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WT/COMTD/SE/M/30  
 
25 February 2016  
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Committee on Trade and Development 
Thirtieth Dedicated Session    
   
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 29 OCTOBER 2015 
Chairperson: H.E. Mr. Juan Esteban Aguirre Martínez (Paraguay) 
 
A.
 ADOPTION OF TH E AGENDA .................................................................................... 1  
B. "CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES EXPERIENCED BY SMALL ECONOMIES 
WHEN LINKING INTO GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS IN TRADE IN GOODS AND 
SERVICES" (WT/COMT D/SE/W/31) ................................................................................ 1  
(i) Value Chains in Agri-food and Seafood (Sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2)  ................................... 2  
-  Presentation by the Standards an d Trade Development Facility ....................................... 2  
-  Presentation by the Intern ational Trade Centre ............................................................. 5  
(ii) Future Work  ........................................................................................................... 11 
C. PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG  MINISTERIAL DECLARATION: 
MONITORING PROGRESS OF THE SMALL ECONOMIES' PROPOSALS IN THE 
NEGOTIATING GROUPS AND OTHER WTO BO DIES ......................................................... 12  
-  Work Programme on Small Economies - Compilation paper prepared by the 
Secretariat (WT/COMT D/SE/W/22/Rev.7) ............................................................................ 12 
D. WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES: DRAFT REPORT OF THE CTD 
IN DEDICATED SESSION TO THE GENERA L COUNCIL (WT/COMT D/SE/W/32) .............. 12  
E. OTHER BUSINESS .................................................................................................. 13  
 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The draft agenda as contained in document WTO/AIR/COMTD/SE/2 of 14 October 2015 was 
adopted. 
2. The representative of the United States said th at based on the discussion at the last meeting 
and subsequent consultations, her delegation was of the impression that any decision on the way 
forward in the Dedicated Session was still open for discussion. While it was obviously too late at 
this stage to make substantive changes to the agenda, she asked that agendas for future meetings 
reflect the current state of discussions among Members. The Dedicated Session took note of the statement.  
B. "CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES EXPERIENCED BY SMALL ECONOMIES WHEN 
LINKING INTO GLOBAL VALUE CHAINS IN TRADE IN GOODS AND SERVICES" (WT/COMTD/SE/W/31) 
3. The Chairman said that the background pape r prepared by the Secretariat had been the 
focus of the Dedicated Session's last meeting on 5 June 2015 and had generated much discussion. 
He said that at the last meeting it seemed clear that Members had just scratched the surface of the topic on challenges and opportunities which value chains present for small economies and that WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  a lot of work still remained. Furthermore, several Members had said that they wished to revert to 
the paper at future meetings. Others requested more clarification as to which aspects of the topics of small economies and local value chains should be discussed at future meetings. The Chairman explained that during some recent consultations with Members, he had proposed that the 
Dedicated Session use the outline of the Secretariat paper itself as the basis for further discussion. 
Such an approach would allow Members to look at the various challenges and opportunities which each sector presented and could help to focus discussion on the specific issues. He said there was 
broad agreement for such an approach. 
4. He recalled that the first two sectors examined in the report concerned the agri-food and 
seafood sectors. Since these two topics would serve as the basis for discussion for the current meeting, representatives from the Standards an d Trade Development Faci lity (STDF) and the 
International Trade Centre (ITC) had been invite d to explain their work in these two areas. 
5. The Chairman noted that the agri-food value chain had undergone significant changes over 
the last decades. This was due mainly to populati on growth, urbanization, changing diets, progress 
in information and communication technologies as well as a structural transformation of retail 
markets. He said agri-food value chains were mainly buyer-driven chains, which meant that typically large retailers or food manufacturers constituted the lead firms which vertically 
coordinated the chain. 
6. He explained that the report examined the tr ade flows of some specific products of the 
agri-food chain, mainly cocoa, coffee and fruits  and nuts. In these products, small economies 
tended to be positioned in the initial stages of the value chain which meant that small economies 
were more competitive in primary products as compared to processed products.  
7. He said that in 2013, for example, the share of  small economies in world exports of primary 
coffee was 13% as compared to 0.4% for processed co ffee. Also, in the case of fruits and nuts, the 
world export share of small economies in primary fruits and nuts was 6% compared to only 2% in 
processed fruits and nuts. 
(i) Value Chains in Agri-food and Seafood (Sections 3.1.1 and 3.1.2) 
8. The situation was quite different, however, in regard to seafood value chains which cover 
both capture of fish and aquaculture. Small economies accounted for more than 5% of world fish exports and increasingly participated in the processing stages of fish value chains. Their share in world trade of processed fish increased from 5.2% in 2003 to 6.5% in 2013. Fisheries accounted 
for a substantial part of merchandise exports of small islands such as Cabo Verde (46%), 
Fiji (19%), Maldives (91%), Mauritius (18%) or Seychelles (83%). While small economies in Africa and Asia/Pacific were more dependent on fish exports, small economies in the Caribbean, and 
particularly in Central and South America, were successful exporters of both fish and crustaceans 
such as shrimps. 
- Presentation by the Standards and Trade Development Facility 
9. The Chairman introduced a representative from the WTO Secretariat working in the 
Agriculture and Commodities Division and for the Standards and Trade Development Facility. 
10. The representative from the WTO Secretariat explained that the STDF was a global 
partnership in Sanitary, Phytosanitary (SPS) capacity building and technical cooperation and that it 
had five core partners, mainly the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE), the Food and 
Agricultural Organization (FAO), the World Bank, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the WTO. He said that the facility was housed and managed by the WTO in the Agriculture and 
Commodities Division.  
