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WT/COMTD/SE/M/26  
 
6 March 2014  
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Committee on Trade and Development 
Twenty-Sixth Dedicated Session    
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 23 OCTOBER AND 7 NOVEMBER 2013 
Chairperson: H.E. Ms Marion Williams (Barbados) 
 
A. ADOPTION OF TH E AGENDA .................................................................................... 2  
B. FOLLOW-UP TO THE MINISTERIAL DECISION ON SMALL ECONOMIES 
TAKEN AT THE WTO'S EIGHTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE (WT/L/844), PROPOSAL BY SMALL ECONOMIES (WT/COMTD/SE/W/27/REV.2) AND BACKGROUND PAPER BY THE SECRETARIAT "FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE 
EFFECTS OF NON-TARIFF MEASURES ON THE EXPORTS OF SMALL ECONOMIES" 
(WT/COMTD/SE/W/28) .................................................................................................. 2
 
-  Statement by the Chair ............................................................................................. 2  
C. WORKSHOP ON THE EFFECTS OF NTMS ON THE EXPORTS OF SMALL 
ECONOM IES .....................................................................................................................  3 
I. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND RECENT WORK ON NTM S .......................... 3  
-  Presentation by UNCTAD on its recent publication: "NTMS to Trade — Economic 
and Policy Issues for Developing Countries" and on its NTM transparency programme and 
data collection ............................................................................................................... ... 3 
-  Presentation by the International Trade Cent re on recent research on NTMs and its 
series on company pers pectives and NTMs ........................................................................... 4  
-  Presentation by WTO Secretariat on its Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal (I-TIP) 
– a new tool to assess th e incidence of NTMs ........................................................................ 5  
-  Presentation by H.E. Mr Shree Servansing on the African, Caribbean and Pacific 
Group of States' (ACP) efforts to assist Members with NTMs .................................................... 7  
II. NATIONAL EXPERIENCES – NT MS AFFECTING EXPORTS ......................................... 8  
-  Statements/presentations by selected Members ............................................................ 8  
III. BUILDING CAPACITY TO M EET NTM CHALLENGES ................................................. 11  
-  Presentation by the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF) on multi-
criteria decision-analysis to prioritize sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) investment 
options for mark et access ................................................................................................. 11 
-  Statements/presentations by selected Members and Inter-Governmental 
Organiza tions ................................................................................................................. . 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/29) .............. 15  
E. OTHER BUSINESS .................................................................................................. 16  
 
 
 WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA 
1. The agenda for the meeting was contained in Airgram WTO/AIR/4203/Rev.1, issued on 
16 October 2013. The agenda was adopted. 
B. FOLLOW-UP TO THE MINISTERIAL DECISION ON SMALL ECONOMIES TAKEN AT 
THE WTO'S EIGHTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE (WT/L/844), PROPOSAL BY SMALL 
ECONOMIES (WT/COMTD/SE/W/27/REV.2) AND BACKGROUND PAPER BY THE SECRETARIAT "FURTHER EXAMINATION OF THE EFFECTS OF NON-TARIFF MEASURES ON 
THE EXPORTS OF SMALL ECONOMIES" (WT/COMTD/SE/W/28) 
- Statement by the Chair 2. The Chairperson said that Item "B" of the agenda concerned the follow up to the Eighth 
Ministerial Conference (MC8), the most recent proposal by small, vulnerable economies (SVEs) and 
the background paper by the Secretariat. She explained that these three items were grouped 
together because they each concerned work on Non-Tariff Measures (NTMs) and their effects on the exports of small economies. She recalled that such work was part of the MC8 Decision on the 
Small Economies' Work Programme and that some initial activity on this subject had taken place in 
2012.  
3. The Chairperson said that earlier in 2013, the proponents of Small Economies had requested 
that more research be conducted by the Secretaria t on the topic of NTMs and that the results of 
the research should be discussed at a subsequent Workshop. Members agreed to this proposal in July 2012 and, since then, the Secretariat had worked on a report circulated in WT/COMTD/SE/W/28. The report provided delegates with useful background information for 
discussion at the workshop. It focused on NTMs affecting the exports of small economies and 
identified the main products exported by country as  well as those products that a majority of small 
economies tend to export. It also looked at the main regional destinations of such exports and 
what kinds of NTMs usually affe cted trade in these products. 
4. In its analysis, the paper used data on trade flows and referred to notifications and specific 
trade concerns made in the Committee on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures as well as the 
Committee on Technical Barriers to Trade. Other data were drawn from questionnaires completed 
by the public and private sector for the 4
th Global Review of Aid for Trade held in July 2013. Yet 
another source of information came from the findings in some of the surveys of small economies conducted by the International Trade Centre (ITC).  Such surveys were based on interviews with 
business representatives and compiled views on what private sector actors perceived as the main 
NTMs affecting exports in their respective sectors. The Chairperson said that more information about these results would be presented during th e workshop and that, overall, the Secretariat 
paper provided an overview of the challenges sm all economies faced when it came to increasing 
exports to their neighbours or to other markets in North and South America, Asia and Europe. She further explained that the report was by no means an exhaustive study but that it did raise 
awareness of the importance small economies attach to specific markets and products. 
5. The representative of Barbados spoke on behalf of the group of small economies and said 
that the background paper and the workshop bo th emanated from a proposal by the small 
economies in WT/COMTD/SE/W/27/Rev.2. Both were undertaken in line with the Ministerial 
Decision on Small Economies taken at the WTO's MC8. She explained that the background note 
provided a clearer understanding of the effects of  NTMs on small economies and further outlined 
the challenges faced by small economies in advancing their exports in light of the growing 
incidence of NTMs. She added that the report also  emphasized how the characteristics associated 
with smallness and vulnerability served as challenges for small economies in overcoming NTMs. The report referenced the lack of trade-related infrastructure, an over-specialization in a few 
products and the inability to benefit from large scale production and high costs. These were all 
inherent challenges faced by small economies. Sh e said that even though an NTM might be trade 
enabling instead of trade distorting, small economies continued to face challenges in implementing the measures required. She said that SVEs agreed, therefore, that capacity building was a vital 
element in assisting small economies to overcome NTM challenges. She added that SVEs also 
shared the concern of many other developing countries that the rise in NTMs could hamper the ability of such countries to diversify into more highly processed goods. The results from the WTO’s WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  Aid for Trade questionnaires also showed that businesses in small economies had identified NTMs 
and trade finance among the main barriers they faced when trying to access value chains.  
6. The representative of the United States said that the background note highlighted some of 
the work available on NTMs and was helpful in identifying issues of interest to small economies. He 
said that evaluating the impact of NTMs was clearly an ambitious task since NTMs in general 
covered a broad range of policy interventions. He  added that the note attempts to provide an 
overview of some of the challenges faced by small economies when it comes to exporting to 
certain markets. The recognition that such challenges exist underscored the continuing importance 
of maintaining a strong dialogue between trading partners, donor countries and domestic stakeholders. He said that considerable attention had been given to the role of NTM measures under the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) and Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) Agreements and 
to how they impacted small economies. It could be argued that such measures had the potential to 
impose higher costs on companies in small economies. He added that such measures, when used in accordance with the parameters set forth in both of these WTO agreements, could also enhance 
trade flows. He said that it was important not to characterize such measures as impediments to 
trade. He added that greater consideration should  be given to enhancing the capacity of small 
economies to overcome such challenges. 
