WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/2 
21 October 2009 
 (09-5212) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English 
 
  
SIXTH LDC TRADE MINISTERS' MEETING 
Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania 
14-16 October 2009 
 
DAR ES SALAAM DECLARATION
1 
 
  The following communication dated 20 October 2009 , is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Tanzania. 
 
_______________ 
 
  We, the Ministers of the Least-Developed Countri es (LDCs) responsible for trade, meeting in 
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania  with a view to advancing and promoti ng the interests of LDCs in the Doha 
Development Round of multilateral trade negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO); 
 
 Recalling  the LDC Ministers’ Declarations adopted  at Zanzibar in 2001, Dhaka in 2003, 
Dakar in 2004, Livingstone in 2005 and Maseru in 2008; 
 
 Welcoming  the upcoming Seventh Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference; 
  Acknowledging  the contribution of trade to the ec onomic development and growth of the 
economies of LDCs;   
 Recognising  the devastating effects of the current  global economic and financial crisis, 
particularly on the economies of the LDCs;   Desiring to secure the meaningful and effective integration of LDCs into the multilateral 
trading system; 
 
 Welcoming the commitment by Members to exempt  LDCs from undertaking any reduction 
commitments in Agriculture and Non-Agricultu ral Market Access (NAMA), and from undertaking 
any commitments under trade in Services;  
 Underlining  the important role played by international trade as a means for regional 
integration and for the integration of our countries in the global trade;   Recognizing  the difficulties associated with the reali zation of national development strategies 
of LDCs through trade, and in this regard under lining the importance of Aid for Trade initiative in 
                                                     
 
1 As adopted by the Ministerial Meeting on 15 October 2009. WT/MIN(09)/2 
Page 2  
 
  trade-related capacity building overcoming supply-si de constraints and infra structure development 
and facilitating integration of LDC ec onomies in regional and global trade;  
  Appreciating the recent operationalisation and the positiv e efforts of the Enhanced Integrated 
Framework (EIF) as a programme intended to assist LDCs with mainstreaming of trade policy into 
national development strategies and their integratio n in the multilateral trading system by means of 
increased and predictable financial resources,  ensuring national ownership and enhancing 
IF governance;  
 
 Welcoming  the statement that came out of the Round Table meeting, held in 
Phnom Penh, Kingdom of Cambodia, 28-30 September 2009, on the accession of LDCs that are not 
Members of the WTO; 
 
 Reaffirming  the need to conduct the WTO negotiations in a transparent and all-inclusive 
manner and the need to maintain the cen trality of development outcomes from the 
Doha Development Round;  
  Recalling  the commitment of Members of the WTO to place the needs and concerns of LDCs 
at the heart of the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations;   Having reviewed the progress made in the DDA nego tiations towards this goal; and 
 
 Noting that, while progress has been made in certain areas, important common negotiating 
goals of the LDCs in the DDA have not been attained fully.  
 Call upon the WTO Members to agree on the following:
 
 
 Operationalise the core principle of Special  and Differential Treatment (S&DT) and the 
development dimension of the Doha  Round of negotiations by granti ng all LDCs more preferential 
treatment than non-LDCs.   Address the issues of concern to LDCs on a priority basis and to have an "early harvest" on 
(i) the implementation of the Decision 36 of the Annex F of the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial 
Declaration;  (ii) a waiver decision on preferential and more favourable treatment to services and services suppliers of LDCs; and (iii) an ambiti ous, expeditious and specific outcome for cotton 
trade-related aspects, in particular the elimina tion of trade-distorting domestic support measures and 
export subsidies, and the granting of duty-free a nd quota-free (DFQF) market access for cotton and 
cotton by-products originating from LDCs. 
 
