. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/682 
29 March 2007 
 (07-1298) 
 Original:   English 
  
G-33
1 MINISTERIAL COMMUNIQUÉ 
JAKARTA, 21 MARCH 2007 
 
Communication from Indonesia  
  
 The following communication, dated 27 Marc h 2007, has been received from the Delegation 
of Indonesia with the request that it be circulated to all Members.  
_______________ 
  
COMMUNIQUÉ 
  
1. The G-33 Ministers met in Jakarta on the 20
th and 21st March 2007 to assess the progress of 
negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda ( DDA) of the WTO and to reflect on the Group's 
course of action on Special Products (SPs) and Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM).  
 2. The Ministers welcomed the renewed poli tical commitment of all WTO members to 
reinvigorate the negotiations in order to achie ve a breakthrough.  They called on Members, 
particularly the developed countries, to translate th is political engagement into concrete movements in 
positions to capitalize on the window of opportunity  to conclude the Round and deliver on the 
development mandate.  3. The Ministers noted that, while small group, plur ilateral, as well as bilateral, discussions may 
be useful to help the multilateral process of ne gotiations, these must be accompanied by an open and 
inclusive process with the full involvement of al l WTO members.  This is essential to ensure 
transparency and equity in the process as well as the legitimacy of the results of these negotiations.  
 4. Recalling that the Doha Declaration, the Fr amework Agreement of July 2004 and the Hong 
Kong Declaration contain a clear mandate to WTO Members to secure the n eeds and interests of 
developing countries, Ministers emphasized that a ke y measure of the success of this Round would be 
the substantial positive impact on the welfare of r esource-poor and vulnerable farmers in developing 
countries across the globe.  The Ministers affirmed the view that the food security, livelihood security 
and rural development needs are vital human concerns.    
 
                                                     
 
1 Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Bolivia, Botswana, China, Côte d’Ivoire, Congo, 
Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, 
Indonesia, Jamaica, Kenya, Korea, Madagascar, Ma uritius, Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, 
Pakistan, Panama, Peru, The Philippines,  Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia,  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, 
Senegal, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Uganda, Venezuela, Zambia and 
Zimbabwe. WT/L/682 
Page 2  
5. The Ministers reiterated that the early removal of distortions, caused by huge subsidies and 
significant market access barriers in developed countri es, would contribute to the attainment of the 
Millennium Development Goals.  It is essential th at the outcome of the negotiations upholds the 
proposals of developing countries resulting in real  and effective substantial reduction of trade 
distorting domestic support coupled with meaningful  discipline, elimination of all forms of export 
subsidies, and substantial improvements in access to the markets of developed countries, including 
through tariff simplification and the elimination of  tariff escalation which impede or deny market 
access opportunities to products of export interest to developing countries.   
 6. The Ministers noted the recent intensive b ilateral engagement among major Members and 
urged the developed Members to now move the mu ltilateral negotiations forw ard by making detailed 
and specific offers in this regard which are consis tent with the mandate.  Developing countries stand 
ready to engage in negotiations based on meani ngful proposals taking fully and effectively into 
account the principle of overall proportionality in  tariff reduction commitment and special and 
differential treatment in all aspects of the negotiations.  
7. As part of the Group's positive and constructiv e engagement, Ministers have reviewed and 
approved a revision of the list of indicators for the selection of Special Products in a manner as to assure transparency while enabling all developing  countries to appropriately self designate an 
appropriate number of products based on the mandate d criteria.  The indicators represent the simplest 
and most rational approach to ope rationalizing the mandate for Special Products as they take into 
consideration the wide range of domestic circumstances of developing countries. 
 
8. The Ministers emphasized the importance of ensu ring that the treatment of Special Products 
guarantees adequate flexibility for realizing the intended objective of Special Products.  Such 
treatment must take into account the special ci rcumstances of developing countries, including Small 
and Vulnerable Economies. 
 
9. While Ministers expressed their readiness to be  responsive to significant movements in the 
positions held by the developed countries and contribute to the successful conclusion of the Round, 
they stressed that the mandate on Special Products does not require developing countries to provide 
any compensation including through tariff quota commitments.   
10. The Ministers reaffirmed that the Special Safe guard Mechanism is an integral part of the 
modalities of the WTO agriculture negotiations.  They  underscored that, in the absence of safety nets 
in developing countries, an effective and operabl e Special Safeguard Mechanism would be the only 
instrument which can cushion developing country fa rmers against import surges or price declines.  
They emphasized that SSM should be available to a ll agriculture products and that the import price 
and import volume triggers app lied separately should alone de termine which product needs the 
invocation of the SSM at any given time.  They reite rated that to uphold the integrity of special and 
differential treatment the terms and conditions of the mechanism should be more favourable than the 
existing provisions of Article 5 of the Agreement on Agriculture.  They expressed the G-33's readiness to engage in more meaningful discussions on their proposal.  
11. The Ministers welcomed the opportunity to ha ve discussions with the coordinators of the 
G20, the African Group, ACP and SVEs.  These disc ussions have revealed commonality of positions 
in the key areas of the agriculture negotiations  including the modalities and outcome on Special 
Products and the Special Safeguard Mechanism.  Mini sters also appreciated the participation of the 
Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheri es of Japan as a representative of the G-10, the 
Director General of the WTO and the EU Trade Commissioner in the discussion.  The Ministers 
instructed their Geneva representatives to construc tively engage and make progress in the negotiations 
in close coordination with all Groups in Geneva.  12. The Ministers thanked the Government of the Republic of Indonesia for organizing this 
Meeting and for the warm and generous hospitality of the people of Indonesia.  
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