7. The Dedicated Session took note of all comments and statements. 
C. WORKSHOP ON THE EFFECTS OF NTMS ON THE EXPORTS OF SMALL ECONOMIES 
I. INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS AND RECENT WORK ON NTM S 
8. The Chairperson opened the Workshop and th anked the Secretariat for the background 
paper. She said that the paper provided a very clear definition of NTMs, with a further distinction 
between NTMs and Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs). She said that it was important to ask why a study of this kind was important to small economies. Sh e thought that an answer could be found in the 
fact that small economies tend to specialize in products that are significantly more exposed to 
NTMs, especially SPS measures, such as fats, oils and vegetable products. Small economies 
account for 14% of the exports of the 32 small economies included in the study compared to 3% 
for the exports of the rest of the world. The repo rt also found that SVEs may encounter additional 
costs in setting up the necessary infrastructure, such as laboratory testing equipment, in order to meet the NTM requirements of their main export markets.   
- Presentation by UNCTAD on its recent pu blication: "NTMS to Trade — Economic and 
Policy Issues for Developing Countries" an d on its NTM transparency programme and 
data collection 
9. The representative from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development 
(UNCTAD) said that the purpose of the recent repo rt "NTMs to Trade – Economic and Policy Issues 
for Developing Countries" was to provide an overview of issues related to NTMs and to inform policymakers and trade analysts about several trade issues, such as economic policy and the 
effects of NTMs. He said that NTMs did not necessarily have negative impacts on trade. For 
example, the harmonization of standards across bo rders could help increase trade. Unlike NTMs, 
NTBs were proven to have discriminatory effects.    
10. NTMs were important because they were used to protect consumers and the environment, 
standardize production processes, regulate domest ic markets, protect domestic firms, and avoid 
unintended spill overs such as rules of origin. He wished to emphasize that many NTMs were legitimate and served a good purpose. While th ey can be modified, it was not foreseen that 
governments would eliminate them. Nevertheless, NTMs could have effects on trade. He 
highlighted that low-income countri es faced tariffs of 2.5% and 5% in regard to manufacturing and 
agriculture goods respectively, but that this percentage increased dramatically (especially in 
respect to agriculture) with the inclusion of NTM costs, which stood at about 25%. With regards to 
trends elaborated in the recent report, he mentioned that there had been an increase of technical NTMs, with developed countries applying more technical measures on imports than developing countries. Non-technical NTMs, such as pricing and quotas, were generally more widely utilized in 
developing countries.  WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  11. Another area addressed in the report was the complexity of NTMs. He said that NTMs 
included complex and diverse instruments and it was very difficult to single out the precise effects of NTMs on international trade. He added that NTMs could add substantively to trading costs and even precluded some countries from trading specif ic products because of stringent requirements. 
It also segmented the markets as firms that specia lized in the export market of one country might 
not be able to export as efficiently to another country because of different requirements. He also observed that many NTMs had distortionary effects. Regardless of whether NTMs have 
protectionist effects or are applied legitimately, NTMs often impose additional costs on trading and 
these costs tend to be higher for some companies than for others, with higher costs usually affecting smaller companies. The cost of complying was often dependent on infrastructures, with cost of compliance higher for firms operating in low-income countries, even if NTMs were uniformly 
applied. In regard to global value chains (GVCs), he said that these markets tended to rely heavily 
on standards and other technical measures to en sure compliance. He added that accessing more 
competitive markets often implied higher costs of compliance and that this was a challenge 
particularly for many small and medium-sized enterprises. 
12. He said that efficient regulations were essential for addressing domestic concerns while not 
decreasing competitiveness. A main message was that NTM policies should be targeted at the 
market problems or issues they were trying to address, i.e. if there is a consumer protection issue, 
then NTMs should address that issue directly, th ereby not decreasing the overall competitiveness 
of the domestic markets. As for non-protectionist measures, he emphasized the importance of negotiations on the bilateral, regional and multilateral level. Measures not negotiable within 
regional trade agreements (RTAs) should be addressed through increased technical assistance. The 
costs associated with complying with a particular NTM could be covered by technical assistance including Aid for Trade or developmental assistance  or partnership agreements. In regard to GVCs, 
some companies were also willing to help exporters involved in value chains meet specific 
standards.  
13. A second representative from UNCTAD said that data on official NTMs were collected from 
internal resources, jointly with other organizations, and through support from donors. The purpose 
of collecting data on NTMs was mainly for reasons of transparency and to better understand the use of NTMs, their types, the products and the co untries they affect, and to raise awareness about 
the importance of NTMs. Another reason was for research so that the effects of NTMs could be 
quantified, with the ultimate objective being to inform the policy-making process. He gave two 
examples. First, the effects of NTMs could be shown and used during trade negotiations to show one, that NTMs were not necessarily discriminating against small economies and second, that 
NTMs could be used to support an appropriate level of consumer protection, while strengthening 
the development process and the regional or multilateral integration process. He added that NTMs could be addressed effectively in RTAs, but that this  area of research required more information.  
14. While UNCTAD had tried to fill the transparency  gap since the mid-1980s, he said that NTMs 
today were much more complex than before. Ther e was a need for more data on NTMs and this 
was one of the reasons behind a multi-agency effort to agree on a joint classification method that could provide a systematic approach on collecting data of NTMs. The agencies involved in the 
effort included the FAO, IMF, ITC, OECD, UNCTAD, UNIDO, World Bank and the WTO. There was 
also a new joint partnership called Transparency in Trade Initiative, which involved UNCTAD, the African Development Bank, the ITC and the World Bank. This partnership was endorsed by the 
G-20 in the St. Petersburg Declaration and was financially supported by Russia. He said that the 
aim was not only about data collection, but to build capacity in developing countries to better understand NTMs. Data had been collected for some 40 countries, with data from several 
countries, including the US, in the pipeline. While there was information available from other 
sources, such as the WTO's Trade Policy Review s, he emphasized the importance of having 
comparable data. 
- Presentation by the International Trade Ce ntre on recent research on NTMs and its 
series on company perspectives and NTMs 
15. The representative from the International Trade Centre (ITC) presented some key results 
from the ITC surveys on NTMs in small ec onomies. The surveys first began in 2010 and 
comprehensive surveys of private sector experi ences with NTMs have been carried out in 
23 countries. At the same time, she said that the ITC had also been working with UNCTAD on NTM data collection as was mentioned by the previous speaker. She explained that the main objective WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  o f  t h e  I T C  p r o g r a m m e  o n  N T M s  w a s  t o  e n s u r e  t h a t  s t a k e h o l d e r s  i n  b e n e f i c i a r y  c o u n t r i e s  w e r e  
aware of NTMs and other obstacles affecting their ex ports so that they were in a better position to 
address these challenges. She added that the main donor of the first phase of the programme, which was from 2010 to 2013, had been the UK's Department of International Development 
(DFID). Other main collaborators included the World Bank, UNCTAD and the WTO as well as other 
regional organizations. 
