WT/GC/W/709, TN/C/W/70  
TN/AG/W/10, TN/MA/W/143  
TN/S/W/62  
23 November 2015  
(15-6192)  Page: 1/2  
General Council 
Trade Negotiations Committee 
Committee on Agriculture Special Session 
Negotiating Group on Market Access  Council for Trade in Services Special Session 
 Original: English  
 
 DRAFT DECISION TO PRESERVE FLEXIB ILITIES IN FAVOUR OF DEVELOPING 
COUNTRIES, IN PARTICULAR LDCS, SVES AND NFIDCS IN AGRICULTURE, NAMA AND 
SERVICES NEGOTIATIONS AS A STARTING POINT 
TEXTUAL PROPOSAL FURTHER TO JOB/TNC/50 
The following communication, dated 19 November 2015, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Barbados on behalf of the ACP Group of States. 
 
_______________ 
 
 
The Ministerial Conference,   
Having regard to paragraph 1 of Article IX of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World 
Trade Organization;  
Re-emphasising the central importance of the development objectives set out in the Doha 
Ministerial Declaration and early agreements that may be reached pursuant to paragraph 47, as well as to all our subsequent decisions and declarations and the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the WTO; 
 
Reaffirming  that special and differential treatment for developing countries, in particular least-
developed countries (LDCs), small vulnerable economies (SVEs), and Net Food-Importing 
Developing Countries (NFIDCs), shall be an integral part of all future negotiations and shall be 
embodied in schedules of concessions and commitments and as appropriate in the rules and disciplines to be negotiated, so as to be operat ionally effective and to enable developing country 
Members to effectively take account of their deve lopment needs as set out in paragraph 13 and 16 
of the Doha Ministerial Declaration; 
 
Mindful  that in recognition of the 20
th anniversary of the WTO, development decisions must be 
taken at our Tenth Session; 
 Decides as follows: 
 
1.1.  Subject to any adjustments in commitment s to be agreed by Members, negotiations on 
agriculture and non-agriculture market access (NAMA), shall, as a starting point, include the 
following elements, as part of exchange of commitments by all WTO Members: 
a. The principles behind the flexibilities stabilized so far for LDCs, SVEs, NFIDCs, countries 
with low binding coverage, and recently acceded Members among these groups, will be preserved. These flexibilities include: exemption from tariff reduction for LDCs and 
countries with low binding coverage, lower reduction commitments for SVEs, longer 
implementation periods; exemption from undertaking reduction commitments in OTDS, AMS and de minimis ; continuation of the provisions under Article 6.2 of the Uruguay 
Round Agreement on Agriculture; and the principle of less than full reciprocity (LTFR);  WT/GC/W/709 • TN/C/W/70 • TN/AG/W/10 • TN/MA/W/143 • TN/S/W/62 
 
- 2 - 
 
  b. In continued NAMA negotiations, tariff reduction for those developing country Members 
that are part of a customs union of developing countries which include LDCs and SVEs shall be no more than the average tariff reduction of all the Members of the customs 
union and shall in no case result in final tariffs that are below the Common External 
Tariff. The tariff reduction commitments shall also be moderated to avoid widening 
divergences in tariff bindings amongst the Members of such customs unions; and 
c. Such flexibilities will be adjusted according to any agreement on other formulas as 
appropriate and in a manner that does not undermine the principles that frame them. 
1.2.  The existing flexibilities for developing countries, in particular LDCs and SVEs, in the services 
negotiations found in GATS Articles IV and XIX; the Negotiating Guidelines and Procedures; and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, including Annex C, including those for LDCs, which do not 
contain any concept of reciprocity in the content of offers, shall be adhered to. Therefore, the 
negotiating modality should not change the architecture of the GATS and these flexibilities. In that regard, developing country Members, in particular LDCs and SVEs, shall not be compelled to 
expand the number of their offers or to bind their existing liberalization. Developing country 
Members, in particular LDCs and SVEs are free to provide offers at any time and negotiate with other Members consistent with the request-offe r modality and in line with their development 
objectives.  
__________