WT/MIN(17)/51  
12 December 2017 
(17-6842) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh  Session  
Buenos Aires , 10-13 December 20 17 Original: English  
 
MINISTERIAL DECLARATION ADOPTED AT THE FIRST MEETING OF  
TRADE MINISTERS OF THE g7+ WTO ACCESSIONS GROUP  
BUENOS AIRES, ARGENT INA, 10 DECEMBER 201 7 
The following communication, dated 1 1 December 2017, is being circulated at the request of the 
Ministers responsible for Trade and the Heads of Delegations of Afghanistan, Comoros, Liberia, 
Somalia, South Sudan, Timor -Leste and Yemen.  
_______________  
 
We, the Ministers responsible for trade and Heads of delegations of Afghanistan, Comoros, Liberia, 
Somalia, South Sudan, Timor -Leste and Yemen, have met in Buenos Aires, Argentina on  
10 December  2017 on the margins of the Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference (MC11).  
Emphasizing  the specific chall enges faced by fragile and conflict affected states on their way to 
sound economic foundation, security and peace;  
Recognizing the role of international trade as a universal instrument for economic growth, 
employment and development and the importance of t he meaningful and effective participation in 
the multilateral trading system t o help address these challenges;  
Underlining  the need for enhanced cooperation and support to ensure faster integration of these 
states in the global economy and t he multilateral  trading system;  
We officially inaugurate the g7+ WTO Accessions Group, as a  sub-group of the g7+, comprising of 
its WTO Article XII Members and WTO acceding governments, with the objective of establishing a 
platform for targeted facilitation and tailored support of the WTO accession and post -accession 
efforts of fragile and conflict affected states, aimed at re -building their economies through WTO -
related structural reforms, the establishment of credible economic and institutional frameworks, 
and the enhan cement of tr ansparency and good governance.  
We express gratitude to WTO Members and the international trade community for the consistent 
support provided to WTO accessions of the fragile and post conflict states. These concerted efforts 
have helped realize  WTO membership of Yemen in 2014, Liberia and Afghanistan in 2016 and have 
promoted the sustained use of the WTO accession process for peacebuilding and su stainable 
economic development.  
Despite this progress, several g 7+ states remain outside of the WTO and are proactively pursuing 
their accessions. Mindful of their specific trade and economic challenges and the urgency in 
addressing  them to help forge pathways out of conflict and fragility, we call upon the expediting 
and completion of the WTO accessions  of these states, on terms designed to contribute to their 
economic growth and development . 
We call on WTO Members and development partners to continue and strengthen  technical 
assistance and support for the trade capacity building efforts of fragile and c onflict affected states, 
during WTO accession and post -accession.  
We commit to coordinate our efforts to support WTO accessions and maximize the benefits of WTO 
membership for the g7+ members, including through experience sharing and peer learning, and WT/MIN(17)/51  
 
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  we look forward to engaging with the WTO Membership and development pa rtners to advance 
these goals.   
We call upon all the Trade Ministers gathered in Buenos Aires to give positive consideration to the 
request by South Sudan to accede to the WTO pursuant to Article XII of the WTO Agreement,1 at 
the Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference.  
We express our sincere appreciation and gratitude to Afghanistan for the efforts undertaken in its 
capacity as the coordinator of the new Group and to Ms Susana Malcorra, Chairp erson of the 
Eleventh WTO Ministerial Conference for her support to inaugurate the Group on the margins of 
this Ministerial Conference.  
 
______________  
 
 
                                                
1 Document WT/MIN(17)/16.