16. She explained that with a common definition and classification of NTMs, the ITC's surveys 
tried to be as comprehensive as possible. They tried to capture different types of NTM-related 
obstacles to trade. She identified procedural obst acles and mentioned that a typical response from 
an exporter would not only contain complaints about the certificates and rules, but also about relevant delays and administrative burdens. These surveys, therefore, not only captured problems 
experienced with trading partners, but also with obstacles faced at home. These were referred to 
as procedural obstacles and include, for example,  lengthy verification procedures at customs. 
Exporters, therefore, not only complained about th e certificates or about the rules but also about 
associated delays. Lack of adequate infrastructure in domestic markets was also often cited as a 
problem. This included road problems or those linked to electricity supply or internet problems. These too are captured in the survey so it is not just the problems in partner countries which 
cause difficulties but also problems that exist at home. The ITC NTM surveys had been completed 
in four small, vulnerable economies between 20 10 and 2013. On average, 55% of the companies 
interviewed said that they faced burdensome NTMs and other obstacles to trade. In the four SVEs surveyed - Mauritius, Jamaica, Sri Lanka, and Trinidad and Tobago – 45% of interviewed 
companies said that they faced burdensome NTMs and other obstacles to trade.  
17. In Jamaica, 35% of companies interviewed complained about NTMs and in Sri Lanka, the 
figure rose to 70%. In comparison, Mauritius reported 41% and Trinidad and Tobago 34%. On the 
whole, the surveys showed agricultural exports to be more affected than manufactured products in 
each of the countries. She explained that there were more NTMs in agriculture than in manufacturing because agriculture is a highly sensitive sector with an abundant amount of both 
SPS and TBT measures. The main types of burdensome NTMs applied by partner countries to small 
economy exports were conformity requirements, rules of origin, testing, pre-shipment inspection and fumigation. As many as 82% of the NTMs that were perceived as burdensome were linked to procedural obstacles with only 18% due to the strictness of the measures themselves. Procedural 
obstacles include time constraints and delays and informal or unusually high payments linked to 
bribery or corruption. Mauritius served as a good example in showing variants across sectors. In 
regard to the agricultural sector in Mauritius, for example, comments about the need for 
conformity assessment requirements came out first at 65%, followed by rules of origin for the 
textiles and clothing sector at 45%. Trinidad and Tobago also had its own NTMs and small and 
medium-sized business owners there complained about the licensing permits to export, export 
taxes, charges and other domestic problems.   
18. The ITC representative also explained what type of follow-up activity was conducted on its 
surveys. In Sri Lanka for example, the Government  followed-up with a technical-assistance project 
provided by the STDF with a view  to improving product quality and the cost of exporting, thereby 
addressing directly some of the challenges raised in the survey. In Mauritius, after the completion 
of the survey, the need for tea board clearance procedures for tea imports was eliminated and in Jamaica, capacity-building needs were identified for small and medium-sized businesses facing 
problems with meeting NTMs in their export market s. The second phase of the ITC's work on NTMs 
was to begin soon. She explained that there were  some 20 more surveys to be conducted between 
2013 and 2016.  
- Presentation by WTO Secretariat on it s Integrated Trade Intelligence Portal 
(I-TIP) – a new tool to assess the incidence of NTMs 
19. A representative from the WTO Secretariat said that the I-TIP online database provided a 
one-stop-shop for all trade policy measures and was a tool which was free of charge for the public. 
He said that the I-TIP database offered users a more structured way of presenting and storing 
information. The links to the original notifications and official sources have been kept and could be consulted. However, users could also obtain a cross-cutting overview. They could use aggregate 
statistics to obtain more detail on the types of meas ures in place, by country or by product or by 
specific time-period. He explained that there were  three ways of viewing the data which currently 
cover all WTO notified SPS and TBT measures in addition to their related trade specific concerns. WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  Also covered were trade remedies such as an ti-dumping and countervailing duties, safeguard 
measures and state trading enterprises. The in formation was categorized by NTM category, by 
Member reporting or implementing the NTM, by partner(s) affected by the NTMs, by product description and HS code and by the description of  the measure and the date at which it was first 
notified. He explained the specific features of th e I-TIP database, such as its graphs over time, 
tables by-products and tables by Members. In the graphical summaries by Members, information 
was presented on all countries or a specific country, about the individual measures and whether 
they were still in force. Other presentations of da ta included a flow or time-based approach which 
showed how many measures were noti fied in the last four years.  
20. He pointed out that it was difficult to tell if a notified SPS or TBT measure had been adopted 
and said that the WTO would like to collaborate more closely with the ITC and UNCTAD so that 
such information could be included in the databa se. He added that the database could also be 
queried by the type of notification, by date an d period of time, by which Members had imposed a 
given measure (one or several or all) and which partner or partners had been affected by the 
measures. Moving forward, he hoped to improve the data quality, enhance the data entry and 
administrative aspects and include additional NTM notifications into the database. In the future, he said that the WTO Secretariat would like to furt her improve the data quality and standardize the 
information links to the notifications. It would also like to have the individual Secretariat divisions 
capture more information from individual databases. He elaborated that there was also an effort to include other NTMs such as import licensing, qualitative restrictions and those related to trade in agricultural products. He explained that these addi tional NTMs should be included in the database 
by mid-2014. Graphic functions and a key word-based search function would also be introduced in 
the future. Finally, the close collaboration between the ITC and UNCTAD was certainly helping to close the information gaps. The I-TIP database could be accessed at http://i.tip.wto.org  and any 
queries should be addressed to i-tip@wto.org  
21. The representative of El Salvador thanked the Secretariat for organizing the Workshop. She 
said that the presentation given by the WTO Secretariat highlighted the importance of SPS and 
TBT matters and the new I-TIP portal for integrated trade intelligence. She asked whether such a 
presentation could also be made at the SPS and TBT Committees.  
22. The representative of the Côte d'Ivoire said the ITC and UNCTAD representatives had 
discussed NTMs by product and by sector of activiti es but asked if they had also subjected NTMs to 
a  c o s t  a n a l y s i s .  H e  s a i d  t h a t  t h e r e  w e r e  c o u n t r i e s  w h i c h  h a d  m a d e  e f f o r t s  t o  e x p o r t  a n d  h a d  
overcome some of the costs associated with meeting NTM requirements. He also wondered how the information presented during the Workshop could be best disseminated back to capitals. 
Mr. Shree Servansing, a European Union consultant , agreed that there was a need to disseminate 
the information more widely. He said that having all the information at hand was key for an exporter and asked how reliable the information in the database was and how regularly the 
Secretariat had been updating the information. He also questioned the reliability of the 
notifications themselves and wondered whether the database would be expanded in scope to include private standards and whether or not it wo uld be linked to the ITC's database on private 
standards. This could help provide a more complete, global picture for exporters.  
23. The WTO Secretariat agreed with Mr Servansing that the risk factor in regard to incomplete 
information needed to be addressed. In regard to SPS and TBT measures, there was an 
uncertainty that not all measures had been notified in respect to whether or not they had been 
implemented. He explained that it was assumed that the information is reasonably reliable. 