11. He explained that SPS constraints are frequently identified as major barriers to trade which 
can complicate the entry into global value chains (GVCs). He added that this was well illustrated in 
the Secretariat background note which had been pr epared for the meeting. In general, SPS rules 
and disciplines are to help guide the adoption and enforcement of SPS measures which include 
mandatory rules, regulations and government decrees. These measures affect trade either directly or indirectly and the SPS Agreement tries to st rike a balance between the right of WTO Members WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  to protect human, animal, and plant life or health  and the obligation for them to avoid creating 
unnecessary barriers to trade.  
12. In the development of SPS measures, governments should take care to ensure that the SPS 
measures are non-discriminatory and based on a scientific risk assessment to ensure that the 
measure is not more trade restrictive than necessa ry. Furthermore, they should be transparent. 
The Agreement encourages WTO Members to base their national measures on international standards. These are Codex standards for food safety, International Plant Protection Convention 
(IPPC) standards for plant health and OIE standards in the area of animal health. If national 
measures are based on these international standard s, it follows that there is a presumption of 
compliance. The SPS Agreement also focuses on th e implementation of the measures, particularly 
relevant here is the Annex C for the agreement on control, inspection and approval procedures. 
The implementation of these measures should not disrupt trade more than necessary. It is stated, 
for example, that procedures should be undertake n without due delay, that information should be 
limited to what is necessary and that any fees should reflect the actual costs of the services 
provided. In regard to the new WTO Trade Facilitation Agreement (FTA), he said the Agreement 
would help to reinforce a number of these existing  obligations and add a number of new ones for 
WTO Members to follow.  
13. He explained that recent research in Southe ast Asia had revealed cases of complex and 
lengthy procedures which included excessive document requirements, limited availability of information, multiple inspections, little coordination between border agencies, no access to complaints and appeal procedures and arbitrarin ess. For example, what was happening at one 
border post was not always replicated at another. He said that such actions resulted in longer than 
necessary waiting times, increased uncertainty and increased costs for traders and at times for governments.  
14. He added that ineffective and inefficient SPS controls hampered trade more than necessary 
and resulted in poor health protection. He said a recent World Bank study showed that trade costs in the agricultural area remained stubbornly high, but that measures exist which can be taken to 
cut costs, for example, by streamlining and simpli fying regulations, by implementing a risk-based 
approach with inspections at the borders. More generally, the coordination had to be improved between SPS agencies and customs officials. This could result in a positive impact on countries' competitiveness and, in turn, would facilitate a country's participation in global and regional value 
chains. 
15. Other observations in regard to building SPS capacity included an increased focus on the use 
of non-tariff measures (NTMs). Also, the issue of SPS capacity building was seen to be relatively 
more important for developing countries where the agricultural sector is a mainstay of the 
economy and a key employer.  
16. He noted that meeting international standards had an obvious impact on market access. In 
order to get one's product on the shelf, more was required than just meeting SPS requirements. 
Here private and sustainability standards came into play. Implementing standards also had an 
impact on increasing the domestic health situation in the country and on raising production levels, and could improve food security and lead to mo re poverty reduction. He said that long-term 
investment was needed to control plant pests and animal diseases such as avian influenza, foot 
and mouth disease and fruit fly pests. The latter has been noted as having a major impact on food security. 
17. He recalled that the SPS Agreement was now 20 years old and that a lot of capacity building 
had been provided, especially in the area of spreading technical knowledge and capacity. The 
expectation now was that there would be more of a focus on increasing the institutional capacity of 
countries. This capacity is provided by internatio nal and regional organizations, bilateral donors 
and development banks. He added that all these stakeholders participate in the STDF and that 
there was a growing interest and focus on the role of the private sector and on other innovative financing mechanisms. 
18. He recalled that the STDF operates in a global partnership with the goal being to increase 
the capacity of developing countries to implem ent international standards and SPS requirements. 
Another aim is to improve the ability of developing countries to gain and maintain market access. WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  Aside from the five core partners, there were other organizations which provide a range of 
assistance in regard to SPS measures, including the ITC and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO). 
19. Overall, he said that the STDF is a coordination mechanism amongst providers of SPS 
technical cooperation. To avoid duplication an d to enhance results, the STDF works on two 
different levels: as a knowledge platform to share experiences and discuss cross-cutting topics; and as a funding mechanism to develop projects which support international compliance with SPS 
requirements and which result in establishing ma rket access opportunities. Examples of thematic 
work include public, private partnerships (PPPs) to build SPS capacity which can range from simple coordination mechanisms to co-regulatory approaches and collaboration in improving diagnostic capacity.  
20. Other work has focused on international trade and invasive alien species, the latter being 
species which are not native to natural habitats. He explained that this is a critical area of work for small economies or small islands with unique bio-diversity systems. He cited many islands in the 
Caribbean which were now affected by the spread of  pests such as red palm mite. He said that if 
not properly controlled, palm trees in the region could rapidly disappear, causing an impact on the 
tourism industry. 
21. He described how the STDF was currently working on a guide on how to prioritize SPS 
investment options for market access. This involved prioritizing available resources and deciding on the best options for maximizing returns on in vestments. Another area of research focused on 
trade facilitation and SPS measures with practical research carried out in in Southeast Africa and 
Southeast Asia. In 2016, this work was to focus on electronic certification for SPS measures. 
