WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/50 
13 December 2004 
 (04-5476) 
  
 
 
 
 
REPORT (2004) OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT,  
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPM ENT IN DEDICATED SESSION 
AND THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES1 
 
 
I. INTRODUCTION 
1. This report covers the activities of the Co mmittee on Trade and Development (CTD) in 
Regular Session and Dedicated Sess ion and the activities of the Su b-Committee on Least-Developed 
Countries since its last report issued in 2003.2  
II. WORK OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT IN REGULAR 
SESSION 
2. The CTD held four formal sessions on 18 February, 11 May, 28 September and 16 November 
2004.  The minutes of these meetings are co ntained in documents WT/COMTD/M/48 through 
WT/COMTD/M/513 respectively.  At the 48th Session held on 18 February, the Chairmanship was 
handed over from Ambassador Habib Mansour (Tunisia) to Ambassador C. Trevor Clarke 
(Barbados).  A number of informal consultations were also held during this period.   
3. The CTD continues to have outstanding requests fo r observer status from the League of Arab 
States, the Organization of the Petroleum Export ing Countries (OPEC), the Gulf Organization for 
Industrial Consulting (GOIC), the "Organisation internationale de la francophonie", the Common 
Fund for Commodities (CFC) and the Organization of  Eastern Caribbean States (OECS).  At the 49th 
Session, the CFC was granted ad hoc observer status to follow, on a meeting-by-meeting basis, the 
item relating to the declining terms of trade for pr imary commodities, and its implication to trade and 
development of primary commodity exporting countries.  Members agreed to continue to invite a 
number of intergovernmental organizations on an ad hoc meeting-by-meeting basis.  These include 
the Arab Maghreb Union (AMU), the Economic Co mmunity of West African States (ECOWAS), the 
Economic Cooperation Organization (ECO), the Inte r-Arab Investment Guarantee Corporation, the 
Islamic Development Bank (IDB), the African Union (AU), the Organization of the Islamic 
Conference (OIC), the South Centre, the Pacific Islands Forum, the United Nations Environment 
Programme (UNEP), the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU), and the World 
Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).  A full list of intergov ernmental organizations with 
observer status in the Committee is contained in document WT/COMTD/W/22/Rev.6. 
                                                      
1 The Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Development, dealing with the issue of special 
and differential treatment, has its own reporting requirements. 
2 The 2003 annual report of the Committee is contained in document WT/COMTD/48 of 
1 December 2003. 
3 WT/COMTD/M50 and WT/COMTD/51 to be issued. WT/COMTD/50 
Page 2  
 
4. The principal themes addressed by the CTD in  Regular Session during the period covered in 
this report included: 
 A. Technical cooperation and training; 
 B. Notifications regarding market access for developing and least-developed countries; 
 C. Report of the Joint Advisory Group on the International Trade Centre 
UNCTAD/WTO; 
D. Declining terms of trade for primary co mmodities, and its implication to trade and 
development of primary commodity exporting countries; 
E. Paragraph 51 of the Doha Declaration on  identifying and debating developmental and 
environmental aspects of the negotiations, in  order to help achieve the objective of 
having sustainable developm ent appropriately reflected; 
F. Development dimension of electronic commerce;  and  
G. Graduation of the Maldives from least-developed country status. 
A. T
ECHNICAL COOPERATION AND TRAINING  
5. At its 49th Session, the Committee took note of the Annual Report on Training and Technical 
Cooperation (WT/COMTD/W/127), the Fourth Quarterly Report on Implementation of the 2003 Plan 
(WT/COMTD/W/126) and the 2003 Technical Co-operation Audit Report (WT/COMTD/W/125).  At 
its 48th Session, the Committee adopted the plan of Regional Trade Policy Courses 
(WT/COMTD/W/123) which were part of the 2004 Technical Assistance Plan.   
6. At the 50th Session, Members discussed the draft 2005 Technical Assistance (TA) Plan 
(WT/COMTD/W/133), and the Second Quarterly Report on the Implementation of the 2004 
Technical Assistance Plan (WT/COMTD/W/132).  At its 51st session, the Committee took note of the 
Second Quarterly Report.  In discussing the draft TA Plan for 2005, the Committee requested a 
revision issued as WT/COMTD/W/133/Rev.1.  A further revision was requested and, after 
consultations, was adopted.4 
7. The Committee welcomed the process of informal consultations that the Secretariat had 
conducted with Members since the beginning of 20 04 on a range of issues relating to technical 
assistance and training.  Members believed the cons ultations were beneficial in preparing the 2005 TA 
Plan and that they should continue in the futu re.  Moreover, a Mid-Term Review of Technical 
Assistance and Training had been conducted.   
8. Also at its 51st Session, the Committee heard a presen tation by the International Development 
Law Organization (IDLO) on its various tr aining activities in developing countries.  
B. NOTIFICATIONS REGARDING MARKET ACCESS FOR DEVELOPING AND LEAST -DEVELOPED 
COUNTRIES  
9. At its 48th Session, the CTD took note of the two no tifications, one from the Government of 
Australia (WT/COMTD/N/18) and another from th e Government of Iceland (WT/COMTD/N/17 and 
Corrigendum 1).  Since they related to improved market access for LDCs, they were forwarded to the 
Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries (Sub-Committee) for substantive consideration and 
reporting back following the procedures agreed to at the CTD's 32nd Session.5  At its 49th Session, 
Canada presented the extension of its GSP scheme for another ten years and changes to the lists of 
beneficiaries.  It also announced the withdrawal of GSP treatment for ten countries acceding to the 
European Union (WT/COMTD/N/15/Add.2).  At its 50th Session, the Committee took note of another 
three notifications made under the Enabling Clau se.  These concerned a notification from the 
                                                      