However, the WTO envisaged working more closely with UNCTAD and the ITC because these agencies had collected official information on NTMs. In this way, any gaps in information could be 
closed and be shown in the system. Another appr oach would be to make more use of the trade 
policy reviews. Certain measures were not being covered by the notifications such as export taxes and other duties and charges.  
24. The ITC representative said that in regard to a question asked about conducting a cost 
analysis of NTMs, the ITC had not yet looked into the question of cost as such. What was 
problematic for exporters and importers was to know the cost of an SPS certificate. In their surveys, business people were asked about some of the charges they had to pay. Such information 
was available from individual businesses and per country but the ITC had not yet looked at the 
picture globally on a country-by-country basis. This was something that the ITC would like to focus on and develop in its methodology in the future . In regard to data, the ITC was working with WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  UNCTAD and was collecting official data from each country which had been surveyed. Officials in 
each of these countries had been trained and were now better equipped to provide data.  
25. In regard to the question concerning costs, th e representative from UNCTAD said that there 
were two types of data: the first were aggregate numbers concerning the overall picture and the 
cost of international trade; the second were other detailed studies on products and export 
markets. More research, however, was needed in th e area of who is actually bearing the costs of 
the NTMs in place. 
26. The representative of the Dominican Republic said that all Members and not just SVEs stood 
to benefit from the Workshop. She said that the presentations showed a very good collaboration 
between the WTO and UNCTAD and the ITC. Her Go vernment supported the efforts to establish a 
database on private standards. 
27. In regard to a question about fisheries an d the fact that 31 of the 32 small economies 
included in the research were involved in exporting fish, the representatives of both the ITC and 
UNCTAD said that this information was available and proposed to conduct further research on fish 
products on the four SVEs which had been surveyed thus far. 
28. The representative of WTO added that using th e I-TIP database one could also find data 
related to fish and fish products. He showed th at there were three safeguards, one anti-dumping 
measure and 400 TBT and 400 SPS measures affecting trade in fish. There were also a number of 
NTM measures which did not have Harmonized System codes which could also affect trade in fish products.  
- Presentation by H.E. Mr Shree Servansi ng on the African, Caribbean and Pacific 
Group of States' (ACP) efforts to assist Members with NTMs 
29. Mr Shree Servansing, a consultant with the African, Caribbean and Pacific–European Union 
(ACP-EU) programme on TBTs, recounted his recent tr ip to Fiji where he studied problems with the 
sugar sector, especially as they related to SVEs.  He cited other examples of TBTs and problems 
concerning access to information. In the area of  sugar, an important regulation concerned the 
determination of origin. The origin of the sugar must be declared and exporters were not allowed 
to mix different types or origins of sugar. He explained that the purpose of this rule was not safety 
or security but had to do with transparency so as to correctly inform consumers. The effect of such 
measures, however, was very difficult for SVEs. In  shipping sugar, there are fixed amounts which 
have to be shipped via a direct route. This is difficult for many sugar exporting countries, some of 
which do not have proper ports or facilities in which to store the sugar. Furthermore, the sugar has 
to travel separately according to origin. He explained that if this were not the case, then the ship would have to carry dead weight and travel without a full load, making the trip more expensive to 
operate. This was an example of a TBT that pe rhaps had a legitimate objective, but one that 
imposed additional costs on a small sugar export er or those small economies which do not have 
the needed economies of scale to be profitable. There were also TBT requirements which 
concerned the degree of polarization of sugar, no rmally 99.5 degrees. While margins of error were 
scientifically acceptable, some regulations failed to take into account the scientific regulation for a certain margin rate and refused to import the product. This showed that there was a problem of coherence and a lack of communication between the regulatory and the scientific evidence. He 
added that TBTs should not only be considered as  having a negative element. TBTs were important 
for ensuring competitiveness and market integration. He emphasized that they were not like tariffs which we can be reduced to zero. On the cont rary, there was a growing number of TBTs which 
could be a strong determinant of international trad e in the future. For example, he said that the 
African Union had the objective of boosting inter-African trade and fast-tracking continental integration. This was not something that could be done just by reducing tariffs. He said that one 
must address behind-the-border measures such as TBTs.  
30. He said that in regard to the ACP-EU programme, Brussels has tried to build capacity and 
make ACP countries more competitive. Standards and health-related measures played a critical role in shaping the flow of global trade. In the WTO there was unilateral, regional and multilateral 
trade liberalization, there were also technology flows and global supply chains and these elements 
are what made TBT requirements more important.   WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  31. He explained the ACP-EU programme and said that it focused on QI or Quality Infrastructure 
institutions. This was an important initiative for improving the competitiveness of products both locally, domestically and on an international scale. Another aim of the initiative was to empower economic operators and export sectors, such as  export quality systems including packaging, 
labelling and good practices. Here the focus was on strengthening standardization bodies and 
building capacity for testing laboratories. He added that many small economies could produce products. However, they lacked the capacity or th e necessary infrastructure to have that product 
certified. Support to economic operators and ex port sectors included the enforcement of food 
safety management, the preparation of training modules and good practices and meeting standards. Soon the programme would liaise with other organizations such as the ITC or WTO. The approach would be sector-by-sector, for example, for small farmers who lacked the necessary 
certifications to be able to export what they gr ow. He explained that a third area which was about 
to begin concerned building a platform to disseminate results. There were links to I-TIP and to the EU's website which offered a help desk for exporters. Another component concerned geographical 
distribution, meaning creating infrastructure and capacity on a regional basis as a way to avoid 
squandering precious resources.  
32. The representative of El Salvador asked ab out private standards and whether the ACP-EU 
programme was being coordinated only for the ACP countries or could other countries also benefit? 
33. The consultant responded that the programme was only open for ACP countries but that all 
the information concerning work in small economies would be made publically available on the 
EU's website.  
II. NATIONAL EXPERIENCES – NTM S AFFECTING EXPORTS 
34. The Chairperson opened the session of the Workshop dealing with National Experiences. This 
session addressed the experiences of small economies in trying to meet NTMs in their key export 
markets. Examples were drawn from the ITC survey s of the private sector in small economies. She 
explained that the results of the surveys from Jamaica, Mauritius, Sri Lanka and Trinidad and Tobago had also been cited in the Secretariat background paper. She said that there were a few 
countries which were interested in sharing with Members how their respective governments 
planned to make use of the surveys and how they  would go about applying some of the policy 
recommendations.  
