WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/SE/W/21 
25 April 2006 
 (06-1950) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Dedicated Session Original:   English 
 
 
 
SMALL ECONOMIES WORK PROGRAMME:  THE MONITORING ROLE OF 
THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT IN DEDICATED SESSION 
 
Communication from Antigua and Barbuda, Barb ados, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican 
Republic, El Salvador, Fiji, Grenad a, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica,  Mauritius , Mongolia , 
Nicaragua , Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Solom on Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis,  
St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago  
   The following communication, dated 20 April 2006,  is being circulated at the request of the 
above delegations. 
 
______________ 
 
 
THE MONITORING ROLE OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND  
DEVELOPMENT IN DEDICATED SESSION (CTDDS) 
 
 1. During the CTDDS held in October 2005, Members agreed to the continuation of the 
"two-track" approach in which the progress of Agr eement-specific proposals tabled in the relevant 
negotiating and other bodies would be monitored by the CTDDS.  This decision was endorsed by the 
Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China, as is stated in the paragraph 41 of the Ministerial 
Declaration: 
Paragraph 41: 
We reaffirm our commitment to the Work Programme on Small Economies and urge 
Members to adopt specific measures that w ould facilitate the fuller integration of 
small, vulnerable economies into the mu ltilateral trading system, without creating a 
sub-category of WTO Members.  We take note of the report of the Committee on Trade and Development in Dedicated Session on the Work Programme on Small Economies to the General Council and agree to the recommendations on future work.  
We instruct the Committee on Trade  and Development, under the overall 
responsibility of the General Council, to con tinue the work in the Dedicated Session 
and to monitor progress of the small ec onomies' proposals in the negotiating and 
other bodies, with the aim of providing res ponses to the trade-related issues of small 
economies as soon as possible but no later than 31 December 2006.  We instruct the General Council to report on progress and ac tion taken, together with any further 
recommendations as appropriate, to our next Session.  WT/COMTD/SE/W/21 
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  2. In addition to paragraph 41, the Declaration of the 6
th Ministerial Conference also states the 
following: 
 NAMA Negotiations - paragraph 21 of the Declaration 
 We note the concerns raised by small, vuln erable economies, and instruct the Negotiating 
Group to establish ways to provide flexi bilities for these Members without creating a 
sub-category of WTO Members. 
   
 Services Negotiations – Annex C, paragraph 8 
 
Due consideration shall be given to proposals  on trade-related concerns of small economies. 
3. The small, vulnerable economies are theref ore presenting this document entitled 'The 
Monitoring Role of the Committee on Trade and Deve lopment in Dedicated Session’ to facilitate the 
work of the Dedicated Session in fulfilling its monitoring role under the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  The monitoring process in the Dedicated  Session will assist in achieving the aim of the  
Work Programme on Small Economies to ' frame(s) responses to the trade-related issues identified for 
the fuller integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system…'.  
4. The document is a factual compilation of the relevant sections of the proposals made by the 
small, vulnerable economies in the negotiating and other bodies of the WTO and is submitted for the 
acknowledgement, discussion and monitoring of the CTDDS.
1 
PROPOSALS TABLED IN THE RELEVANT NEGOTIATING AND OTHER BODIES  
 
Committee on Agriculture - Special Session  
 
AGRICULTURE - TN/AG/GEN/11 (11 November 2005)  
 
Proponents :  Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominican Re public, El Salvador, Fiji, Guatemala, 
Honduras, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nicaragua, P apua New Guinea, Par aguay and Trinidad and 
Tobago. 
 
Small, vulnerable economies, with the exception of LDCs, whose average share of world 
merchandise exports over the period 1995-20 04 does not exceed 0.10 per cent, will make a 
contribution to the reform process in agricu lture according to the following provisions:  
 Small, vulnerable economies will undertake linear  cuts not exceeding 15 per cent, with a 
minimum of 10 per cent per tariff line, from th e bound rate.  No further commitments will be 
expected from the small, vulnerable economies on the basis of modalities that may be agreed 
with respect to other elements under the market access pillar. 
 No tariff capping shall apply to the small, vulnerable economies. 
 Modalities shall provide for substantial improve ment in market access for products of export 
interest to small, vulnerable economies. 
 Small, vulnerable economies will designate Special Products based on their food security, 
livelihood security and rural development needs. 
                                                      