22. He explained that as far as funding was concerned, the STDF provides advice and support on 
SPS project development through the so-called project preparation grants (PPGs). These grants 
were normally up to US$50,000 but other external resources could also be mobilized. He said that 
the STDF trust fund was a small fund with limited resources, but that since 2004, the STDF had financed 71 PPGs, with 47 in LDCs. For the LDCs in the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) 
programme, the STDF has developed guidelines on how to formulate and design projects. The 
STDF funds four to six projects per year with the bulk of assistance in the SPS area provided bilaterally. He said that the United States (US) and the European Union (EU) were key donors and that in comparison with their significant contribu tions, the STDF trust fund with its US$5 million 
was really quite small.  
23. STDF projects focus on developing and disseminating good practice models which include 
projects which are innovative, collaborative and inter-disciplinary and which reinforce the 
knowledge platform. The STDF contribution to a given project can be up to US$1million for a 
three-year project. However, the total cost of  individual projects was often much higher.  
24. Typical projects are those such as in Sri La nka on improving the quality of fruits and 
vegetables, in Central America on improving veterinary legislation, in Asia on the cocoa value 
chain, in Papua New Guinea and in Latin America on strengthening capacity to meet pesticide export requirements for minor crops where production  globally is not very high. The latter include 
tropical fruits which are important export items fo r many small economies. He explained that such 
crops, because of their low production, do not have any Codex maximum residue limits and are 
therefore not subject to international Codex stan dards. This actually hampers trade in these 
products.  
25. He also discussed a project in Sri Lanka which involved the cinnamon value chain. Trade in 
this spice is a traditional export and one where Sri Lanka actually holds a near monopoly in the world market for true cinnamon. But Sri Lanka was losing market share in the EU and the US due 
to cassia, a lower quality form of cinnamon, and because of its inability to supply the high levels of 
quality product which buyers were demanding. He explained that the STDF project in place aimed to train and deliver a national framework for training operators along the value chain in the cinnamon industry. UNIDO was implementing the project with other partners including the Spice 
Council of Sri Lanka and the FAO. The project wa s worth more than US$2 million with the STDF 
contributing some US$600,000. The project has also led to creating awareness of the "Pure Ceylon WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  Cinnamon" mark internationally and has garnered support for Sri Lanka to obtain a geographical 
indication.  
26. He said that many governments ask how the SDTF can support them and added that all of 
the requirements and criteria for eligibility could be found on the STDF's website. He 
recommended that any country contemplating such projects ensure that the relevant national 
stakeholders are consulted as much as possible, that many governments looking for funding send the STDF a two-page concept note and that requests for funding are considered twice a year. 
27. The representative of Guatemala said the topic just presented was an important one 
especially since meeting SPS standards and requir ements were one of the main problems facing 
small economy exports. She said that the exampl es provided were useful because they showed 
how small economies could improve their export situ ation. In the case of Guatemala, the agri-food 
industry was based on small-scale farming from small plots which had neither the productive 
capacity or the necessary quality needed to ente r into a GVC. She said that there had been an 
increase of cooperatives in the country which allowed the farmers to implement more projects with 
technical support from the government and from programmes such as the STDF. She explained 
that her country faced several difficulties. The first was the problem of evolving standards. Gaining access to a value chain was not as difficult as being able to adjust to changing standards. Many 
producers cannot move at the same pace at which standards evolve and exporters face difficulties 
following up. The second problem was that even when producers are part of a GVC, they have 
difficulty with accessing funds for investment and technology so that they can effectively move up in the GVC. 
28. The representative of El Salvador wished to thank the Secretariat for organizing the 
Dedicated Session to examine the problems facing small economies and to discuss the difficulties 
faced by this group of countries with linking into value chains. She wished to thank the STDF for 
the various projects it was promoting in Centra l America. According to her, one of the main 
barriers which SVEs face in the agri-food sector concerned the vulnerability to external fluctuations in supply and demand. She said that in her courntry, the climate and levels of rainfall play an 
important role and one which could cause the country 's coffee production to fluctuate. As a result, 
about 74% of El Salvador's current production area was affected. This had resulted in a serious economic impact on the country. 
- Presentation by the International Trade Centre  
29. The Chairman then moved on to the second presentation by the ITC.  
30. The representative from the International Trad e Centre explained that one of the key areas 
of her current work is connecting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to GVCs. This 
involved enhancing their competitiveness, trying to diversify their exports and linking SMEs to 
export markets. 
31. She said that if trade is to generate sustai nable growth and employment, more SMEs from 
developing countries should link into value chains. However, one of the main challenges of joining 
a chain is to meet the required sustainability standards. She added that there are challenges with the proliferation of these standards and that thei r increasing number has resulted in a degree of 
confusion amongst exporters. Because standards create challenges for both governments and 
SMEs, the ITC is trying to respond to this challe nge. It started a project in 2009 consisting of a 
global data base that gathered information about sustainability standards in two categories. The first concerns properties of the standards such as auditing, governability and compliance 
requirements for certification. The second component is the standards map, a web tool which the 
ITC has designed and which lists 180 sustainability standards in more than 80 sectors. Examples of some of them include environmental, social management, ethical, quality control and food 
safety standards. 