- Statements/presentations  by selected Members 
Sri Lanka 
 35. The representative of Sri Lanka presented his country's experiences with the ITC's NTM 
survey. He began with an anecdote about being in Geneva for the WTO's MC8 when he saw a 
published copy of the NTM survey of Sri Lanka. He  had not been sure whether the survey provided 
a positive or negative story but was glad in the end that it had been conducted in an objective 
manner. The survey had actually proved to be quite helpful in helping the Government launch an 
internal process to address NTM issues. He explained that Sri Lanka had gone through nearly three decades of civil unrest and that the survey – cond ucted in 2010 - had been done just a year after 
the end of the national conflict. The survey very  much reflected the situation prevailing in the 
country at the time and pointed to a lot of problems associated with the long-term disruption of 
infrastructure in regard to roads, ports and customs. Also certain measures had to be taken into account which were linked to security concerns ta ken during the war by the department of defence 
in order to protect the public. He said that Sri Lanka was a small country and considered itself to 
be a small vulnerable economy and an island nation. Approximate figures for his country included a land mass of 65,000 square kilometres, a population of 21 million people, an economy worth 
about $60 billion, including $10 billion worth of exports and twice that amount in imports. He 
explained that apparel products and tea made up about 60% of Sri Lanka's exports. The ITC 
survey conducted telephone interviews with 512 companies and met with more than 800 companies. The survey covered questions about inte rnal policy measures and procedural obstacles 
and addressed issues concerning the trade-relate d business environment. The survey categorizes 
Sri Lanka's export sector into five areas: fresh food (most affected by NTMs), processed agricultural commodities, textiles and clothing, chemicals and other manufacturers. In regard to 
fresh food, which accounted for about 28% of total exports in 2009, 25 out of 31 companies (or 
80%) said that they had faced some NTMs. Food exporters bringing their produce to the airport WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
- 9 - 
 
  complained about three different tests which had to be carried out to meet security reasons. One 
test by the Ministry of Defence was to check for security issues, one was to meet SPS regulations and still another concerned customs clearance procedures. The exporters asked why it was not possible to have just one check point. Time delays for the clearance of goods were another area of 
concern. It was explained that the Government had recently acquired the ASYCUDA clearance 
system and that if this system had been in place at the time of the survey, the results would have 
been quite different.  
36. In regard to the way forward, the Government  had since taken up contact with the ITC and 
the Standards and Trade Development Facility (STDF). Projects are now under way for SPS infrastructural development. Efforts will also soon  be made to meet the exporters as well as the 
growers in order to address the pre-farm gate issues at the growing level. The Government was 
very pleased that these international agencies had come forward to assist small economies like 
Sri Lanka. He explained that Sri Lanka knew that it could not solve all of its problems at once. The Government has since set out to identify the most important markets and the most important 
obstacles so that it could channel its resources to address the most critical issues. The country has 
also depended on India for certain laboratory facilities in order to save money. He said that Sri Lanka faced a high number of NTMs in the Indian market but that bilateral discussions had 
taken place and there had been some discussion of mutual recognition agreements under an 
India-Sri Lanka Free Trade Agreement. This proc ess took additional time because of some 
apprehension amongst Sri Lanka's domestic serv ices suppliers about an eventually expanded 
agreement into a comprehensive economic partnership agreement. Sri Lanka was also a member 
of the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) and th e Asia Pacific Trade Agreement (APTA), formally 
known as the Bangkok Agreement.  
37. He added that customs officials, meanwhile, had been improving their efficiency as well as 
the country's port authority which, thanks to some foreign assistance, had been able to expand 
the Colombo harbour, one of the busiest harbours in the region. He explained that it was also 
important for Sri Lanka to engage in more public , private partnerships and work with donors and 
supporting agencies to see how the Government coul d address as many of the NTMs identified in 
the survey as possible.  
38. The Chairperson inquired about Sri Lanka's NTMs on imports and Sri Lanka explained that 
these measures were primarily to be found at customs and concerned delays and time required for 
clearing goods. But with the ASYCUDA system now in place, things were improving. This was not 
the case at the time the survey was carried out in 2010.   
Jamaica  
 
39. The representative of Jamaica said that as a Member of the WTO, Jamaica had made many 
attempts to capitalize from the economic and social benefits from increased trade liberalization. As 
a small economy, however, Jamaica had fallen short of the level of economic development that it 
desired. Jamaica was a net importer of food and many products used in its industrial sector were imports. She described Jamaica as a non-oil producing country with high energy costs. But Jamaica was also a country with a high number of trade agreements. Exporters have been able to 
increase their access to many different markets in recent years. However, there were still 
problems associated with NTMs in addition to the social and economic challenges which companies faced in trying to increase their exports. Be tween 2002 and 2010, Jamaica had an average annual 
growth rate of 0.9%. But the global economic rece ssion in 2009 resulted in a negative growth rate 
of minus 3%. Unemployment too had been strongly affected since 2007. More stringent credit terms, weak external and internal demand and a decline in investment spending led to a 3.1% 
decline in 2009. The negative trend continue d into 2010. Overall, the economy saw a heavy 
contraction. This was heavily influenced by the high level of uncertainty of the global economy and the effects of recession on Jamaica's main trading partners.  
40. She explained that exports were dominated by agricultural goods, primarily fruits and 
vegetables and roots and tubers. The ITC survey was conducted in Jamaica at the end of 2011 and 
more than 700 companies were identified by the su rvey team. The focus of the study was not only 
on exports but also imports and other business and procedural practices. As many as 
305 exporting companies went through interviews and as many as 41% of these companies said 
that they were affected by NTMs. The survey l ooked at fresh food and raw agro-based products, 
processed food and wood products and paper. Aggregated results showed that the highest WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  percentage of burdensome NTMs (57%) was reported in the metal and other basic manufacturing 
sectors. In agriculture, the rate was 49%. Exporters complained of having to meet technical regulations which concerned both product characteristics and production processes as well as conformity assessment requirements. She added that domestically, the most common NTMs were 
export inspections due to a large number of procedural obstacles mainly in regard to the 
duplication of processes. Relatively new small and medium-sized enterprises were more affected than larger ones because they often lacked information and experience as to how to meet certain 
requirements. The survey showed that in Ja maica about 30% of the NTMs were applied 
domestically and about 70% by partner countries. Agricultural products were more affected than manufactured goods and faced mainly technical requirements, conformity assessment and pre-shipment inspection measures. In manufacturing, burdensome NTMs on exports included rules of 
origin, pre-shipment inspection, charges, taxes and other para-tariff measures for such goods as 
chemicals, clothing and wood manufacturers. Jamaica also produced a large number of manufactured products, among them being chemical s, cosmetics, plastics, pharmaceuticals and 
apparel.  
41. Several different types of burdensome NTMs affected exported goods. Among the most 
frequent were pre-shipment inspection requirements and other entry formalities and rules of origin 
and related certificates of origin. Other measures included charges and taxes. She said that in 
conclusion the survey showed that NTMs had a significant impact on exports. Jamaica's agricultural goods – both raw and processed – were more affected than manufactured products. Agricultural products were affected mainly by technical regulations and conformity assessment procedures 
imposed by partner country authorities. Even though  these NTMs were justified, they were seen as 
a form of protectionism and were interpreted as burdensome to exporters. They added costs for 
businesses which had to comply with these requirements.  
42. The representative of Trinidad and Tobago said that her country had also benefitted from an 
ITC study undertaken in 2011. It was conducted in tw o phases with a survey carried out by a local 
consulting company from August 2011 to April 2012. There had also been a post-survey 
dissemination workshop in March 2013 to valid ate the survey results and explore policy 
recommendations.  
43. The survey focused on exporters as well as importers of goods of five sectors, namely 
chemicals, metal and other basic manufacturing, machinery, equipment and electronics, food and 
agro-based products. She explained that procedural obstacles and inefficiencies in the 
trade-related business environment were also covered in the survey.  