1  Other specific proposals have been tabled in the CTDDS as follows: 
-   Technical Barriers to Trade- WT/COMTD/SE/W/15 (18 October 2005) 
-   Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures- WT/COMTD/SE/W/16 (18 October 2005) -   Intellectual Property Rights- WT/COMTD/SE/W/18 (18 October 2005) 
-   Accession to the WTO- WT/COMTD/SE/W/17 (18 October 2005)  WT/COMTD/SE/W/21 
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   Special Products (SPs) of small, vulnera ble economies will be exempted from tariff 
reductions and tariff rate quota commitments. 
 All agricultural tariff lines will be eligible for the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM).  SPs 
of small, vulnerable economies will have automatic access to the SSM. 
 The small, vulnerable economies insist that the SSM shall contemplate price and 
volume-based triggers.  Remedy measures should be effective and flexible to respond to the 
needs of the small, vulnerable economies.   
 
Negotiating Group on Non-Agriculture Market Access  
 NAMA - TN/MA/W/66 (11 November 2005)
 
 
Proponents : Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Bolivia, Dominica, Dominican Republic, 
El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala,  Honduras, Mongolia, Nicaragua, Papua New 
Guinea, Paraguay, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad 
and Tobago. 
 
As their contribution to the NAMA negotiati ng process, small, vulnerable economies propose 
that developing countries, not c overed in paragraph 6 and paragraph 9 of A nnex B, and  whose 
average share in total world merchandise exports  does not exceed 0.10 per cent over the period 
1995-2004, will be expected to: 
(a) Make tariff reductions not exceeding 15 pe r cent, but with minimum cuts of 
10 per cent on individual lines and with no more than half the cuts at the lowest level 
of this range. This contribution will ensure a significant reduction of small, 
vulnerable economies’ tariff averages as well as a reduction in individual tariff lines. 
(b) On the treatment of unbound tariffs, sma ll, vulnerable economies whose binding 
coverage is more then 90 per cent commit themselves to the objective of full tariff 
binding as an outcome of the NAMA negotiations.  However, newly bound tariff lines will not be subject to reductions th rough the formula during these negotiations.  
Small, vulnerable economies are open to discuss a possible target rate at which these tariffs should be bound or a maximum rate at which to bind these lines. 
Small, vulnerable economies firmly believe that  only tariff reductions compatible with their 
capacity to sustain trade reforms, as spelt out in this  paper, are likely to efficiently discharge the Doha 
mandate.  In this context, sma ll, vulnerable economies will conti nue to have access to flexibilities 
such as those outlined in paragraph 8 of Annex B. 
Negotiating Group on Rules
 
 FISHERIES SUBSIDIES DISCIPLINES - TN/RL/GEN/57/Rev.2 (13 September 2005)
 
 
Proponents : Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Dominic an Republic, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, 
Jamaica, Papua New Guinea, St. Kitts and Nevi s, St. Lucia, Solomon Islands and Trinidad 
and Tobago. 
 
Small, vulnerable coastal states seek appropria te special and differential treatment in any 
disciplines on fisheries subsidies.  In this regard  the following should not be subject to subsidies 
disciplines: WT/COMTD/SE/W/21 
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  (i) Any development assistance to developing coastal states; 
(ii) Assistance to artisanal or small-scale fisheries .  This requires a consensus on the 
definition of artisanal or small-scale.  Some existing definitions of artisanal are based on vessel size in metres, capacity in gross registered tonnage (GRT), or area of 
operation in terms of proximity to the shore line.  We invite discussions on prevailing 
definitions used by Member States and possible approaches for arriving at a 
definition for use in the WTO;  to facilitat e the discussions, the sponsors of this paper 
will share information with Members on defi nitions currently being used in their 
respective jurisdictions; 
(iii) Access fees in fisheries access agreements;  
(iv) Fiscal Incentives - to facilitate the development of capabilities of small vulnerable 
coastal states. 
It is proposed that the special and differe ntial treatment provisions of the ASCM for 
Least-Developed Countries be maintained in future disciplines.  
Council for Trade in Services Special Session 
 
 SERVICES – INFORMATION NOTE (November 2005)
 
 
Proponents :  Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, 
El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, 
Nicaragua, Paraguay, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadi nes and Trinidad and 
Tobago. 
 