32. She explained that a component of the pr oject was its sustainability exchange, a 
community-owned platform where users could share knowledge about sustainability issues and find expert advice. Another aspect of the project dealt with capacity building, especially training, 
and projects to identify the needs of differe nt stakeholders, including the companies, the 
producers, governments and the international buye rs who each have different perspectives when WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  dealing with sustainable standards. Users can regist er to use the tool and can examine the specific 
standards which apply to the product of export interest and its destination market. Information is provided on processes such as audit policies, gove rnability of the standard and relevant labelling 
policies. Various requirements associated with the standard are also listed and classified according 
to their sustainability dimensions. There is also a self-assessment module which provides 
producers with a sustainability diagnostic report . For example a score of 30% means the producer 
is in compliance with 30% of the requirements needed to enter a given market.  
33. She referred to the example of the Fiji Crop and Livestock Council. This project was funded 
by the EU and focused on the delivery of key services to agricultural projects in Fiji. This is primarily a tool for farmers, professionals in the agri-food sector, consultants, the government and exporters and importers. It lists all the national food safety regulations which apply to Fiji's farm 
products as well as the international regulations which may apply.  
34. A second representative from the Internatio nal Trade Centre spoke about how standards 
enforcement actually works on the ground in sma ll economies. He wished to provide an overview 
of how ITC addresses such issues and how it works with all the partners along the agri-food value 
chain to achieve compliance with the required standards.  
35. He said that food and agri-business value chains tended to be a bit longer in the producing 
countries compared to manufacturing value chains, therefore making them more complicated.  
36. He also used Fiji as an example and said that there were groups of enterprises in Fiji which 
have experience with exporting to different markets and with processing. He said that some lead farmers had been in business for a number of years as collectors and transporters for the country's 
more than 65,000 small-holder farmers, most of them from poor communities. Some of them had 
only recently been connected to electricity or mobile phones. He asked what standards or SPS issues such as maintaining clear water systems or fighting de-forestization or meeting pesticide 
residue requirements mean to these farmers? Such  requirements pose challenges mainly because 
many of them are not easily understood by poor and rural-based farmers with little education or familiarity with foreign values.  
37. He said that the ITC had been trying to build up networks of multinationals and buyers and 
has been successful in doing so in the more than  40 years of its existence. These companies were 
interested in purchasing from their neighbour and in getting supplies from distant countries from the middle of the Pacific, for example, and were themselves promoting compliance with 
sustainability standards. The same companies were now forming a value chain and innovation and 
development alliances with the ITC. In the Caribbean, the ITC was working with producers of coconuts which were aligned with a number of US, Caribbean and Latin American companies which 
were in the coconut water and oil business. 
38. He explained that the ITC's Standards Map tool breaks down information about standards 
into smaller portions of information which could be compared across different standards. In Fiji, for 
example, the Fiji Food Act was passed in 2009 and ev eryone in the food chain was expected to be 
compliant with the regulations by December 2015.  
39. The ITC regularly organizes participatory workshops where international buyers are brought 
together with suppliers, local enterprises and other specialized agencies such as UNIDO or FAO or 
organizations working in tropical agriculture. He ex plained that the first step in the process was to 
try to represent the standards graphically with all the agents around one. It was an exercise where 
the group tries to identify where a particular sector is not compliant with a given standard. He said 
a good feature of the Standards Map tool is that it splits the standards into those that are 
immediately required for compliance and those which require measures which could be done over a couple of years.  
40. Each of the requirements was then examined as well as its place in the value chain. He said 
that the tool enabled all the participants, the government agencies, the farming enterprises and 
the various support services to see at a glance what needs to be done to begin competing in a particular market. The next stage was to identify where the farmers and producers were in relation 
to the specific value chain being examined. The St andards Maps tool lists the qualifications of 
individual farmers in the industry as well as his qualifications, such as the different certificates he WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  has achieved in connection with the GVC requirements. This can help in organizing the work of the 
sector better and allows for better advanced planning. 
41. He explained that there was also a cluster development approach to GVCs which included 
the private sector and sustainable development part ners. This often includes identifying the ten or 
so farmers who were interested in changing past methods and doing something differently on their 
farm. Once these farmers become competent, they started to instruct their neighbours. 
42. He said that Standards Map had helped because it brought a credible representation of what 
was required in order to compete in certain markets and allowed exporters to self-assess their 
progress towards compliance. In Fiji, such an approach resulted in more than 1,000 farmers 
working in clusters. Their income from cocoa and cocoa beans increased by 30%. Sales of cava also increased. This was mainly because they worked together in the community to improve the 
cleanliness and hygiene of the products and kept records on traceability. In other terms, they 
became more profitable and, in the end, were more sustainable socially, economically and environmentally. This highlighted the importance  of bringing the enterprises and all players 
together from the start in an effort to build trust amongst all the stakeholders. 
43. In summary, he said there were many challenges in identifying the gaps towards integration 
and moving up a value chain. The fact that integration could actually take several years is a point 
which is not often fully understood as donors and partners focus on particular areas of the chain. 
44. The representative of Sri Lanka wished to mention a few ongoing projects in his country 
which were being carried out by the STDF, UNIDO and the ITC. These projects concerned the 
cinnamon value chain and efforts to re-establish the marketing value of Sri Lankan cinnamon 
under the name of "Ceylon Cinnamon", which was a well-established geographical indication for 
cinnamon. The knowledge of cinnamon growing ha s been passed on for centuries, from one 
generation to another. The industry directly involves about 350,000 families with more than 
1.4 million people benefitting from the industry . The US and Mexico are the main markets for 
Ceylon Cinnamon with Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Spain, Guatemala, Chile and Bolivia other major export destinations.  
