WT/WGTDF/14  
 
23 October 2015  
(15-5620)  Page: 1/3  
  
 
  REPORT OF THE WORKING GROUP ON TRADE, DEBT AND FINANCE (2015)  
TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL 
 
1  INTRODUCTION 
1.1.  The Working Group on Trade, Debt and Fina nce ("the Working Group") was established at the 
4th Session of the Ministerial Conference in Do ha in November 2001 with the following mandate 
("the mandate)1:  
"We agree to an examination, in a Working Group under the auspices of the General Council, 
of the relationship between trade, debt and finance, and of any possible recommendations 
on steps that might be taken within the mandate and competence of the WTO to enhance 
the capacity of the multilateral trading system  to contribute to a durable solution to the 
problem of external indebtedness of developing and least developed countries, and to strengthen the coherence of international trade and financial policies, with a view to 
safeguarding the multilateral trading system from the effect of financial and monetary 
instability. The General Council shall report to the Fifth Session of the Ministerial Conference on progress in the examination". 
1.2.  This report describes the activi ties of the Working Group since the 9
th Session of the 
Ministerial Conference in Bali, Indonesia, in December 2013. 
2  THE WORKING GROUP'S ACTIVITIES SINCE THE 9TH SESSION OF THE MINISTERIAL 
CONFERENCE 
2.1.  The Working Group held four formal m eetings between June 2014 and October 2015: on 
13 June 2014 and 11 November 2014, under the Chairmanship of Ambassador Bertrand de Crombrugghe (Belgium); on 26-27 March 2015, and on 29 September 2015, under the 
Chairmanship of Ambassador Xavier Carim (South Africa). 
2.2.  At the meeting on 13 June 2014, the Wo rking Group discussed how to proceed with the 
priorities set out by Members in the context of the preparations for the 9
th Ministerial Conference, 
that is: to continue exchanging views on the re lationship between exchange rates and trade, in 
particular with a view to strengthening the coherence between the IMF and WTO; and to continue exchanging views on trade finance in relation to  market developments and internationally-agreed 
initiatives to improve the availability of trade finance in developing countries. With respect to 
exchange rates and trade, Brazil had tabled a submission (WT/WGTDF/W/73) earlier in June. 
Members agreed to revert to it at the following meeting, after consulting capitals. Regarding trade 
finance, there was general support for Australia's proposal to commission a factual paper to the 
Secretariat on the remaining financing gaps in developing countries. Finally, some Members 
expressed an interest in reviving the "the debt  pillar" of the Working Group. Other delegations 
wondered whether the interested delegations could be more specific about the nature and extent 
of the issue and what work, if any, could usefully be undertaken in the WTO. 
2.3.  At the meeting on 11 November 2014 Memb ers reverted to Brazil's submission on the 
relationship between exchange rates and trade. After careful consideration by Members of the three proposals made in document WT/WGTDF/W/73, the Chairman concluded on the following: 
(a) regarding proposal 1, there was general suppor t for the continuation of the on-going dialogue 
with the IMF; Members did not wish to prescribe the content of such dialogue, which generally 
                                               