 Duty-free and Quota-free Market Access and Rules of Origin 
 
1. To fully implement, by early 2010, the decision on DFQF market access for all products 
originating from all LDCs, as contained in Anne x F of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration, 
accorded through Agricultural and Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) m odalities, with a view 
to ensuring commercially meaningful market access  for at least 97 per cent of products originating 
from LDCs, defined at the tariff-line level; 
2. Developed-country Members shall inform the WT O Membership of the products that will be 
covered under the commitment to provide DFQF for at least 97 per cent of products originating from 
all LDCs, defined at the tariff-line level, by the time of the draft schedules; 
  WT/MIN(09)/2 
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  3. A commitment by developed-country Members facing difficulties to provide DFQF market 
access on a lasting basis for all products originating from all LDCs to grant, in a progressive manner, 
DFQF market access for the remaining 3 per cent of products originating in all LDCs not later than 
the end of the implementation period;   
4. Specification by each developed country, on a product-by-product basis, of the dates on 
which it will grant DFQF market a ccess for the remaining 3 per cent of products originating in all  
LDCs by the time Members submit their comprehensive draft schedules of concessions; 
5. A commitment by a larger number of developing countries declaring themselves in a position 
to do so to progressively implement beyond current ma rket access levels and to provide DFQF market 
access to products originating from all LDCs starting at an earlier date, but not later than the end of 
the implementation period; 
6. An agreement by Members to base their rules of origin for products originating in LDCs on 
the model Rules of Origin in TN/CTD/W/30,  TN/MA/W/74 and TN/AG/GEN/20; coupled with 
immediate meetings with preference-granting countri es, with the assistance of relevant international 
organizations, to determine the technical details of the rules of origin; 
7. Define and agree on details of monitoring proce dures for DFQF market access to all products 
from all LDCs, as well as on the im plementation of simple and transpar ent rules of origin for products 
originating in LDCs, no later than early 2010 in order to ensure that they are in place by the time of 
submission of schedules; to oversee implementation and effectiveness of the DFQF scheme of individual Members ; and 
8. Operationalisation of commitment by developm ent partners and the relevant international 
institutions to provide additiona l financial and technical assist ance through appropriate delivery 
mechanisms aimed at industrialisation and divers ification of LDCs’ economies, and to meet their 
implementation obligations, including fulfilling Sa nitary and PhytoSanitary (SPS) and Technical 
Barriers to Trade (TBT) requirements, building capac ity in standards and related infrastructure and 
assisting LDCs to manage their adjustment process es, including those necessary to face the results of 
Most Favoured Nation (MFN) multilateral trade liberalization. 
Agriculture 
 
9. Access to all S&DT provisions and exemption from any form of reduction commitments; 
10. Ensure that LDCs' current applied tariff rate s are not affected by commitments of non-LDC 
Members that have Common External Tariffs with LDCs;  
11. Further strengthening green box disciplines and the design of appropriate and effective 
monitoring and surveillance mechan isms to avoid box shifting; 
12. Ensure an agricultural Special Safeguard Mechan ism (SSM) that allows LDCs to effectively 
address import surges and import price drops. The arrangement for LDCs shall be more flexible than for other Members and there shall be no ceiling le vel for LDCs to increase tariffs above pre-Doha 
bound rates if needed to address those concerns; 
13. Review the December 2008 Draft Modalities on Agriculture to include provision on capacity 
building and technical assistance in order to assist LDCs to address challenges related to agricultural 
trade; WT/MIN(09)/2 
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  14. Commitments by development partners in the improvement of the monitoring of food aid 
transactions to avoid commercial displacement in  the recipient countries while encouraging the 
purchase of local and regional products to promot e the development of the local and regional 
agricultural sector; 
15. In view of ensuring food security in LDCs , no non-LDC Member shall apply any export 
restriction on food items imported by any LDC;  
16. Permitting the monetisation of non-emerge ncy food aid only under the exceptional 
circumstances to be determined by recipient count ries as provided for in paragraph 12 of Annex L of 
the December 2008 Draft Modalities on Agriculture; and 
17. Establish suitable procedures for negotiations on the elimination of non-tariff barriers 
affecting commodities.  
Cotton  
 
18. Achieving, on an "early harvest" basis, an ambitious, expeditious and specific outcome for 
cotton trade-related aspects, in particular  the elimination of trade-distorting domestic support 
measures and export subsidies, granting of DFQF  market access for cotton and cotton by-products 
originating from the LDCs;  
19. The urgent setting up, in the context of curre nt global economic and fi nancial crisis, of a 
"safety net" mechanism for cotton producing LDCs  to address revenue losses as a result of declining 
prices in the international markets;  
20. Implementing the commitment by WTO Members contained in the July Package and the 
Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration regarding the m obilisation of technical and financial assistance to 
ensure the coherence between the trade and development aspects; and 
21. Continued support from all Members of the ongoing Director-General's consultative 
framework mechanism on cotton. 
NAMA 
 
