WT/MIN(17)/42  
 
11 December 201 7 
(17-6812) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires, 10 -13 December 2017  Original: English  
 
MINISTERIAL COMMUNI CATION  OF THE  
GROUP  OF ARTICLE XII MEMBE RS 
BUENOS AIRES , 10 DECEMBER 201 7 
 
The following communication, dated 10 December 201 7, is being circulated at the request of  the 
Delegation of the Separate Customs Territory of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu on behalf of 
the Group of Article XII Members . 
 
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1. The Group of Article XII Members  welcome s the 11th WTO Ministerial Conference as an 
important opportunity for all WTO Members to collectively  renew  their commitment to a 
robust , rules -based and predictable multilateral trading system , and to the WTO as the 
principal institution  to safeguard and promote fair trade and liberali zation. 
2. We are concerned  with the stalemate  in the current negotiations . Our view is  that 
negotiations should build on what has been achieved to date . 
3. In the same way as  the previous Doha and Hong Kong Ministerial Declarations, as well as the 
Doha Work Programme adopted by the General Council in 2004, paragraph 27 of the 2015 
Nairobi Ministerial Declaration once again recognize s "the special situation of the Me mbers 
acceded in accordance with Article XII of the Agreement Establish ing the World Trade 
Organization  who have undertaken extensive market access commitments at the time of 
accession " and state s that "[t]his situation shall be taken into account in the negotiations ". 
4. Article XII Members  have already made exceptionally deep and extensive 
commitments to the WTO at the time of  their accessions . The Group therefore expects the 
gap between our commitment levels and those of the original WTO Members to be significantly 
narrowed on the conclusi on of the current round. It would be totally unreasonable  and 
unacceptable  for Article XII Members not to be compensated in the current  round of 
negotiations , in a fair and proportionate manner , for the high price  we have all paid in 
advance to trade liberalization . We urge original WTO Members to make every effort to match 
the level of our commitments  and thus ensure balanced outcomes in the negotiations.  
5. We note that the WTO faces growing difficulties and challenges . We reaffirm our 
determination to strengthen and improve the multilateral trading system , with a view to better 
enabl e us to respond to the needs of economic, financial, inclusive and sustainable 
development. We are  committed to work with other WTO Members towards a successful 11th 
Ministerial Conference , and we  strongly urge Ministers and Head s of delegations at  the 
Conference  to give the clearest possible directions for our future work  towards a  successful 
and balanced conclusion of the ongoing negotiations . 
6. The accession of new Members  to the WTO , including developing countries , and in 
particular Least -Developed Countries (LDCs) , continue s to broaden the scope of international 
trade covered by WTO disciplines. We welcome Liberia and Afghanistan ’s membership of  the 
WTO and Somalia and Timor -Leste as observers  in 2016. We are also encourag ed by the WT/MIN(17)/42  
 
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  reactivation  of some accession processes since  the last Ministerial , as well as by the new 
application from the Repub lic of South Sudan at the MC11 . We call on Members to support 
efforts to further facilitate WTO  Membership accession negotiations . 
 
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