45. He explained that Sri Lanka accounted for 41% of world exports of cinnamon. However, 
recent industry research showed that the shar e of Sri Lankan cinnamon traded on the world 
market, especially in North America and in the EU, was diminishing annually due to less expensive cinnamon substitutes. Sri Lanka had lost about 50 % of the global trade for cinnamon in the last 
decade despite it having a 90% share of the world market for "true cinnamon". He said that for 
each year over the past ten, Sri Lanka had lost 5% of its global trade share for cinnamon. The main reasons for the loss of competitiveness were  the low prices of substitute products and an 
inability to supply world demand because current cinnamon production was not able to meet the 
necessary bio-product specifications and food-hygiene standards. Other factors included human resource availability, inadequate skills and planni ng and infrastructure difficulties. The analysis 
showed that the cinnamon export industry value chain faced three core issues: scarcity and skills 
migration of cinnamon peelers; lack of an industrialized system to ensure market conformity standards; and weak research and development programmes. Furthermore, a general lack of 
technology and limited access to processing technologies acted as bottlenecks for the industry's 
competitiveness and growth. Other findings included the inability to meet the quality standards of 
the EU and North American markets and under-d eveloped and inappropriate technology for 
product development and packaging improvements. To  address some of these issues, he explained 
that a UNIDO technical-assistance project was started in July 2012 and was expected to finish by 
April 2016. The main objective of the project was to  deliver food-hygiene and safety training to 
workers along the cinnamon value chain, enhance certification of cinnamon processors according 
to national and international standards and support the pure Ceylon Cinnamon mark to gain 
credibility and obtain a geographical indication. As a result of this project, the Sri Lanka Cinnamon Training Academy (CTA) was created to train industry and company officials active in the value chain in the cinnamon industry to increase production capacity, enhance industry and standards 
compliance and elevate the industry  to a national symbol of quality and excellence. Highlighting 
the main characteristics of Ceylon Cinnamon and differentiating it from cassia has been an important element in the branding exercise to ga in competitive advantage. Hence, the brand Pure 
Ceylon Cinnamon has now been registered as a tr ademark in Europe and the US. He also spoke 
about other technical-assistance activities in Sri Lanka supported by the STDF and the ITC. The latter conducted its first NTMs survey in Sri Lanka in 2010. Based on the survey results, the ITC WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  and the STDF initiated a joint project to improve the existing SPS infrastructure in Sri Lanka, 
particularly for the fresh fruits and vegetable sector. The ITC had also been assisting Sri Lanka's Export Development Board on several fronts. A five-year national export strategy had been devised and the ITC was working with the EU delegation in Colombo and Sri Lanka's Department 
of Commerce on a nation-wide project on trade- related capacity building. The project brought 
together a wide cross-section of stakeholders fr om the private and state sectors. He thanked the 
STDF, UNIDO and the ITC for all the support  they have extended to Sri Lanka.  
46. The representative of Chinese Taipei wished  to share Chinese Taipei's experience in 
aquaculture. According to the FAO, Chinese Taipei ranked number 18 in the aqua-culture industry 
in the world. She said that the annual production  value is 300,000 tonnes or 0.4% of world share. 
Chinese Taipei's production value of the fish  "coopers" ranks number one in the world. The 
aquaculture companies cooperate with companies in Southeast Asia as part of a regional value 
chain for coopers fish. She said the example was relevant for SVEs for establishing regional or 
global value chains in fisheries or aquaculture. She added that the work of the STDF is crucial for 
SVEs and that Chinese Taipei would continue to donate funds. Chinese Taipei contributed some 
US$80,000 in 2014 and expressed its continued commitment to the fund.  
47. The representative of Guatemala raised the importance of financing in relation to voluntary 
and mandatory standards. She said that the costs involved with complying with these standards 
were not necessarily covered by SMEs and producers. She asked the presenters if any assistance existed to help producers meet the costs since this issue was of great importance to Guatemala. 
48. The representative from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 
(UNCTAD) wanted to share observations on the presentation and background note made by the 
Secretariat. He remarked on the increased fragmentation and the rise of GVCs in general, which created opportunities but also challenges for SVEs.  In regard to the opportunities, he mentioned 
the possibility of specializing in certain tasks. For example, countries would not have to prepare a 
whole laptop but instead prepare certain componen ts, which could be considered an opportunity. 
He raised the challenges faced by SVEs including how GVCs could influence regional GVCs. For 
instance, SVEs were often remote to the three economic agglomerates (North America, Europe 
and Southeast Asia), resulting in an additional transportation and cost challenge for them. He mentioned how the Secretariat note clearly highlighted such opportunities and challenges for SVEs. 
49. In regard to agri-food and fish production, he noted that there was an increase in the 
fragmentation of production and that many developed countries exported fish and fish products to developing countries where the fish were filleted and packaged and then re-exported to developed 
countries. He said that not only was there a rise in GVCs but an increase in the complexity of the 
production. Alongside such complexity, there had been an increase and demand for fish products, mainly in developing countries. Furthermore, the depletion of fish stocks in many areas led to an 
increase of about 5% in the international trade for fish in 2014. He saw this as an opportunity for 
SVEs where fish exports make up 7% of total exports, whereas it was only 1% or less for developing countries in general. So SVEs clearly had a comparative advantage here.  