22. Access to all S&DT provisions and exemption from  any forms of reduction commitments, 
including sectorals; 
23. LDCs will be the judge of the extent and level of bindings of their tariff lines;  
24. To give practical effect to the agreement to eliminate all non-tariff barriers on products 
originating in LDCs through, inter alia , expeditious finalisation of th e negotiations on the "Horizontal 
Mechanism";  
25. Ensure that LDCs’ current applied tariff rat es are not affected by commitments of non-LDC 
Members that have Common External Tariffs with LDCs; and  
26. Agreement not to impose any disciplines on export taxes, as these are legitimate tools for 
development.  WT/MIN(09)/2 
 Page 5 
 
 
  Preference Erosion 
 
27. An agreement to incorporate both trade and non- trade solutions in the Agriculture and NAMA 
modalities to address the erosion of preferences; 
28. Any provision on the fullest liberalization of tr opical and diversification products shall not 
harm the export interests of LDCs due to the erosi on of preferences.  Effective mechanisms should be 
established to mitigate any negative effects of the fu llest liberalization of tropical and diversification 
products on LDCs;  
29. An agreement by all Members to incorporate a ll the tariff lines contained in the list submitted 
by the LDCs in Document Job (07)/167, with a vi ew to addressing the erosion of preferences on the 
LDCs in their major markets, namely the EC and the US, and to subject these tariff lines to a longer 
grace period in tariff cuts as proposed by LDCs; and 
30. Ensure that the sectoral initiatives of the NAMA negotiations do not harm the export interests 
of LDCs.  In this context, DFQF market access s hould be provided to LDCs in the products included 
in the sectoral initiatives from the start of the im plementation period of the results of the DDA, and 
appropriate S&DT and technical assistance s hould be provided to overcome the supply-side 
constraints faced by the LDCs. 
Services 
 
31. An outcome in services consistent with the de velopment objectives of the General Agreement 
on Trade in Services (GATS), 2001 Services Negotia ting Guidelines and the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration, including Annex C. Steps toward s the completion of the negotiations should be 
consistent with these objectives; 
32. Full and effective implementation of the modaliti es for the special treatment for LDCs in the 
negotiations on trade in services as contained in TN/S/13; 
33. The assessments of individual LDCs and their ser vices sectors to assist them in identifying 
the sectors and modes of supply that represent their development priorities, including their export 
interests;  
34. An immediate decision granting a waiver from the MFN obligation in Article II of the GATS 
to permit secure and predictable preferential and more favourable tr eatment to services and service 
suppliers of all LDCs; 
35. Give practical effect to the waiver through developed countries, and developing countries in a 
position to do so, granting preferential and more favo urable treatment to services and service suppliers 
of all LDCs; 
36. Commitments on market access and national treatment to LD Cs, covered by the waiver 
decision , in all sectors and modes of supply of export inte rest to LDCs, in particular commitments on 
the temporary movement of persons supplying services (Mode 4) to developed and developing 
countries as identified by LDCs, before the conclusion of the Doha Development Round ; 
37. Preservation of the language on Domestic Regul ation that exempts LDCs from applying 
future domestic regulation disciplines;  
38. Provision of targeted and effective needs-b ased technical assistance and capacity building 
aimed at assisting in building LDCs’ institutiona l framework and domestic regulation capacity, WT/MIN(09)/2 
Page 6  
 
  including facilitating the establishment of technical  standards and participation of LDCs in the 
relevant organizations; and  
39. Commitments by WTO Members to ensure the strengthening of LDC domestic services 
supply capacity, efficiency, and export competitiven ess in accordance with Article IV:1(a) of the 
GATS and paragraph 8 of the LDC Modalities (TN/S/ 13).  Reporting by WTO Members of measures 
taken towards that objective.  
Trade Facilitation 
 