4 WT/COMTD/W/133/Rev.2 (to be issued) 
5 WT/COMTD/M/32  WT/COMTD/50 
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Government of Japan (WT/COMTD/N/2/Add.13), one from the Government of Switzerland 
(WT/COMTD/N/7/Add.2) and one from the Gove rnment of China (WT/COMTD/N/19).  The 
notification from Japan related to the exclusion in it s GSP scheme of eight countries as a result of 
their accession to the European Union on 1 May 2004.  The notification from China related to its 
accession to the Bangkok Agreement in 2001 and its implementation of concessions under that 
Agreement since 1 January 2002.  The notification by Switzerland regarding improved market access 
for LDC exports was forwarded to the Sub-Committe e for LDCs for substan tive consideration and 
reporting back. 
C. REPORT OF THE JOINT ADVISORY GROUP ON THE INTERNATIONAL TRADE CENTRE 
UNCTAD/WTO 
10. The Joint Advisory Group on the International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO (JAG) held its 
37th Session on 26 to 30 April 2004.  The report on that meeting is contained in document 
ITC/AG/(XXXVII)/200 of 6 May 2004.  The Chairman of the JAG, Ambassador Henrik Rée Iversen 
of Denmark, presented the report to the 49th Session of the Committee.  He noted that a main item in the 
report concerned the ITC's increase of its delivery of technical assistance to developing and transition economies by 19 per cent during 2003.  The Committee took note of the 2004 JAG report and forwarded it to the General Council for adoption.   
D. D
ECLINING TERMS OF TRADE FOR PRIMARY COMMODITIES , AND ITS IMPLICATION TO TRADE 
AND DEVELOPMENT OF PRIMARY COMMODITY EXPORTING COUNTRIES  
11. Discussions on commodity issues continued at the 48th Session with an examination of 
proposals made by the delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda contained in document 
WT/COMTD/W/113 and an inventory of documents relating to the commodity issue compiled by the 
Secretariat and contained in docum ent WT/COMTD/W/121.  At its 49th Session, the Committee had 
before it two new submissions:  one, from the de legation of Switzerland (WT/COMTD/W/129);  the 
other, from the delegations of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda (WT/COMTD/W/130).  Both 
submissions contained suggestions on possible ways to move forward on the issue of commodities.  At its 50
th Session, the CFC made a presentation to the Committee, which later agreed to hold 
informal consultations to determine how best to addr ess the various issues rais ed with regard to the 
commodities issue.  An informal consultation was held on 8 November 2004.  At its 51st Session, the 
Committee heard a presentation by UNCTAD concerning its recent work on commodities.  
E. P ARAGRAPH 51 OF THE DOHA DECLARATION ON IDENTIFYING AND DEBATING 
DEVELOPMENTAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL ASPECTS OF THE NEGOTIATIONS , IN ORDER TO 
HELP ACHIEVE THE OBJECTIVE OF HAVING SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT APPROPRIATELY 
REFLECTED  
12. The item relating to paragraph 51 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration is a standing item on 
the agenda of the Committee.  Under this item,  Members identify and debate the developmental 
aspects of the various negotiations in order to help achieve the objective of having sustainable 
development appropriately reflected.  Continuing w ith past presentations on agriculture, market 
access and services, in 2004 Members were informed about the developmental aspects of the dispute 
settlement negotiations.  A presentation on the developmental aspects of the rules negotiation took 
place at the 51st Session of the Committee. 