50. He said that tariffs were no longer the main obstacle for exports from SVEs. As was noted in 
the report, the main obstacles for SVE exporters we re the many public and private standards. On 
a v e r a g e ,  a g r i c u l t u r a l  e x p o r t s  f r o m  S V E s  f a c e  t a r i f f s  o f  a r o u n d  5 % .  H o w e v e r ,  i f  N T M s  w e r e  expressed as an equivalent term, another 25% wo uld be added. He explained that the barrier 
effect was, therefore, around 30% with 5% coming from tariffs and 25% from NTMs. He added 
that if these figures were further disaggregated, it would be seen that SPS measures in developed countries have tariff equivalents of around 22%, Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) has 13%, and 
other barriers including anti-dumping would represent only 2%. He said SPS is, therefore, an 
important component of cost and that SVEs and low-income countries were disproportionately affected because the cost of compliance was ofte n higher for them than for other countries. The 
additional cost could lead to trade diversion and he cited a recent study by UNCTAD which showed 
that trade diversion accounted for 14% of total agricultural exports.  
51. SVEs needed to comply with SPS measures in their export markets. He said that there was 
simply no way around this. But one way to address these measures was through technical 
assistance and financial support. SVEs, meanwhile, should also try to streamline NTMs in their own 
countries and learn how to make better use of such instruments. Transparency was another issue WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  and he explained that UNCTAD had an initiative  with the World Bank, the ITC and the African 
Development Bank. The Transparency and Trade Init iative seeks to improve transparency of NTMs. 
52. He emphasized the importance of international standards and that while NTMs can make 
trade more difficult, in some cases it can also help to enhance trade. If countries have relatively 
similar structures in their SPS and TBT regulations, they usually find it much easier to trade with 
one another. If they have very different regulation s, then the barrier effect is higher. He explained 
that this was also an important factor in a regional setting. In certain regional agreements, 
countries try to harmonize their NTMs. In this regard, UNCTAD provides support to various regions 
so that they can harmonize their respective measures. However, it was important not to forget the multilateral level since it was not desirable to have different standards in different regions. He stressed the importance of trying to harmonize standards at the global level rather than having 
different standards in different regions. 
53. The representative of Fiji thanked the ITC for its presentation and said that Fiji has 
benefitted from the ITC's Standards Maps tool. One of the main beneficiaries of this work was the 
agricultural sector. Farmers had sourced raw materials and began manufacturing high-value, niche 
products such as lemon grass, tea bags, pickle s, jams, honey, spices, cassava, flour and dried 
fruits. These efforts had generated significantly more income for many rural farmers and had 
created opportunities where few or none had exis ted before. They had also empowered women in 
Fiji economically.  
54. Fiji's agriculture and livestock council had partnered with the ITC and had gained knowledge 
concerning best farming methods and about standa rds required in key export destinations. One 
good example was ginger which was sourced as raw baby ginger from farmers and was then 
crystalized and sugar-coated before being export ed to the EU market. She explained that ITC's 
projects and accompanying training had resulted in much higher quality products which provided 
farmers with income which was several times higher compared to previous levels.  
55. The representative from the International Trade Centre wished to respond to a question 
from Guatemala in regard to compliance costs for voluntary standards. She said that Standards 
Map featured information on costs and provided information on how SMEs could find assistance to 
finance such costs. She said that in regard to voluntary standards, it was important to remember that the producer or a company has to have a target market in mind. If not, there was little incentive to meet a regulation that was not mandatory. She explained that the ITC offered 
capacity-building programmes and training on how to interpret such standards. However, since 
this was not enough, the ITC also develops "per sonalized platforms" where producers can show 
products in compliance with specific voluntary commitments and find potential buyers on the 
international market. The platforms help bring producers together with buyers. Such a project 
which includes producers and companies from developing countries was already under way with large retailers in Europe and the US.  
56. She said that such a platform had been developed for Colombian cacao producers. It helped 
farmers and producers establish basic criteria in order to implement sustainable practices in their production and trade of cacao without having to apply a particular international standard. She explained that by understanding what sustainabl e practices were and how they were applied in 
their production strategies, farmers gained negotiating power. These methods of production 
provided starting points for producers to enter in to value chains by implementing the sustainable 
practices step by step. In turn, buyers could then provide either technical or financial assistance to 
producers with potential.  
57. The representative from the Standards and Trad e Development Facility said that NTMs such 
as SPS and TBT measures were major issues which exist alongside others such as access to 
transport and access to credit or trade finance. He was of the view that a higher level of standards 
compliance depends on a country's or a producer's market as was seen in the ITC's presentation on Fiji. It was seen that each market was different. If producers wish to supply a higher-end market, they must invest more. In return, they will  most likely also get a higher price per product. 
If producers only supply the domestic market, then their investments are lower but they compete 
more on price factors. He said that this was mainly a business decision. Ideally, what should happen over time is that more producers meet more standards and are, therefore, able to target 
different markets where more investment is needed and where the standards are higher. But this 
takes time. The STDF has observed instances wh ere the absorption capacity in government WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  administrations, in SPS agencies for instance, is limited. For that reason, the STDF has developed 
the SPS market access prioritization tool where the various SPS investment opportunities are identified according to where to invest and where the highest returns are possible. One reason also for developing this tool is transparency. He said that very often it is those people in government 
agencies with good political connections that succeed. But good results can be achieved if the 
public and private sectors are brought together to decide which projects were worthy of investing 
in. Such a tool has been applied in Africa, in a number of countries with support from the 
Commom Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the United States Department of 
Agriculture (USDA) and the United States Agency  for International Development (USAID). It has 
also been applied in Belize with very good resu lts. He explained that the Belize agriculture and 
health authority had used the tool and identified  the poultry sector as one area which needed 
further investment. Their efforts led to a significant increase in poultry production and in poultry 
exports. 