40. A commitment to complete negotiations on an agreement on trade facilitation in parallel with 
the completion of negotiations on other issues of particular concern to LDCs, and on the 
understanding that the agreement on trade facilitati on will be completed as pa rt of the Doha Round 
single undertaking; 
41. Recognition by Members that, in negotiating a nd completing such an agreement, LDCs are 
the most vulnerable group in the WTO and should, therefore, be given ma ximum flexibilities across 
all issues regarding technical assist ance and capacity building and S&DT; 
42. Agree that the commitments undertaken by LD Cs depend on the acquisition by LDCs of the 
necessary capacity to impl ement such commitments; 
43. Follow-up to the self-assessments and priority  needs exercise whereby LDCs are provided 
assistance to determine the costs implications  of proposed trade facilitation measures; 
44. Adequate financial and technical assistance as well as capacity building for the development 
of required infrastructure in LDCs, through a coordi nated and sustained flow of funding that also 
addresses the cost of the implementation of the proposed trade facilitation measures affecting LDCs; 
and 
45. In resolving disputes arising under such agre ement, WTO Members shall commit themselves 
to exercise due restraint on bringing matters involving LDCs before the DSU. 
Trade-Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) 
 
46. Agreement to amend the TRIPS Agreement to  include a mandatory requirement for the 
disclosure of the country of origin of genetic resources, and/or associated traditional knowledge for 
which a definition will be agreed in patent appli cations, and to include a requirement that patent 
applications will not be processed without completion of the disclosure requirement; 
47. An agreement to define Prior Informed Consent and Access and Benefit Sharing; 
48. Effective implementation of the obligation by  developed Members to provide incentives to 
enterprises and institutions within th eir territories that achieve effec tive technology transfer to LDCs 
in accordance with Article 66.2 of the TRIPS Agreement; 
49. Establishment of a monitoring mechanism to review the situations where enterprises and 
institutions within developed WTO Members have pr ovided technology transfer to LDCs as a result 
of such incentives and their eff ectiveness at creating a viable technological base in the LDC; 
50. Implement the TRIPS Agreement in a manne r that promotes incentives for Research & 
Development in environment-friendly tec hnologies and their transfer to LDCs; and  WT/MIN(09)/2 
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  51. Provide financial and technical assistance to all LDCs for their needs assessment and to 
develop their capacity in implemen ting TRIPS Agreement obligations. 
Fisheries Subsidies 
 
52. Endorse Article III.1 of the November 2007 Draft text, prepared by the WTO Chair of 
Negotiating Group on Rules, which provides LDCs w ith a full and unconditional carve-out from the 
prohibition on fisheries subsidies; and 
53. Ensure that any technical assistance made ava ilable to developing countries, for improving 
fisheries management systems, is extended to all LDCs as well. 
Rules 
 54. Technical assistance and capacity building to  enable LDCs to use Anti-Dumping and 
Countervailing Measures where the cond itions for their application exist; 
55. The inclusion of S&DT in Article XXIV of  the GATT 1994 for the benefit of LDCs, in 
particular with respect to transition periods and the substantially all trade requirements; 
56. Inclusion of special treatment for LDCs re lating to, among others, the non-imposition of 
provisional measures on products of LDCs, mandato ry acceptance of price-undertakings made by 
exporters from LDCs, and the acc eptance of responses to questi onnaires in any WTO language by 
LDC exporters in the December 2008 Draft Consolidated Chair’s Text (TN/RL/W/236).  
LDC Accessions to the WTO 
 57. Reaffirm the need for the adoption of a binding mechanism to fast-track the accession of 
LDCs, to avoid raising non-trade c oncerns, and to faithfully facilita te and accelerate the negotiations 
for those LDCs that are in the process of accession to the WTO;  
58. Fully support the statement of 29 September 2009 made in the Phnom Penh Accession Round 
Table, as contained in WTO document WT/MIN(09)/1, for the urgent and effective implementation of 
the 2002 WTO General Council Decision on the accession of LDCs; 
59. Take immediate action on the basis of the essential steps recommended by the Phnom Penh 
Accession Round Table, and in particular, the precise interpretation of the 2002 WTO General 
Council Decision on the accession of LDCs and its f our themes (i.e. Market Access, WTO Rules, 
Process and Trade-Related Technical Assistance and Capacity Building); and  
60. Place the accession of LDCs on the agenda of the 7th WTO Ministerial Conference, as 
requested by the LDC Group in Geneva on 3 June 200 9, with a view to complete the process of 
improving the 2002 WTO General Council Decision on the accession of LDCs and present its 
outcome to the Conference for final adoption. 
Trade and Environment 
 
