WT/MIN(13)/25  
 
5 December 2013  
(13-6667)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference 
Ninth Session 
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: English/Spanish  
 
 JOINT COMMUNIQUE TO THE NINTH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE  
FROM: ANTIGUA & BARBUDA, BOLIVIA, CUBA, DOMINICA, NICARAGUA,  
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES, SAINT LUCIA AND VENEZUELA, 
COUNTRIES MEMBERS OF THE BOLIVARIAN ALLIANCE 
FOR THE PEOPLES OF OUR AMERICA  
(ALBA-TCP) 
BALI, 4 DECEMBER 2013 
The following communication, dated 5 December 2013,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of the Bolivarian  Republic of Venezuela. 
 
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 We, member countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America - Peoples’ Trade 
Treaty (ALBA – TCP), aspire for the IX Minister ial Conference of the World Trade Organization 
scheduled to be held in Bali, Indonesia from the 3
rd to the 6th of November, to achieve concrete 
results on the development matters given the fact that the Ministers gathered in Doha, Qatar in 2001, agreed to start new multilateral negotiations  on the indispensable condition that particular 
interest and needs of the developing member countries of the WTO. 
 We reiterate that one of our main core beliefs is that trade must be one of the instruments that 
ensures the well-being of our peoples. Consequent ly, we demand the signing of fair and balanced 
Agreements.  
We believe that the Ministerial Conference is a great opportunity to start to address the 
asymmetries in world trade and ensure a fairer participation of the developing countries in the international trade. The need for compliance with judgments issued by the WTO Dispute 
Settlement Body by members, especially when the Injured Party is a small vulnerable economy 
and the Offending Party is a developed country, must  be addressed in an effort to maintain the 
integrity of the World Trade Organization and its respective organs.  
We wish to reaffirm our view that the Doha Round negotiations provide the necessary conditions 
for trade to be an instrument for social change, not only to create wealth, but also to distribute it equitably. Trade should be an instrument that goes beyond the human being as a potential 
consumer, cares for Mother Earth and points to the need to bring an end to the unsustainable 
patterns of consumption and production that characterize today’s world economy.  We are convinced that the Doha Work Program must be kept as the WTO core agenda, and the 
lack of result in the Doha agenda does not mean that it reflects and obsolete agenda, like some 
claim, but rather the negative of the main developed countries to take on new commitments which would revert, somehow, the negative effects of  the Uruguay round on developing countries. 
 
We are firmly committed in defending multilatera lism and we reject the excuse of developed 
countries to promote plurilateral approaches to  achieve their interests, diminishing the policy 
space of the countries of the south, through the establishment of new disciplines with higher 
standards and in detriment of the WTO and the unity of developing countries.  We are resolved in rejecting non-transparent and non-inclusive negotiating mechanisms, in order 
to impose unbalanced outcomes, in detriment of developing countries. 
 WT/MIN(13)/25 
 
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  We emphasize that the agricultural matters, especially the matter related to the trade-distorting 
subsidies should be resolved according to the guidelines clearly set out in the Doha Ministerial Declaration, on the basis of which particular needs and concerns of the developing and least developed countries must be addressed with priority. 
 
Being committed to our peoples, the Member States of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America stand in defense of our industrial sectors and jobs, which must not be compromised 
by new abusive grants in the framework of the IX WTO Ministerial Conference. 
 We believe this is a great time to rethink the mu ltilateral trading system on the basis of concepts 
such as solidarity, complementarity and fair trade. 
 
We urge all the peoples of the world to mobilize in  order to reach a true dimension of development 
and bring an end to the existing world economic order which affect the multilateral trading system 
and place it to the service of shabby interests. 
 
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