58. In regard to a question about the terms of SPS measures, the STDF representative 
explained that these were essentially government regulations but that they are ideally based on 
international standards, such as Codex standards or OIE standards. If countries planned to adopt 
new SPS measures they needed to notify these in advance to other Members for comment. He said 
that this was another example of a transparency  mechanism, which he thought should be used 
more often.  
59. In regard to private standards such as sustaina bility standards, he explained that there was 
an ongoing discussion in the context of the SPS Committee. While some of these private standards 
were food safety related, many also looked at social and environmental protection issues and are 
outside the SPS realm. He said that a recurring problem was the proliferation of a lot of different private standard schemes and the resulting increase in  the cost of certification. In the food safety 
area, there are initiatives like global food safety initiatives (GFSI) where major retailers get 
together. One of the objectives of the initiative is to benchmark food safety private standard schemes against each other. 
60. The second speaker from the International Trade Centre wished to address questions related 
to access to finance. He said that in many countries, development financing professionals, 
commercial banks with development financing operations, even microfinancing teams, were considering proposals by enterprise or by individuals who were part of a chain or community 
without having a perspective of the whole chain. Th is was also true for the fisheries and agri-food 
sectors. The days when agricultural banks empl oyed bankers who also understood agriculture are 
long gone, especially in Europe. Through ITC's A ccess to Finance programme, financing institutions 
learn more about how to consider all the aspects between partners along the value chain. This has 
worked extremely well in Fiji, for example, wh ere officials had an enlightened approach to 
financing for development. They also developed a tool called a farmer planner tool which is based 
on tried and tested results and yields of measuremen ts of farms in Fiji for different sectors. This 
helps bankers look at the proposals and decide whet her they are based on reliable figures or not.  
61. He said that it was also important to look at segments of the value chains and at how much 
financing each requires in order to meet specific standards. This helps to identify what kind of 
financing mechanisms are most suitable as well as assessing the skills and qualifications of the 
farmers. 
62. He explained that the challenge today appears to be developing financing proposals which 
are related to good business plans and which contained robust information. It was equally 
important to follow-up afterwards in a coordinated way and to repay outstanding loans. Another point he stressed was really important is that these days local suppliers compete with imported 
goods, mainly from developed countries. This can lead to "imported standards competition" 
because local businesses compete with very well packaged and labelled products which clearly meet all the required hygiene and food safety standards. 
63. The Chairman said that the Dedicated Session had had a very comprehensive discussion 
about agri-food and seafood and value chains an d the challenges faced by SVEs. He suggested 
that Members continue their examination of the Secretariat paper with a focus on the textiles and apparel sector. He suggested inviting outside speakers to assist the Dedicated Session with its 
discussion. These speakers would be experts and would focus their interventions mainly on the WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  opportunities and challenges which SVEs face when linking into GVCs. He asked if this was 
agreeable to Members. 
(ii) Future Work  
64. The representative of the United States requested that before considering whether to 
proceed with future presentations in the Dedicate d Session on other elements of the Secretariat 
report, a written proposal should be circulated. Such a proposal would describe the subjects to be discussed at the next meeting and should also reflect the questions and discussions from the 
previous meeting held on 5 June. She believed th at some of the discussions from that meeting 
should be considered before proceeding. She added that it would also be helpful if Members discussed in advance which organizations should give presentations in future sessions. She believed that Members would likely have suggestio ns about other organizations with expertise in 
specific areas and asked if the Chairman could ask for suggestions. 
65. The Chairman took note of the comments made by  the representative of the United States.  
66. The representative of Guatemala said that the Chairman's proposal was a good way to move 
forward with the work in the Dedicated Session and asked that the study and a focus on textiles 
and apparel trade be included on the agenda for the next meeting. She agreed that the Dedicated 
Session should be working with other organizations, just as in the present meeting. This allows a 
sharing of information and adds value to the discussion. She questioned comments made in regard 
to holding consultations about how future meetings should be organized. She said that those delegations which were interested in the study should identify organizations which they would like to come and add to the discussion. This had been  done in past Dedicated Sessions and in other 
committees. She supported this way of working and,  as Coordinator of the SVEs, said she would 
suggest the organizations that should come to the next meeting. 
67. The representative of El Salvador wished to thank the Chairman and the Secretariat for 
organizing the meeting. She said that everythi ng that had been discussed would contribute to 
strengthening the implementation of the work programme for SVEs. She supported Guatemala in its capacity as Group Coordinator to prepare the next meeting on textiles and apparel, as had been 
requested by individual delegations. This wo uld help contribute to the discussions of the 
Secretariat paper. 
68. The representative of Sri Lanka took the oppo rtunity to thank the WTO, the STDF, UNCTAD 
and the ITC for their continuous support toward the projects in Sri Lanka. With regard to the 
proposal made by the SVE coordinator, he supported the idea of taking up the topic of textiles and 
a p p a r e l  a t  t h e  n e x t  m e e t i n g .  H e  e x p l a i n e d  t h a t  t h e  m a i n  s o u r c e  o f  i n c o m e  f o r  m o s t  S M E s  i n  Sri Lanka came from the textiles and apparel sector. This was to be understood in terms of 
exports, in terms of employment and in terms of the economic relationships that gradually filtered 
into other areas. He said that most of the textile production was exported under concessionary arrangements to major buying countries or other importing countries. Sometimes, the changes or 
processes that had to be undertaken to qualify for these types of concessions made it difficult to 
increase activities in this industry. He said that  Sri Lanka enjoyed preferential market access under 
GSP to the EU. Processing requirements meant th at yarn had to be converted to textiles and 
textiles into apparel. He explained that meeting such requirements was not always feasible, 
particularly for countries like Sri Lanka, where cotton was not grown and had to be imported. 