F. D EVELOPMENT DIMENSION OF ELECTRONIC COMMERCE  
13. The CTD is one of four subsidiary bodies to the General Council mandated to work on the 
issue of electronic commerce which is a standing item on its agenda.  At its 48th Session, the 
Committee discussed some of the inter-linkages be tween e-commerce and development issues and 
addressed the possibility of inviting other international organizations with experience in this area to WT/COMTD/50 
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contribute to discussions in the Committee.  At the 50
th Session, it was agreed that the International 
Telecommunications Union (ITU) would be inv ited to make a presentation.  At its 51st Session, the 
Committee agreed to postpone to a future meeting a presentation by the ITU concerning the ITU's 
preparations for the second phase of the World Su mmit on the Information Society in Tunis in 2005 
and the trade-related aspects of e- commerce for developing countries.  
G. G RADUATION OF THE MALDIVES  
14. At the 49th Session, the Maldives presented a submis sion (WT/COMTD/W/128) relating to its 
possible graduation from LDC status.  Several Memb ers stressed the need for coherence between the 
United Nations and the WTO and the Chairman said he would hold consultations.  Two Secretariat papers were circulated to Members.  The first,  contains a list of WTO special and differential 
treatment provisions for LDCs (WT/COMTD/W/135) and the second,  a background note on the UN's graduation process (JOB(04)/134). 
III. WORK OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT IN DEDICATED 
SESSION ON SMALL ECONOMIES 
15. Pursuant to paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration
6, the General Council, at its 
meeting on 1 March 2002, took note of the framewo rk and procedures for the conduct of the Work 
Programme on Small Economies.7  Paragraph 2(d) of that document states that "The General Council 
shall instruct the CTD to have a programme of wo rk on small economies which will be conducted in 
dedicated sessions of the CTD". 
16. The Dedicated Session held two formal meetings on 12 May and 3 November 2004 on the 
Work Programme on Small Economies under the Chairmanship of Ambassador C. Trevor Clarke 
(Barbados).  The meetings were held during Geneva Week to ensu re the participation of Members 
without missions in Geneva.  Two new proposals we re introduced in the De dicated Session held in 
May.  The first, entitled "Proposals submitted by the landlocked countries", was submitted by Bolivia, 
Mongolia and Paraguay in WT/COMTD/SE/W/10. The second was an elaboration of earlier proposals 
contained in WT/COMTD/SE/W/3 and was submitted by Barbados, Fiji, Mauritius, Papua New 
Guinea, Solomon Islands and Trinidad and Tobago in WT/COMTD/SE/W/11.  The Minutes of these 
meetings are contained in documents WT/COMTD/SE/M/7 and WT/COMTD/SE/M/8.8   
IV. WORK OF THE SUB-COMMITTEE ON LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  
17. During the period covered by this annual report, the Sub-Committee on Least-Developed 
Countries held four formal meetings on 8 December 2003 and on 9 March, 7 June and 
29 October 2004.  The minutes of these meetings are contained in documents 
WT/COMTD/LDC/M/35 through WT/COMTD/LDC/M/389 respectively. Ambassador 
Johan Molander (Sweden) chaired the meeting on 8 D ecember 2003.  All the meetings in 2004 were 
chaired by Ambassador Ian de Jong (Netherlands). 
18. Since the previous report, the work of the Sub-Committee has mainly focused on 
implementing the WTO Work Programme for LDCs  as adopted by Members on 12 February 2002. 10  
The subjects considered during the reporting period were: 
                                                      
