WT/MIN(13)/7
5 November 2013
(13-6128)  Page: 1/5
Ministerial Conference 
Ninth Session 
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: English
 
 CONFERENCE OF THE AFRICAN UNION 
MINISTERS OF TRADE 
24TH - 25TH OCTOBER 2013  
ADDIS-ABABA (ETHIOPIA) 
The following communication, dated 1 November 2013,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Morocco.  
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ADDIS ABABA DECLARATION ON WTO ISSUES 
We, the Ministers of Trade of the Member States of the African Union meeting in Addis Ababa on 
the 24
thand 25thOctober 2013 in the Eighth Ordinary Session  of the AU Conference of the Ministers 
of Trade in order to review the progress made so far in the WTO negotiations in the lead up to the 
9th Ministerial Conference of the WTO (MC9) from 3 to 6 December 2013, in Bali, Indonesia;  Taking note of the recent developments in the Multilateral Trading System and the changes which 
occurred at the  leadership of the World Trade Organization(WTO), we pay tribute to the outgoing 
Director General of the WTO, Mr. Pascal Lamy, for his personal commitment and the sterling achievements during his tenure, and congratulate Ambassador Roberto Carvalho de Azevêdo for 
his appointment as the 6th Director General of the WTO and commend his efforts in intensifying 
negotiations on the Bali package in pursuit of the mandate from the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference held in 2011. In this connection, we pledge our full support to the efforts of the 
Director General and further pledge our constructive  role in ensuring that the negotiations leading 
to MC9 and beyond are successful;  Recalling  the Doha Ministerial Declaration adopted by the 4
th WTO Ministerial Conference in 2001 
and the succeeding Ministerial Declarations and the July package which engendered the 
development agenda at the heart of the WTO`s work program;  
Underscoring  that the inception of the DDA negotiations and their focus on the development 
imperative was, amongst others, premised on the need to redress the imbalances inherent in the Uruguay Round Agreements; 
 
Taking note  of the ongoing consultations on Trade Facilitation, Agriculture and Development 
issues including LDCs issues which have been prioritized for delivery by the MC9;  
Convinced  that development should be the primary fe ature of the outcome of the MC9 on all the 
deliverables;  
Aware that the MC9 is not an end in itself, but rather  a crucial step in the process of defining a 
post Bali work program, particularly in areas of interest to African countries;  
Cautious that the MC9 is key to preserving the credibility of the multilateral trading system in 
particular the rule making part of the WTO`s work;  
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  Concerned  by a growing trend by some key WTO Members to devolve concentration of their 
negotiating efforts away from Doha Development Agenda to the ever proliferating plurilateral 
agreements;  
Further concerned  that the devolution of concentration away from the DDA will erode modest 
progress made in integrating African countries into the multilateral trading system through trade related interventions particularly in pursuit of developmental objectives of Africa; 
 
Aware  of the positive contribution that the multilateral trading system could have on the African 
Union`s agenda on boosting Intra-Africa Trade and the realisation of the Continental Free Trade Area (CFTA); 
 
Determined  to work towards a balanced multilateral trading system in order to secure a 
meaningful share of growth of international trade; 
 
Hereby,  
1. Reaffirm  the positions adopted in the Addis Ababa Declaration on WTO Issues of 2012; 
WTO DECISIONS 2. Welcome the adoption of the General Council’s Decision of 25
th July 2012 on Accession aimed 
at strengthening, streamlining and operationalising the 2002 LDCs Accession Guidelines, 
pursuant to the MC8 Decision, with principles  and benchmarks in goods and services, and 
transparency in accession negotiations, Special & Differential Treatment (S&D) and transitional 
period and the need for enhanced technical assistance and capacity building to help acceding 
LDCs to complete their accession process, implement their commitments and to integrate 
them into the Multilateral Trading System. In th is regard, we urge the full implementation of 
all aspects of the Decision by all WTO Members with due consideration to the specific 
circumstances and development objectives of acceding LDCs; 
3. Further welcome a Decision on the extension of the transition period under article 66.1 of 
the TRIPS Agreement for least developed country members as adopted by the TRIPS Council on 11 June 2013; 
GENERAL PRINCIPLES 
4. Stress the importance of the DDA negotiations and re-commit to conclude them in accordance 
with the existing mandates and on the basis of progress achieved so far,  according to the 
principles of Single Undertaking and Special and Differential Treatment; 
5. Restate  our continued call for a fair and balanced outcome of the DDA including in the context 
the Bali package, which must prioritize development as its main deliverable, preserve 
negotiated flexibilities beneficial to developing countries all anchored on the principles of 
inclusiveness, transparency and bottom-up approach; 
6. Strongly caution  against attempts to undermine the spirit of cooperation inherent in the 
multilateral approach to negotiating the DDA an d call on Members of the WTO to exercise due 
restraint in engaging in plurilateral arrangements with the potential effect of undermining the 
DDA; 
7. Strongly object  to any attempt to link non-trade issues or add new issues to the  DDA, 
before development issues such as agricultur e (including cotton),  LDC issues, S&D and 
implementation related concerns are satisfacto rily addressed and the DDA is fully exhausted 
and successfully concluded; 
8. Stress  the importance of ensuring that the outstanding agenda items of the DDA particularly 
in the areas of agriculture, LDCs related flex ibilities and S&D and Implementation issues are 
prioritized for the post Bali work program; WT/MIN(13)/7 
 