44. The results of the survey showed that 22% of exporting companies and 30% of importing 
companies interviewed faced burdensome NTMs and other obstacles to trade. The most affected 
export sector was the Food and Agro-Based Products sector, for which 40% of interviewed exporters experienced difficulties. Local exporter s reported cases of procedural obstacles and 
inefficiencies in the trade-related business environment.  
45. The major NTMs which businesses faced included technical requirements, conformity 
assessments, pre-shipment inspections and other formalities, quantity control measures and other financial charges.  
46. A key element of the ITC project on NTMs was holding consultations with national 
stakeholders to identify concrete policy options for overcoming the effects of NTMs. These were discussed and finalized at the dissemination workshop held in March 2013. Among the policy 
recommendations identified were strengthening inspection and other certification processes at key 
government agencies, continuing with improvements  at Customs and Excise posts and the ports to 
alleviate the impact of procedural obstacles, expa nding and upgrading testing laboratories involved 
in conformity assessment measures such as pr oduct testing and certification and enacting 
legislation to implement modern trade practices such as electronic transactions. In addition, it was recommended that Mutual Recognition Agreements be developed between regional agencies to remove obstacles associated with both technical requirements and conformity assessment. It was 
suggested that discussions be held with donors concerning additional 'Aid for Trade' resources to 
assist in upgrading testing laboratories and other needed infrastructure.  WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  47. She recalled that since the conclusion of th e survey in April 2012, several initiatives had 
been implemented to reduce the negative impact which NTMs posed on exporters. Among these, is 
the implementation of ASYCUDA World and amendmen ts to the Customs Act to allow the electronic 
transmission of cargo information to the Customs and Excise Division prior to shipment. Also, the 
implementation of ASYCUDA World by the Customs and Excise Division had reduced considerably 
the number of complaints associated with that Agency. In addition, the Single Electronic Window (SEW) had been expanded to include other government agencies and, since April 2013, e-Export 
Health Certificates for Dairy and Dairy Products, Meat and Poultry were all issued by the Ministries 
of Health and Food Production. As of August  2013, over 1,000 businesses and individuals were 
active users of the facility. The integratio n of ASYCUDA World with the SEW occurred in 
November 2013 and future projects include a public awareness campaign for small and 
medium-sized enterprises and greater dialogue with  trading partners concerning specific NTMs.  
III. BUILDING CAPACITY TO MEET NTM CHALLENGES 
- Presentation by the Standards and Trad e Development Facility (STDF) on multi-
criteria decision-analysis to prioritize sa nitary and phytosanitary (SPS) investment 
options for market access 
48. A representative from the STDF explained that  the STDF was a global partnership of five 
agencies that has been supporting developing countries in building capacity to implement 
international SPS standards. This was a way to improve human and plant health standards as well as to maintain and gain market access. One of the main activities of the STDF was to raise awareness of the importance of SPS capacity bu ilding. He explained that there were currently 
13 donors who supported the Facility. 
49. Some of the projects currently under way concern SPS measures and trade facilitation 
programmes in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The aim was to increase understanding of the 
contribution that SPS agencies can make to trade facilitation. He said that he wished to use his 
presentation to focus on the use of economic analysis to inform SPS decision making amongst governments. This was a topic which began in 2009 and provided the origins for the Multi-Criteria 
Decision Analysis (MCDA) tool.  
50. The MCDA tool is designed to help governments take advantage of the Project Preparation 
Grants (PPGs) offered by the STDF to interested countries. Worth an estimated US$50,000, the grants are met to pay for SPS feasibility studies. He explained that this was in essence seed 
money to hire consultants to write up a fully-fledged project which could be funded by bilateral or 
multilateral donors. There were also project grants to fund projects with a duration of up to three years and worth up to US$1 million. He said that currently 28 of the 32 SVEs were direct and 
indirect (as in regional projects) beneficiaries of STDF activities and funding. In regard to the 
MCDA, it offered an approach to inform SPS deci sion-making processes and helped prioritize SPS 
capacity-building options for market access. The tool was important because it prioritized which 
SPS needs should be funded first. In many cases, the information available with which to make 
decisions was limited. The decision-making process also often lacked transparency. This could be 
seen at the national level where the countries with the loudest voices were usually the ones to secure funding. In order to increase transparency  and to make the process more equitable, a need 
was identified for a more coherent decision making process.  
51. The MCDA allowed users to make choices based on multiple criteria. It has already been 
used in mining and oil exploration. He explained that it was not so much an economics based tool 
but one more in line with operations management. The MCDA framework provided a structured 
approach for establishing priorities for alternative SPS capacity-building options. Specifically, the tool looked at capacity-building options for export  purposes and it allowed users to see where the 
greatest returns are for the money invested. Many different criteria are assessed such as costs, 
export growth rates over the next five years, effects on small farmers and the extent of impact in regard to poverty reduction. He said that at the end of the statistical technique there was a ranking of the different options and that this is where the stakeholders were to participate and 
convey their concerns and comments about how the various options might affect their sector of 
activity. The end result was a validation workshop where the priorities were agreed to. An example 
was a project involving the pest status of pineapple which was seen in one country to have the 
greatest trade impact, i.e. the most potential. He  added that the tool also allowed users to assess 
the trade diversification impacts or the domestic public health impact. As many as ten countries WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  have thus far applied the tool. The results had been positive overall mainly because the tool 
allowed users to see various results and because it helped guide decision making as to what sector or products should receive priority.  
52. Pilot projects have been implemented in Mozambique and Zambia, Belize and Viet Nam. 
Other projects have been undertaken in Ethiop ia, Malawi, Seychelles and Uganda. Overall, the 
STDF had assembled quite a bit of experience in perfecting the tool since it was first developed in 2009. Challenges around its implementation concerned finding a committed national driver or 
organizer to obtain all the data and consult all stakeholders. 
- Statements/presentations by select ed Members and Inter-Governmental 
Organizations 
53. A representative from the European Commission's Directorate General for Health and 
Consumers (DGSANCO) focused on how NTM challeng es could be turned into opportunities. She 
wished to present two success stories. The first was called PIP or the Pesticide Initiative 
Programme and the second concerned Europe's EDES programme.  
54. She said that the competition between producers in the 28 countries which make up the EU 
had led to significant gains in trade, job creation and market efficiency and effectiveness. A strong 
base for the EU was its set of rules. The EU re presented a harmonized market with transparent 
rules, most of which complied with international standards. She said that the EU was the largest 
importer and exporter of food in the world and wa s the largest importer of food from developing 
countries.  
55. The EU had a high-level of SPS protection whic h applied not only to domestically produced 
food but also to all imports. She added that there were some standards in place that were actually 
more rigid than international standards but which were based on science. Technical assistance was provided to many countries exporting to the EU in an attempt to prevent future market access 
problems. These activities and other efforts to build capacity were worth some €78 million in 2012 
and covered 200 technical-assistance projects. These were specifically related to SPS measures and covered 100 countries and their technical-assistance needs. She elaborated on the PIP 
activities and said that this programme, which was demand driven, had now entered its second 
phase (2009-2014). This phase was set to cost €32.5 million and was aimed primarily at fruit, 
vegetable and plant exporters of ACP countries. The EDES programme had a value of €29 million and is part of the EU's COLEACP programme. Whereas PIP was meant for the private market, 
EDES was for public authorities. Both projects were aimed at developing capacity at a local, 
regional and national level. The two programme s used a sector-based approach, for example, 
flower growing or increased production of fruits and vegetables in order to reduce poverty in 
developing countries.   