1 WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1, paragraph 36. WT/WGTDF/14 
 
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 aimed at being better informed and at acquirin g a more thorough understanding of IMF policies 
with respect to exchange rates (b) there was no co nsensus to move forward on proposal 2, i.e. to 
commission a discussion paper to be jointly drafte d by the WTO Secretariat, the IMF and the World 
Bank, on how the coherence mandate was implemen ted in the area of exchange rates and trade 
(c) on proposal 3, there was a consensus to commission a factual note to the Secretariat on the 
instances in which Article II.6 of the GATT/WTO has been invoked in the past. Members issued a strong note of caution, emphasizing the factual and historical character of that note, which should 
neither venture into analysis nor affect their right and obligations under the current agreements. 
Members examined the Secretariat background note on the remaining gaps in trade finance in developing countries (WT/WGTDF/W/74). The note received overall strong support, notably regarding the need for the WTO, including its Director-General, to continue its diagnosis, advisory 
and advocacy role on the availability of trade finance in developing countries in partnerships with 
the IMF, the World Bank and multilateral developmen t banks. It was also agreed that a seminar on 
the challenges faced by trade finance would be he ld in the spring of 2015, possibly back-to-back 
with the meeting of the Director-General's Expert Group. Finally, with regard to the relationship 
between trade and debt, while the proponents were not immediately in a position to present a submission, it was made clear that this pillar of the Working Group's mandate was still valid and 
relevant to the Group's work.  
2.4.  The meeting on 26-27 March 2015 was held in a seminar format to examine the challenges 
faced by developing countries in accessing trade finance after the financial crisis. The Secretariat Note had been revised (WT/WGTDF/W/74/Rev.1) to incorporate the outcome of new surveys 
completed by the African Development Bank (AfD B) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the 
former estimating the trade financing gap in Africa to be about US$120 billion and the later estimating the gap to be superior to US$1 trillion in Asia. The seminar featured speakers from 
Members' governments, the private sector, and international institutions. It was held back-to-back 
with the meeting of the Director-General's Expe rt Group on Trade Finance (WT/WGTDF/W/77). In 
view of the large number of speakers and interv entions during the event, a dedicated webpage 
containing the presentations and audio recording had been created.
2 During the seminar, 
participants highlighted a number of key points, inter alia: trade financing gaps were due to a mix of structural and developmental factors (lack of know-how and capacity of the financial sectors in many developing countries) as well as the falling ap petite of global banks to invest in developing 
countries after the financial crisis; developing local and regional trade finance industries takes 
time, as it requires knowledge dissemination, the build-up of institutions, and specific support by multilateral development agencies; the WTO and its Director-General should pay greater attention 
to these gaps as access to trade finance is a key enabling condition for trade – notably in the 
poorest countries in which the need was the largest while the potential growth of trade was also the strongest; this topic needed to be highlight ed in the "financing for development" agenda 
post-2015; the Secretariat and Director-General n eeded to continue their efforts to monitor and 
address the situation, work with other multilateral institutions, notably in the context of the DG's Expert Group on Trade Finance.   
2.5.  At the meeting on 29 September, 2015, the WGTDF examined the factual Note by the 
Secretariat (WT/WGTDF/W/78) on the invocation of  Article II.6 of the GATT/WTO. While a range of 
views was expressed on the use of this provision, including on its use in a more complex global economic environment, Members showed interest on pursuing the discussion on exchange rates 
and trade, including the impact of exchange rates misalignments on tariffs, on the basis of 
substantiated and specific contributions by Members, within the terms of the Working Group's mandate. The Secretariat also provided a short update of recent developments on trade finance 
work after the spring seminar. Members confir med the usefulness of the seminar and provided 
clear support to the continuation of this work in  the Working Group. The Working Group noted that 
the Director-General intends to announce an initiative in this regard and decided to revert once more information is made available.      
                                               
2 The webpage contains the program of the WGTD F seminar, 9 presentations from speakers, the 
opening remarks by the WTO Director-General, and almost 9 hours of audio recordings, covering 
presentations, questions and discussi on. This material is available at: 
https://www.wto.org/english/thewto_e/coh er_e/wkshop_mar15_e/ wkshop_mar15_e.htm.  
 WT/WGTDF/14 
 
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 3  CONCLUSION 
3.1.  In accordance with the terms of Paragraph 36 of the Doha Ministerial declaration, Members 
recommended that the Working Group continues to "examine the relationship between trade, debt 
and finance, and of any possible recommendations on steps that might be taken within the 
mandate and competence of the WTO to enhance the capacity of the multilateral trading system to 
contribute to a durable solution to the proble m of external indebtedness of developing and 
least-developed countries, and to strengthen the coherence of international trade and financial 
policies, with a view to safeguarding the multilateral trading system from the effects of financial 
and monetary instability". In doing so, Members showed interest in continuing the discussion on exchange rates and trade, trade finance, and are prepared to positively consider any other topic 
presented by Members in the form of a specific co ntribution falling within the realm of the Working 
Group's mandate.   
3.2.  On October 16, 2015, the Working Group adopted its Annual Report (2015) to the General 
Council. 
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