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  9. Reiterate  that the DDA negotiations must be  premised on development including 
incorporating adequate and targeted demand-driven financial and technical assistance and sustainable capacity building commitments as an integral part of S&D treatment under all 
areas of negotiations; 
10. Underscore  that agriculture remains central to Africa’s trade objectives at the WTO. We 
therefore emphasize the urgency and the need for addressing tariff peaks and tariff escalation 
in Agriculture, which inhibit amongst others, value addition and job creation and overall 
development in Africa. We reiterate our concerns regarding food security in the continent, and 
support efforts by Net-Food Importing Developing Countries (NFIDCs) in respect of Agriculture related rule-making at the WTO; 
11. Reaffirm  the integrality and importance of Special and Differential Treatment provisions in the 
WTO agreements and agree that in line with para 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, all 
S&D provisions have to be reviewed with a view  to strengthening them and making them more 
precise, effective and operational. We also attach equal and utmost importance to the 
expeditious completion of the S&D work progra mme set out in para 12.1 of the Decision on 
Implementation-Related Issues and Concerns  endorsed in para 44 of the Ministerial 
Declaration; 
12. Urge  WTO Members to focus their attention on finding appropriate solutions in following up  
the commitment contained in para 12 of the Doha  Declaration setting out Members’ resolve to 
negotiate all outstanding implementation issues as part of the Single Undertaking; 
DEVELOPMENT AND LDCs ISSUES 
13. Strongly object  to current attempts to reduce the scope of the Monitoring Mechanism by 
limiting it to the review of implementation of S&D provisions including the erosion of the original intention of the Monitoring Mechanism; 
14. Underscore  that the Monitoring Mechanism shall propose appropriate actions, including to the 
General Council with a view to strengthening S&D provisions and have the mandate to regularly review the operation, utilization and effectiveness of S&D provisions; 
15. We recall para 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaratio n and express our concern on the lack of 
progress. We request the MC9 to provide further guidance on Development issues; 
16. Call upon  all the WTO members to fully commit themselves to the successful conclusion of the 
DDA as the only agenda for the WTO`s post Bali work program; 
17. Recognise the proposals put forward by the LDC Gr oup for the decision at the MC9 to 
advance  a consolidated LDC package covering duty-free quota-free market access  for LDC’s, simplified and flexible rules of origin for exports that qualify for duty-free, quota-free 
treatment, the operationalization of the LDC Services Waiver, and outstanding proposals on 
Cotton. In this regard, we urge the MC9 to reiterate its commitment toward the greater integration of the LDCs into the multilateral trading system and to take all possible steps 
towards realising this commitment in line with the respective mandates on LDCs issues; 
18. Reaffirm the importance of cotton in the economy of the African Continent and call for a final 
solution of this matter on the basis of the achievements of the draft modalities on Agriculture of 6 December 2008 and call on all the WTO memb ers for the timely resolution of this matter, 
pursuant to the Hong Kong mandate of December 2005; 
19. We call for , on an interim basis, the adoption of a decision in Bali on the cotton issue, on the 
basis of proposals made by the C-4 on behalf African producers and exporters of cotton, 
without prejudice to the interests of African cotton producing countries; 
TRADE FACILITATION 20. Reaffirm  the importance of Trade Facilitation where our priorities include enhancing 
infrastructure and boosting productive and trade capacities, in addition to  reducing transaction WT/MIN(13)/7 
 