56. The EDES programme aimed to strengthen the food security rules based on risk analysis, in 
line with SPS standards and those of the EU or other regional standards. Three different levels 
were taken into account: risk evaluation, risk management and risk communication. Areas were 
identified where EDES could work alongside the authorities to identify problems which were actually hindering the further economic develo pment of that sector in a specific country. 
57. She explained that over the past 20 years, the international market for fruits and vegetable 
exports had changed a great deal. This was due to the rapid growth in the volume of goods traded 
throughout the world, the growth of supply chai ns and changes in structure and related private 
standards. Global markets have had major effects on distribution, on consumer preferences and on 
demands for increased food safety. Consumers thro ughout the world can now expect healthy food. 
Exporters must continue to be aware of changes to the production and supply chains which could 
affect access to their export markets. She added that agro-industry and supermarkets have also 
had to change to a series of new regulations. These include due diligence which concerned risk 
management for food safety. This was mainly connected with traceability all the way down the chain. For example, the PIP programme had dealt with the harmonization of the maximum levels for the use of pesticides. Both the PIP and the EDES programmes provided technical assistance 
and support to producers and exporters so that everyone could abide by the regulations and the 
standards. The first phase of PIP looked at wh at producers had to do to meet the various 
standards. A second phase assisted producers to look at other types of standards such as social or WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
- 13 - 
 
  environmental standards. Such work focused on sm all producers and the organizations that set up 
these private standards. Such work also examined  the negative effects such standards could have 
on developing country exports. Phase II of the PIP programme was still on going and it has helped to build understanding of  the certification organi zations and problems on the side of the producer 
such as identifying barriers, lowering those ba rriers for ACP countries, improving market access 
conditions and helping small producers understand and then eventually overcome international requirements. She explained that COLEACP had many contacts with local, national and 
international authorities all along the supply chain and could readily help exporters identify and 
address problems. These could also be addressed in the E-Working Programme which helped develop technical assistance and training.  
58. The representative from Australia said that th e evidence showed that the cost of compliance 
with NTMs can disproportionately affect small and medium-sized businesses, particularly in 
developing countries. It was, therefore, important for economies to pursue relevant reform which would minimize NTMs to trade. While NTMs can present challenges for exporters, many NTMs help 
safeguard important public policy objectives includ ing human, plant or animal health. He said that 
Australia's market was highly open including th rough duty-free and quota-free tariff treatment to 
least-developed countries (LDCs), preferential treatment for many developing countries, and very 
low MFN tariffs. His country's liberal market access regime made an important contribution to 
developing country exports. For example, Australia 's imports from LDCs have increased rapidly, 
averaging 10.6% per annum. But, he emphasized that market access alone was not enough. Australia had therefore provided a range of tariff-related development assistance including efforts 
to address NTMs. Specific horticultural and agricultural market access programmes were initiatives 
by Australia worth A$30 million and were designed to help Pacific Island countries manage the regulatory aspects associated with exporting primary products. While the major emphasis of this 
initiative was on quarantine requirements, the programme also provided assistance across other 
regulatory areas such as compliance with international food and safety standards. Through the help of the programme, Vanuatu had been able to retain its export accreditation for beef exports 
to Australia and other markets. Tonga too received  quarantine assistance for watermelon exports 
to New Zealand, whereas the Solomon Islands strengthened its fish inspection capacity to comply with EU market access requirements. In 2012 and 2013, such enhanced market access led to an 
increase in export earnings in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Samoa and Fiji by A$1.2 million. 
Outside the Pacific, he said that Australia had prov ided training to government officials to improve 
quarantine systems and standards in South Asia and South America. 
59. As a result of these training schemes in the Asian Pacific region, some 8,000 consignments 
have avoided re-fumigation. Also, 12 tonnes of methyl bromide did not have to be used and there 
were reduced export costs of about $A5 million. In conclusion, he said that Australia believed that its current assistance had made an effective contribution to building developing country exporters’ 
capacity to comply with NTMs. Australia was interested in hearing from its partners and exploring 
ways to advance further cooperation. He said th at his Government will continue to work with 
developing countries, other donors and internationa l organizations to explore ways to best address 
NTMs, and to help boost economic growth, development and trade. 
60. The representative of the United States said that his country fully supported enhancing the 
capacity of developing countries, especially smal l and vulnerable economies, to overcome export 
challenges. Most recently, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) 
initiated a public-private-partnership with the American National Standards Institute to build 
capacity for standards and regulatory development called the Standards Alliance. Under the new five-year programme, developing countries could work with relevant stake holders from the US to 
build capacity on implementation of the TBT Agreement. They coul d also, strengthen the operation 
of the TBT enquiry point and increase capaci ty for engaging in international standards 
development. This could help increase opportunities for regulatory cooperation and enhancing good regulatory practice. The aim of this effort was to increase cooperation between the US and 
developing WTO Members. Small economies could receive training from industry, standards 
developers and US regulators about how to export any product using international standards. This would assist them in meeting regulatory requirem ents in the US and other parts of the world. 
Additionally, the US' Government foreign assistance was active in small economies with direct 
technical assistance on NTMs. For example, the US  specifically assisted Guatemala and Honduras 
along with other countries through its Feed the Future initiative. This project – promote food 
security and trade integration through SPS – provided technical assistance and training events in 
food safety, animal and plant health and market information systems. The programme helped train WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  544 people of whom 162 were women in such ar eas as food safety, market information and 
requirements concerning pesticide levels for export crops. One result from this support was that a new law for registering pesticide sales was drafted in Guatemala. He added that the US would remain committed to working with small economies including through regional initiatives to 
address individual needs and address challenges and ultimately enhance competitiveness.  
61. The Chairperson wondered whether producers were aware of all these different measures 
and facilities in place to assist exporters. She urged government representatives in Geneva to 
make their exporters aware so that they could benefit from the assistance which was being 
provided.  
62. The representative of the Dominican Republic said that he was pleased that the workshop 
was taking place. As was stated in the various presentations, it was clear that economies were 
being affected in terms of exports by measures which were being taken based on laboratory 
research. Directives were being created which in many cases affected the exports of food and agricultural products, a main source of exports for small economies. He was pleased to see all the 
different levels of support available for individual  countries to adapt to the market conditions.   
63. The representative of Jamaica inquired abou t the two sets of standards and regulations 
which her country had to confront over the year s. There were those relating to TBT and SPS. 
Within these two categories were private standards as well as those set by the government of the 
partner countries. While Jamaica had received assist ance with meeting some of these standards, it 
had been her experience that such standards shifted from time to time, usually within a year or two, leaving the exporter back at square one. She specifically asked the presenters about what 
they envisaged as to what could be done to ensure that this sort of assistance was assistance 
which benefitted the receiving partners for a significant period of time.  
