WT/MIN(13)/ST/56  
5 December 2013  
(13-6712)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference  
Ninth Session 
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: Spanish  
 
  STATEMENT BY H.E. MRS ANGÉLICA CECILIA NAVARRO LLANOS 
AMBASSADOR, PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE 
PLURINATIONAL STATE OF BOLIVIA  
We should first of all like to convey our sincerest thanks to the Government of Indonesia 
for its hospitality and the excellent organization of this Ninth WTO Ministerial Conference. 
I wish to begin by stressing that one characteristic of the new management of the Organization 
in Geneva is greater transparency and inclusiveness in the negotiating process, as should have 
been the case in the past. We certainly hope that this positive practice will continue throughout 
the entire Ministerial Conference and beyond. We believe that it is the fairest practice and hope that there will not be a return to the negative and inefficient ones of the past. Allow me now 
to present a brief analysis from Bolivia's point of view of the situation we are currently facing. 
Grosso modo, we consider that it could be described as a "topsy-turvy world". Let me explain what I mean by this. 
This is a topsy-turvy world because, whilst the majority of Members will have to make major 
changes to their rules and regulations in order to bring themselves into line with the provisions of the trade facilitation text, according to our preliminary analysis, certain developed countries will not have to make any - or only very minor - ch anges to their existing rules and regulations, 
not only in the area of trade facilitation, but also in agriculture. In WTO terms, this would be the 
equivalent of almost LDC-plus trea tment in favour of rich countries. 
This is a topsy-turvy world because the best special and differential treatment provided for in this 
package will be granted to a developed country through an opt-out clause, which will grant 
the Member in question exemption from obligatio ns under the tariff rate quota administration 
mechanism after six years, thanks to what is  known as Annex B (in my country we would 
informally say that this country has hit the jackpot). We developing countries have not been 
so fortunate; we have not obtained treatment this generous even in respect of trade facilitation, for example. 
This is a topsy-turvy world because the work undertaken collectively two years ago involved 
a LDC-plus package that has now turned into a TF-plus package. 
This is a topsy-turvy world because developed countries obtained peace clauses for agriculture 
under the Uruguay Round that were more wide-ran ging and effective than the peace clause that 
developing countries could obtain in Bali to address the major issue of their food security. 
The results are unsatisfactory because they are subject to onerous conditions as regards their use and have a duration of only four years at present,  as though hunger or food security in developing 
countries were to be resolved in four years by a WTO ministerial decree. 
This is a topsy-turvy world because serious problems of distortion in agricultural trade dating back 
to before the Uruguay Round, in particular export subsidies, have remained unresolved 
for decades in spite of their being a priority for de veloping countries. However, one of the priorities 
on the rich countries' work programme, namely trade facilitation, could well be completed only 
eight years after being reintroduced at the Si xth Ministerial Conference, despite the almost 
unanimous opposition of developing countries in Singapore years earlier. WT/MIN(13)/ST/56 
- 2 - 
  This is a topsy-turvy world because issues which are of scant interest to most developing 
countries, such as trade facilitation, could finally evolve into a permanent agreement with binding WTO rules, whereas issues of great interest to such countries either have short periods of application - four years for food security and six years for tariff rate quota administration – 
or are merely the subject of non-legally binding political statements, as in the case of export 
competition, for example. 
This is a topsy-turvy world because it seems that this scenario is likely to repeat itself right 
up until the very end of the Doha Round. By this I mean that issues of little or no interest to the 
great majority of developing countries, such as trade facilitation, services, investment, government procurement and environmental goods, wi ll be presented to us at each Ministerial, 
while little or nothing is tabled on the issues of concern to developing countries, 
such as agriculture, development, LDCs, implementation, inter alia . The development round will 
thus be gradually striped of its substantive conten t, namely development, until it becomes almost 
devoid of its original purpose. 
It goes without saying that this is an inherited situation that has its roots in the erroneous 
practices of the past, of which we have cited but a few examples. We are also aware that the Director-General is now striving to rectify some of these shortcomings. However, it should 
be understood that, in the face of so many instances of injustice and imbalance, my country finds 
it difficult to accept a package which is so unfavourable to the interests of many developing countries, especially when we have not had the opportunity to conduct a collective, across-the-board assessment of our possible gains, if any are indeed to be had, 
or, more importantly, to realistically assess our potential losses with regard to policy space, 
social and economic costs, the resources that will need to be diverted to ensure that the changes 
required by trade facilitation are sustainable, and the cost of having to renegotiate food security, 
export competition and tariff rate quota administration in four or six years, not to mention 
a probable worsening of the trade deficit, inter alia . 
Bolivia stands ready to work constructively on a post-Bali scenario, which will constitute a first step 
towards setting to rights this unfair and imbalanced topsy-turvy world that is being sought 
to be promoted here. Bolivia is also prepared to support the adoption of the LDC package at this Ministerial Conference, should these countries so wish. Our country does however ask that it not be expected to endorse a package that would exacerbate the topsy-turvy world that is 
the WTO. 
 
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