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  costs, barriers, incentivizing the undertaking of reforms and improvements to the customs 
regulatory systems as well as boosting intra-African trade;  
21. Re-emphasize the positions held by the WTO African Group on Trade Facilitation specifically 
that it is not a self-balancing, win-win and a monolithic pillar in the DDA negotiations. We call 
for an internally balanced agreement, providing developing countries and LDCs with policy 
space and flexibility to adopt and implement commitments commensurate with their capacity to do so.  We stress the need for achieving balance with other issues on the agenda of MC9, 
with a view towards fulfilling the development dimension of the Doha mandate. In this regard, 
the Bali outcome should result in substantive outcomes in the area of Agriculture and Development issues. Where a balance is not attained, negotiations on Trade Facilitation shall continue post-Bali, with a view to attaining a balanced agreement that fully and effectively 
reflects the principles of special and differential treatment under Annex D of the 2004 July 
Package; 
22. Further re-emphasize that obligations and measures being negotiated under the Trade 
Facilitation consolidated text must include binding, effective and operational rules on Special 
and Differential Treatment.  Th e obligation on developing countries and LDCs to implement the 
Trade Facilitation Agreement should be based upon their acquisition of capacity to implement, 
including through fulfilling, by developed countri es, the obligation of delivering binding, new 
and long-term technical and financial assistance and capacity building necessary for African countries to achieve full implementation capacity.  We underline the importance of the principles of self-designation and self-assessment under Section II of the Draft Trade 
Facilitation Agreement by developing countries  and LDCs in determining the acquisition of 
capacity to implement; 
ACCESSION 
23. Reaffirm  our full solidarity with all African countries in the process of accession into the WTO 
and urge all WTO members to facilitate and accelerate their accession in line with their level of development and the contours of the current WTO rules. In this regard, acceding African 
countries should not be required to give concessions beyond their level of development; 
24. Invite WTO members to adopt measures and decisions aimed at simplifying accession 
procedures and enhancing the existing institutional mechanisms including the definition of transparent rules for the implementation of the provisions of Article XII of the Agreement 
establishing the WTO, with the objective of providing the opportunity to acceding African 
countries to express their views on the conduct of their accession;  
25. Urge WTO members, WTO Secretariat and relevant international organizations to provide 
technical assistance and capacity-building prio r to and during and in the follow-up to the 
accession process in line with their needs and development priorities; 
OTHER ISSUES 
26. Take note of the holding of 8 to 10 July 2013 in Geneva  of the Fourth Global Review of Aid for 
Trade and emphatically reiterate our desire to see this initiative usefully support the efforts of the African Union, namely the implementation of its action plan to enhance intra-African trade 
and the creation of CFTA; 
27. Express our deep concern over declining trends in Aid for Trade flows in particular financial 
resource allocations and disbursement. In this re gard, call upon development partners to fulfill 
their commitments by providing predictable, addi tional financial resources with the effect of 
integrating the developing African countries into the multilateral trading system, in particular 
LDCs, Land-Locked Developing countries (LLDCs) and small and vulnerable economies (SVEs) in Africa by  aligning their assistance to the regional and national priorities outlined by the 
Members;  
28. Recall  the decisions of the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference (MC8),particularly on TRIPS Non-
Violation Situation complaints, the Work Program on Electronic Commerce, Work Program on Small Economies, Preferential Treatment to Serv ices and Services Suppliers of LDCs and Trade WT/MIN(13)/7 
 
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  Policy Review Mechanism and urge Members to ensure that requisite and decisive follow up 
actions are taken during the MC9 with a view to achieving their legitimate aims and objectives as stated therein;  
29. Urge Members to refrain from making increasingly frequent recourse to the use of Non-Tariff 
Measures which are in ascendency, predominantly in markets of key export interest to Africa, 
at high costs and with a technical complexity in compliance with these meeting international standards; 
30. Strongly Call on Members to design and strengthen existing tailor-made programs of 
assistance aimed at improving the capacity of developing countries, in particular, the African countries which face huge challenges in areas such as standards infrastructure including testing in general, the areas of conformity a ssessment, mutual recognition of standards and 
meeting technical regulations and international standards in key markets; 
CONCLUSION 31. Commit  ourselves to speak with one voice on all the above issues. 
Done in Addis Ababa, 25th October 2013 
  
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