6 WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1 
7 WT/L/447 
8 To be issued. 
9 To be issued. 
10 WT/COMTD/LDC/11  WT/COMTD/50 
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(i) Accession of LDCs; 
(ii) Market Access for LDCs;  
(iii) Trade-Related Technical Assistance and Capacity-Building Initiatives for 
LDCs;  and 
(iv) Providing, as appropriate, support to agencies assisting with the 
diversification of Least-Developed Countries' production and export base. 
(i) Accession of LDCs 
19. The Sub-Committee considered the ite m on Accession of LDCs at its 36th and 37th Sessions.  
At its 36th Session, a Secretariat paper on the state of play of LDC accessions was circulated to 
facilitate discussion.11  The need to continue implementing the Guidelines on LDCs' Accession12 and 
the importance of technical assistance and capacity building at all stages of the accession process were 
emphasised.  At that meeting, the Secretariat was requested to prepare a note on the type of technical 
assistance provided to acceding LDCs.  At the 37th Session of the Sub-Committee, the note by the 
Secretariat on Technical Assistance for Acceding LDCs was discussed.13  Members welcomed the 
paper which provided an overview of the type of te chnical assistance required to assist LDCs in their 
accession process.  It also included a non-exhaustive summary of the assistance provided by the WTO 
Secretariat, by WTO Members as well as that offe red by other international organizations.  The 
importance of continuing to provide assistance to those LDCs that had completed the accession 
process but still faced difficulties fulfilling th eir commitments was underscored.  At its 38th Session, 
Members welcomed Cambodia as a full WTO Member  and as the second LDC, after Nepal, to have 
acceded to the WTO in 2004. 
(ii) Market Access for LDCs 
20. Market Access for LDCs was considered in all the meetings of the Sub-Committee during the 
period covered by this report.  To address the issues listed in paragraph 7 of the WTO Work 
Programme for LDCs, the Secretariat presented a note on the annual review of market access for 
products originating from LDCs (WT/CO MTD/LDC/W/35 and TN/MA/S/12) at the 38th Session of 
the Sub-Committee.  Preparations for the drafting of this document commenced at the 37th Session of 
the Sub-Committee, when the Secretariat outlined the approach and elements of the report.  The note 
by the Secretariat contained information regarding LDCs' export profile, tariff measures, initiatives 
and improvements made in providing market access for LDCs, as well as the utilization of preferences 
as a special topic.  
21. In line with the LDC market access reporting procedures14, the Sub-Committee discussed five 
notifications forwarded to it by the CTD for discussion and reporting back.  At its 35th Session, the 
notifications by Iceland (WT/COMTD/N/17) and Ja pan (WT/COMTD/N/2/Add.12) were discussed.  
The Sub-Committee welcomed the improvements in market access for LDCs that were in line with 
paragraph 42 of the Doha Minist erial Declaration.  At its 36th Session, the Sub- Committee considered 
a notification by Australia (WT/COMTD/N/18) to grant duty- and quota-free entry to imports from 
the LDCs.  Members welcomed Australia's initiative and sought some clarification concerning rules 
of origin for duty-free entry.  Clarifications and answers to questions posed were circulated by 
Australia (WT/COMTD/LDC/W/34) to all Members.  At the 37th Session, Canada informed the 
Sub-Committee that it had extended its General Pr eferential Tariff and Le ast-Developed Country 
Tariff for a further ten years and had made  changes to the list of beneficiaries 
                                                      