64. The European Union explained that in th e PIP programme there was a research and 
development team. Since 2008, the EU no longer used the national standards of the 28 member 
States but had Community-wide limits in place. This harmonization took years to emerge with certain member States taking on more responsibility to meet such standards than others. The PIP 
programme tried to anticipate what was going to happen so that developing countries could 
prepare for the new maximum residual limits for pesticides accordingly. She added that not all programmes operated this way and that she understood the challenges confronting exporters.  
65. The representative from El Salvador said that she was pleased with the ITC and UNCTAD 
presentations earlier in the Workshop about how NTMs  affect developing countries. In reference to 
small economies, she thanked the WTO Secretariat for its recent study on how NTM measures impacted small economy exports. NTMs increasi ngly affected the trade of all Members. The 
increase in such measures, however, was also an effect of the reductions of tariffs over the course 
of the years. Studies had shown that there was significant difficulty, particularly for small economies, in identifying and quantifying NTMs which were applied by Members. She said that 
compliance with SPS or TBT measures could still represent challenges and represented a 
significant burden particularly for small and medium -sized enterprises. She said that the studies at 
the national level showed that there had been si gnificant impact on small economies. The high 
number of measures imposed in sectors which are particularly important such as textiles and 
agricultural products posed challenges. There was also a lack of economies of scale to overcome 
costs. She added that the role of private standards had been commented on throughout the workshop and said that El Salvador's exporters had difficulties in meeting these measures. There 
was still a lot of work which remained for Members to undertake at the WTO, especially in the area 
of technical assistance and capacity building for enterprises. A lot of efforts had been made by the main trading partners but it was important to forge ahead and address these problems, especially 
currently when NTMs were more important than tariffs.  
66. The Chairperson said that the statements just heard pointed to future areas of work for the 
CTD's Dedicated Sessions on Small Economies and that Members should reflect further on what 
Members could do about the issues discussed during the Workshop. She then closed the 
Workshop.  WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  D. WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES: DRAFT REPORT OF THE CTD IN 
DEDICATED SESSION TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL (WT/COMTD/SE/W/29) 
67. The Chairperson recalled the Decision by Minist ers at the WTO's MC8 in 2011. This Decision 
was circulated as WT/L/844 and instructed the General Council to direct relevant subsidiary bodies 
to frame responses to the trade-related issues identified by the CTD with a view to making 
recommendations to the General Council. She said that the Decision instructed the General Council to report on progress and action taken, together  with any further recommendations as appropriate 
to the next Ministerial Conference. She explained that such a report had been prepared and had 
been circulated to Members in document WT/COMTD/SE/W/29. 
68. She said that in the section concerning Future Work, the first paragraph recounted the legal 
mandate and Ministerial decisions which had been taken from 2001 until today. She explained that 
the second paragraph was very similar to earlier reports made in 2005, 2009 and 2011 except that 
it recounted work done on NTMs since the last Ministerial Conference. It also proposed two new areas of work, mainly trade finance and challenges small economies faced when linking into GVCs 
in goods and services. She explained that at this stage it was not clear what kind of an "output 
document" would be prepared for the Bali Minist erial Conference, i.e. whether there would be a 
Ministerial Declaration or a Chairman's statement with a set of separate decisions as was the case 
at MC8 in 2011. Either way, she said that the pa ragraph under discussion could serve as the basis 
for both. She said that she wanted to make it clear that it would be up to the General Council to decide how it wished to incorporate the Dedicated Session's report in an eventual output document. She suggested, therefore, that the Dedicated Session forward two documents to the 
General Council as was done in 2011. The first would be the report under discussion which, once 
agreed, would be forwarded to the General Counc il as document WT/COMTD/SE/8. The second 
would be an addendum to the report which would state the following:  
"The Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) in Dedicated Session adopted its 
report to the General Council on X date in October 2013.  In its report, the Dedicated Session agreed to propose to the General Council that the Ninth Session of the 
Ministerial Conference take a decision on the future of the Work Programme on Small 
Economies. The operative part of this recommendation was subsequently circulated to Members for their approval.  No Member of the CTD expressed any reservation about this Decision. Accordingly, the text for ac tion by Ministers to be forwarded by the 
General Council to the Ninth Minist erial Conference is as follows: 
"We reaffirm our commitment to the Work Programme on Small Economies and take 
note of all the work conducted to date and …. Rest of paragraph 3.2….. " 
69. The representative of the United States said th at his delegation could accept the bulk of the 
draft report but that he had questions about the future work and any decision put forth to the 
General Council. He said that the Dedicated Sessi on had not yet agreed on the substance of the 
recommendation which would be forwarded to the Ge neral Council and that it might be premature 
to state that such a recommendation had been made. He asked whether Members could use the time agreed to come to agreement on the elements of this paragraph.  
70. The representative of El Salvador said that th e report reflects the work carried out in the 
Dedicated Session. She said that it was important for the report to contain the decision which 
Ministers would take at MC9.  
71. The Chairperson explained that it was the section on future work in the report which 
Members should agree on. Any declaration by Ministers would be very similar to what was stated 
in the section on future work.  
72. The representative of the European Union said that she too had wanted more time to discuss 
and favoured having consultations on what would constitute the future work for the Dedicated 
Session.  
73. She suggested that Members consult again on the wording and that she would inform 
Members accordingly.  WT/COMTD/SE/M/26 
 
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  74. The Chairperson said that she wished to suspend the meeting and resume as soon as 
possible.  
75. The meeting was suspended.  
Resumption of Meeting on 7 November 2013 
 
76. The Chairperson recalled that the 26th Dedicated Session had been suspended on 
23 October 2013 to allow time for Members to hold further consultations on the Dedicated 
Session's report to the General Council. This item figured under item D of the Airgram 
WTO/AIR/4203/Rev.1, issued on 16 October 2013.  
77. Item "D" of the agenda concerned the Dedicated Session's Draft Report to the General 
Council. The Chairperson explained that Members had discussed the report again recently and 
agreed to a few more changes to the report. The Secretariat had circulated a revised version in 
document WT/COMTD/SE/W/29/Rev.1. She proposed that Members adopt the report. The report was adopted. The Chair explained that the report was to be forwarded to the General Council as 
document WT/COMTD/SE/8. It was then for the General Council to decide how the report – and especially the section on future work - would be reflected in any outcome document being prepared for the MC9, i.e. either a Ministerial Declaration or as a Decision.  
78. The representative of the Dominican Republic wished to thank the Chairperson for the 
report. She said that she believed work was on track to respond to the need for more factual 
analysis on the trade issues that SVEs faced in order to ensure that they were better integrated into the multilateral trading system. The work  on NTMs had been extremely interesting and 
discussions in this area since the last Ministeria l Conference had led to some positive synergies 
between WTO, UNCTAD and the ITC. She said that such work had been extremely important for small economies. The studies, for example undertaken by the ITC had been beneficial for all 
Members of the WTO. As for future work, she said that the work on GVCs would help open the 
path for the Dedicated Session to also look at other challenges which small economies may face in the future.  
E. OTHER BUSINESS 
79. The Chairperson proposed that the 26
th Dedicated Session be closed.  
80. It was so agreed and the meeting was adjourned.  
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