Sourcing becomes difficult because if imports to Sri Lanka come from countries which had graduated from GSP schemes, then the final product does not qualify for rules of origin benefits 
granted by the EU, for example. He explained th at such difficulties were experienced by many 
smaller countries. He thought it would be important to take up this subject at the next meeting and discuss in further detail the value chain opportunities and the impediments or constraints that 
small economies experience. 
69. The representative of Dominica thanked the presenters for their presentations. She 
supported the approach that the SVE Coordinator put forward with regard to future work in terms 
of the topic to be discussed at the next session as well as the agencies and organizations which 
would be invited to participate. WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  70. The representative of Panama thanked the pr esenters and mentioned her support for the 
proposal to discuss textiles and apparel at the next session. She hoped to be able to count on the 
participation of other international organizations since her delegation found these topics and presentations very interesting and enriching. 
71. The representative of the Dominican Republic echoed the words of Guatemala, El Salvador 
and Panama and wished to continue work on the paper and discuss textiles and apparel as the 
next topic. 
72. The Chairman suggested that Guatemala, as Coordinator, and other interested countries 
could have a discussion with the US on how to move forward with work in the Dedicated Session. 
He said that Members had gained from the discussi ons by focusing on the document prepared by 
the Secretariat. This was important and it would be helpful if Members could focus on other sectors 
identified in the paper such as textiles and apparel. 
73. The representative of the United States clarified that her delegation's understanding was 
that that there would be a discussion on the way forward based on a Member-driven proposal that 
would come from the SVEs. The proposal was raised  by the SVE Coordinator at the June meeting, 
after which small group consultations had been he ld. She suggested that a written proposal be 
issued for what exactly would be discussed with regard to the study. She said that there were a lot 
of aspects to each of the individual sectors that were profiled in the study which could be 
discussed in future sessions and thought Members would benefit from having a written proposal outlining what was to be discussed, followed by a Member-driven process to identify appropriate 
speakers. 
74. The representative of Guatemala said that the proposal her delegation had in mind was to 
continue discussion in the Dedicated Session along the lines of the document's structure, going 
into further depth as was done today with different speakers from organizations cited in the 
document itself. Her idea was use the document's outline to move to the next topic which was 
textiles and apparel. She asked whether the US was open to discussing this topic at the next meeting. There had been no opposition to cont inuing along the lines of the document and she 
asked whether a written proposal was needed when the proposal had already been agreed. 
75. The Chairman said that further clarification was needed. He said that he did not see any 
contradictions but just wanted to clarify the way forward. He suggested that Members discuss the 
next steps of the Dedicated Sessions as soon as they had an opportunity. 
C. PARAGRAPH 41 OF THE HONG KONG MINI STERIAL DECLARATION: MONITORING 
PROGRESS OF THE SMALL ECONOMIES' PROPOSALS IN THE NEGOTIATING GROUPS AND OTHER WTO BODIES  
- Work Programme on Small Economies - Compilation paper prepared by the 
Secretariat (WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.7) 
76. The Chairman said that the latest compilati on paper had been circulated on 16 October 
2015. It was the 7th revision of this document. He aske d if any Member had any comments about 
the compilation. 
77. The representative of Guatemala, on behalf of the SVEs, thanked the Secretariat for having 
updated the document. She believed that it reflected the work that had been carried out by the 
Dedicated Session and the SVEs as a group. 
78. The Chairman took note of the report.  
D. WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES: DRAFT REPORT OF THE CTD IN 
DEDICATED SESSION TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL (WT/COMTD/SE/W/32) 
79. The Chairman moved to the next agenda item concerning the Dedicated Session's report to 
the General Council. He explained that on 19 October a draft report to the General Council on the 
Dedicated Sessions Work Programme on Small Econ omies had been distributed to all Members in 
document (WT/COMTD/SE/W/32). He said that the report indicated that paragraphs 2.4, 3.2 and WT/COMTD/SE/M/30 
 
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  3.3 would be added to the report based on the present meeting. He said that Guatemala, on behalf 
of the SVEs, had circulated some text to be includ ed in the draft report and that it had been the 
only submission received to date. It was based on the CTD's previous reports to the General Council and included a reference to the co mpilation paper, which had just been discussed, 
and reflected the work of the Dedicated Session up to the Tenth Ministerial Conference. It also 
recommended that Ministers take note of work carried out since the last Ministerial, including that on the challenges and opportunities faced by small economies when linking into GVCs in trade, in 
goods and services. Finally, it proposed that the General Council request the Secretariat to conduct 
work on the challenges small economies experien ce in their efforts to reduce trade costs, 
particularly in the area of trade facilitation. As fo r section 2.4 of the report, the Chairman said that 
it concerned the text for what had transpired at the current meeting and suggested a short 
paragraph. He proposed to circulate a revised version of the report to Members which would 
include his comments and the proposals submitted by Guatemala, on behalf of the SVEs. 
80. The Chairman took note of the statements  made and thanked the speakers and the 
Secretariat for their contributions. He said that the Dedicated Session's report would be forwarded 
to the General Council.  
E. OTHER BUSINESS 
81. No matter was raised under "Other Business". 
82. The meeting was adjourned. 
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