61. LDCs should be exempted from any commitment to reduce or eliminate tariff and non-tariff 
barriers on environmental goods or services; 
62. LDCs should be exempted from the obligation of patent protection of environmental goods 
and services for a period of at least ten years from the date of implementation; WT/MIN(09)/2 
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  63. Outcome of the WTO environmental negotiatio ns must take into account the capacity 
constraints of the LDCs and shall not undermine their competitive advantage; 
64. Goods, prohibited for use on environmental gr ound in the producing country, should be 
prohibited for export; and 
65. Environmental technology, machinery and e quipments, goods and services must be made 
available to LDCs as grants. 
Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) 
 
66. The guiding principles of all EIF projects shall be national ownership by LDCs, embedded in 
effective partnerships, in order to maximise the development benefits of the programme;  
67. Development partners shall not detract from their commitment towards increased additional 
and predictable financial resources in order to ensu re that LDCs are able to respond to particular 
difficulties and challenges imposed by the current economic and financial crisis;  
68. Development partners should fu lfil their pledges and provide a dditional resources for the EIF.  
In this context, urge other deve lopment partners who have not yet contributed to the EIF to provide 
resources for effective implementation of the EIF;  
69. Holding of an EIF event in the sidelines of the 7
th WTO Ministerial Conference in order to set 
the stage for the second pledging conference in 2010; 
70. Strengthen the effectiveness of the EIF through, inter alia , expeditious approval of projects in 
order to facilitate building supply-si de capacity, technology and trade -related infrastructure that would 
support diversification of LDCs’ production and export base; and 
71. Urge remaining implementing agencies to exped ite their signing of the partnership agreement 
that will enable the Trust Fund Manager to perform fiduciary functions satisfactorily. 
Aid for Trade 
 
72. Development partners to provide additional a nd predictable resources, over and above the EIF 
resources, especially in the wake of the current gl obal economic and financial crisis that has placed 
LDCs in greater need of Aid for Trade than ever before; 
73. Accord priority to the Aid for Trade projects of  the LDCs and ensure that Aid for Trade will 
be available for projects identified by the recipien t governments, particularly in the areas of trade 
development, trade-related infrastructure, buildi ng productive capacity and trade-related adjustment; 
and 
74. Development partners should expeditiously move from commitment to implementation, 
following the conclusion of the Second Global Review of Aid for Trade.   
We further call for:  
 
75. Full implementation of the commitments made in  the Marrakesh Declaration and Ministerial 
Decisions in favour of LDCs, as well as the Ministerial Decisions on Measures concerning the 
Possible Negative Effects of the Reform Program me on LDCs and Net-F ood Importing Developing 
Countries;  WT/MIN(09)/2 
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  76. Provision of increased, sustained and targeted technical and financial assistance in favour of 
LDCs, consistent with Doha work programme, including continued delivery by WTO secretariat of 
specialized technical assistance and training activities;  
77. Special consideration to be given in reduction commitments by developing countries that are 
in common external tariff arrangements with LDCs; 
78. Efforts to ensure the coherence mandate be tween the WTO and International Financial 
Institutions in line with the rights and flexibilities that LDCs have obtained under the WTO, is put 
into full operation to support LDC development objectives; 
79. Incorporate the development dimensions of the Doha Round into the forthcoming Fourth 
United Nations Conference on the LDCs in 2011; 
80. Ensure on an urgent basis full and faithful im plementation of the commitments contained in 
the G20 London communiqués in 2009, in support of  low income countries and LDCs to overcome 
the adverse effects of the current global economic  and financial crisis and to access support envisaged 
under stimulus packages of the G-20 member states; and 
81. Agree that the LDCs who graduate continue to receive market access preferences and trade-
related capacity building assistance to encour age their graduation and facilitate their smooth 
transition. 
We express our appreciation to:  
 
82. The People and the Government of The Unite d Republic Tanzania for hosting this LDC 
Ministers meeting in Dar es Salaam; 
83. Development partners, instituti ons, organisations and agencies who continue to support the 
efforts of LDCs to secure a trading system that ta kes their interests into account and those who have 
supported the LDCs in holding this meeting; and 
84. The United Republic of Tanzania, as the Coordinator  of the WTO LDCs Group, and mandate 
her to further pursue  the issues contained in this Declaration  and to present it to the WTO bodies and 
Ministerial Conferences. 
 
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