11 JOB (04)/3 
12 WT/L/508 
13 WT/COMTD/LDC/W/32 
14 These reporting procedures were agreed to by Members at the 32nd Session of the CTD 
(WT/COMTD/M/32) and at the CTG meeting on 14 March 2001 (G/C/M/47). WT/COMTD/50 
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(WT/COMTD/N/15/Add.2).  At the 38
th Session, the Sub-Committee took note of the notification by 
Switzerland (WT/COMTD/N/7/Add.2) reporting on th e implementation of second stage of tariff 
reductions for LDCs in the agricultural sector with effect from 1 April 2004. 
22. At the 38th Session, the Sub-Committee considered a submission by the LDCs in 
WT/COMTD/LDC/W/36 concerning market access for textiles and clothing af ter the expiry of the 
Agreement on Textiles and Clothing (ATC).  The LD Cs requested the WTO to undertake a study on 
issues relating to the phase out of the ATC.  In light of the consultations being held in the CTG on a 
similar submission (G/C/W/496), the Sub-Committee agreed that its Chairman would undertake 
consultations with the Chairman of the CTG and report back to the Sub-Committee at a future 
meeting.  
(iii) Trade-Related Technical Assistance and Capacity-Building Initiatives for Least-Developed 
Countries 
23. The item on technical assistance and capacity-building initiatives for LDCs was considered at 
the 35th, 36th, 37th and 38th Sessions of the Sub-Committee.   
- WTO Training and Technical Assistance 
24. At the 35th Session, the Secretariat briefed Members on WTO training and technical 
assistance activities and the priority  attached to LDCs in its delivery.  This priority was reflected in 
the Annual WTO Technical Assistance Plans.  It  was highlighted that LDCs had difficulty in 
identifying and transmitting their technical assistan ce needs and requests to the WTO Secretariat. 
Since the 35th Session, however, the Secretariat reported  that it had consider ably stepped up its 
technical assistance activities to LDCs.  
- Assistance to Address Supply-Side Constraints 
25. Assistance to address supply-side constraints was considered at the 37th and 38th Sessions of 
the Sub-Committee.  Discussions were based on the note prepared by the Secretariat 
(WT/COMTD/LDC/W/33).  The document noted that although the issue of supply-side constraints 
went beyond the mandate of the WTO, the WTO had tried to respond through a number of 
co-operation arrangements with other institutions including through initiatives such as the Joint 
Integrated Technical Assistance Programme (JITAP ) and the Integrated Fram ework (IF).  A number 
of delegations emphasized the need to further strengthen the cooperation of WTO with other 
organizations to better address su pply-side constraints of LDCs.  Members welcomed the note as a 
good basis for further discussion on supply-side constraints.  At the 37th Session, representatives of 
UNIDO, the World Bank and ITC briefed the Sub-Committee on how they were assisting the LDCs in addressing the supply-side constraints of LDCs.  At the 38
th Session, several delegations requested the 
Secretariat for additional specific data in order to have a more in-depth discussion on the item at a 
future meeting. 
- Integrated Framework for Trade-Related Technical Assistance (IF) 
26. At the Sub-Committee's 35th meeting, the Chairman of the IF Steering Committee (IFSC) 
briefed the Sub-Committee on the IF's Third Heads of Agency meeting, on the report of the second 
major evaluation of the IF and on the extension of the IF to new countries.15  At the Sub-Committee's 
36th meeting, the Chairman of the IFSC reported that at the 11th meeting of the IFSC a summary of the 
IF evaluation report had been circulated as docum ent WT/IFSC/6/Rev.2/Add.1.  In December 2003, 
the Integrated Framework Working Group (IFWG) had held a one and a half day retreat to further 
                                                      
 15 The joint communiqué by the six core agencies of the Integrated Framework is contained in 
document WT/IFSC/5.   WT/COMTD/50 
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discuss the recommendations contained in the evaluation report.  Based on the outcome of these 
discussions, the IFWG had drawn up a Work Programme on follow-up actions to implement 
recommendations of the evaluation.  The Work Programme, adopted by the IFWG and subsequently 
approved by the IFSC, was circulated to Members of the Sub-Committee on 17 February 2004 as 
document WT/IFSC/7.  Minutes of the meetings of the IFSC held in the period under review are 
contained in documents WT/IFSC/M/9 and WT/IFSC /M/10.  General progress in the IF can be 
reviewed on its website: www.integratedframework.org. 
(iv) Providing, as appropriate, support to agencies assisting with the diversification of LDCs' 
production and export base 
27. At its 36th Session, the Sub-Committee considered the item on providing support to agencies 
assisting with the diversification of LDCs' produc tion and export base.  A representative of UNCTAD 
briefed the Sub-Committee on wo rk undertaken by UNCTAD in support of LDCs' production and 
export base.  Members welcomed the work under taken by UNCTAD and expressed an interest in 
inviting other organisations to brief the Sub-Committee at future meetings. 
 
 
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