
6. This work would not replace any other elem ent of discussion in the CTD.  It would 
complement existing discussions, adding value by in cluding an important, new perspective focused on 
pragmatic sharing of Member experiences. 
 
 
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