WT/MIN(15)/ST/44  
18 December 2015  
(15-6764)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY SENATOR THE HON. MAXINE MCCLEAN 
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND FOREIGN TRADE 
BARBADOS  
I am honoured to address you on behalf of the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States. 
 I congratulate H.E. Amina Mohamed on her election to the Chair of this Tenth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organisation (W TO) and applaud the Government and people of 
Kenya their warm hospitality. I am especially proud that Kenya is a Member of our ACP family.  
 On this historic occasion, I have been charged with the task of articulating the hopes and 
aspirations and highlighting the key concerns of th e members of the ACP.  In doing so it is our 
expectation that we can guide the Conference to take decisions that will ultimately address the best interests of all WTO Members. 
 
For this to happen, this Ministerial Conference of  the WTO, the first to be held in Africa, must 
deliver on the development dividend of the Doha Development Round. Outcomes must be based on the proposals of our Members and grounded in the principles and achievements of objectives 
from the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). 
 The launch of the DDA fourteen years ago, was a momentous event in this organisation’s history, 
as it was the first time in the celebration of both the GATT and WTO, that a negotiating round was 
entitled “a development round”.    
Since then, few decisions taken, whether in quantum or substance, have reflected proposals from 
developing countries, including least developed countries (LDCs) and small vulnerable economies (SVEs).  Many of these proposals in their initia l form addressed the real needs of developing 
countries and were aimed at building our socio-economic development. 
 
At our last session in Bali, the ACP Group demonstrated great leadership and commitment, contributing significantly to the delivery of the Tr ade Facilitation Agreement (TFA).  Our success in 
Bali has served to heighten our anticipation that efforts to both close the DDA and renege on those 
issues that constitute the core basis for our membership in the WTO will not materialise.  
Notwithstanding our optimism, we are facing at this Ministerial, the absence of a commitment to 
deliver on the development issues on the table:  • Agriculture 
• Services 
• Special and Differentiated Treatment, and • Economically meaningful decisions for LDCs. 
 
I must stress that we however do not believe that the negotiating framework is broken.  What is needed is the demonstration of the requisite political will. 
 
In March this year the ACP Group tabled a number of proposals, including a proposal for a development package for Nairobi.   We are disappointed that few of our proposals have been considered.  Major players have failed to agree on Agriculture and NAMA.  We are therefore caught WT/MIN(15)/ST/44 
 
- 2 - 
 
  in the crossfire of a thematic battle launched by major players who bear the principal responsibility 
for the impasses in the negotiations over the last 9 years.  It is against this background that we applaud the WTO as it celebrates its 20th anniversary.  An 
anniversary is a time for reflection on achievements and the engagement in an honest 
assessment.  While some of our economies have  shown signs of growth over the past two 
decades, much of our gains have been threatened or  lost as we have sought to navigate the recent 
global economic crisis which started to manifest itself from 2008. 
 Overall we have suffered high levels of unemployment, budget deficits, and declines in international reserves, further underscoring the vulnerability of our economies.  Unfortunately, in 
the scheme of global growth and development, the world has not changed for us. 
 In September, at the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development, world leaders 
reaffirmed their commitment to the conclusion of the Doha Round. Ironically we have arrived in 
Nairobi where there appear to be attempts to cast it aside.  Surely, the same Membership that resolved to achieve the first WTO multilaterally ag reed accord in Bali, can find ways to surmount 
differences in Nairobi.   
 We must chart a course to conclude the remaining core areas of the DDA by our next session.  In that process we must also prioritise all of those areas that are of importance to developing 
countries.  We are inter-dependent. The long-term welfare of developing countries is bound up in 
the conclusion of the development components acro ss all areas of the DDA.  These ultimately will 
benefit all WTO Members. 
 
My country Barbados, is committed to the multilateral trading system which places development at its core.  As a small vulnerable economy, we value highly the recognition by the WTO of the need 
for flexibilities to be afford ed to developing countries, in  particular LDCs and SVEs. 
 Barbados places great store in the Doha Development Agenda, as it recognises that need to narrow inequalities in the share of trade between developed countries and in particular the small 
and the vulnerable economies. 
 Barbados pledges its support for the WTO as the premier rule making trade organisation and the 
only multilateral organisation with the responsibility for global trade governance. 
 In Paris one short week ago, the world witnessed a historic, successful global agreement on 
climate change.  To quote the Director-General of this distinguished organisation, during the 
opening ceremony, this was “the power of the world acting as one”.  The WTO has done this before and we can do it again.  We look forwar d to our continued partnerships and experience in 
“acting as one”. 
 
__________