The two-track process involving the CTD and negot iating groups has therefore emerged as the 
process whereby the objective of framing responses to the trade-related issues identified for the fuller 
integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system is being pursued. 
Small Economies have already and will continue  to demonstrate their engagement to the 
services negotiations including through the tabling of initial and revised offers. 
Taking the above into consideration, issues of concern to small, vulnerable economies should 
be addressed satisfactorily in the services negotiations in order for these economies to participate meaningfully in the multilateral trading system in accordance with their level of development, market 
share, vulnerabilities and economic size and struct ure, without creating a subcategory of WTO 
Members. 
Working Party on Domestic Regulation
 
 
SERVICES - TRADE-RELATED CONCERNS OF  SMALL, VULNERABLE ECONOMIES IN 
THE WORKING PARTY ON DOMESTIC REGULATION - JOB(06)/66 (27 March 2006)  
 
Proponents : Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, 
El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Guatemala, Honduras, Jamaica, Mauritius, Mongolia, 
Nicaragua, Paraguay, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Vincent and the Grenadi nes and Trinidad and 
Tobago. 
  WT/COMTD/SE/W/21 
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  A. GENERAL PRINCIPLES  
(i) Small, vulnerable economies reserve the right to regulate and introduce new 
regulations in order to meet national policy objectives.  Given the lack of regulation 
in some small, vulnerable economies, disci plines shall not prevent or prescribe the 
development and adoption of future legisl ation to meet national policy objectives. 
(ii) In view of the economic, financial and admi nistrative constraints of small, vulnerable 
economies, and their need for flexibilit y, such Members shall implement the 
disciplines that require adjustment of existing domestic regul ations and/or the 
adoption of new implementation mechanisms to the extent consistent with their 
financial, administrative and institutional capabilities.  
(iii) Multilateral disciplines shall not apply to measures affecting services sectors when 
they are not related to a Member's schedule of commitments. 
B. QUALIFICATION REQUIREMENTS  
(i) In order for regulators to finance their own and other activities related to national 
policy objectives, disciplines related to f ees applied to qualification requirements 
shall not reduce the budgets of regulators a nd their ability to comply with national 
policy objectives in cases where fees constitute the income of regulators. 
(ii) Qualification requirements shall not be limit ed to diplomas, test scores, and the like 
and shall include, but not be limited to, experience and other methods of verifying 
qualifications particularly for ensuring service suppliers of small, vulnerable 
economies increase their participation in services trade and are competitive globally.  
C. QUALIFICATION PROCEDURES  
(i) Qualification verification shall only be  conducted to establish the minimum 
qualifications sufficient for supplying the service. 
(ii) Clear procedures shall be established whereby Members can demonstrate that 
education, experience, licenses, or certifi cations issued in their territory are 
comparable to those issued in th e territories of other Parties.  
D. LICENSING REQUIREMENTS  
(i) In order for regulators to finance their own and other activities related to national 
policy objectives, disciplines related to licen sing fees shall not reduce the budgets of 
regulators and their ability to comply with national policy objectives in cases where fees constitute the income of regulators. 
(ii) To guarantee that licensing requirements do not in themselves constitute barriers to 
trade, technical and capacity building assistance shall be provided by trading partners to service suppliers of small, vulnerable economies for meeting such requirements. 
E. 
LICENSING PROCEDURES  
(i) As a result of low levels of resources of  services suppliers of small, vulnerable 
economies, disciplines shall en sure minimal complexity and costs of requirements 
and procedures for entry into export markets, including lower licensing and other WT/COMTD/SE/W/21 
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  related fees, as well as streamlined border measures that promote business for small, 
vulnerable economies. 
F. T
ECHNICAL STANDARDS  
(i) Small, vulnerable economies shall not be expected to implement technical standards 
which have been developed without  their participation;  and  
(ii) which are not appropriate for their nationa l policy objectives or in line with their 
domestic resources and capacities.  Members who have not participated equally and 
adequately in establishing international sta ndards shall determine the extent to which 
they are able to comply with the standards.   
G. TRANSPARENCY  
(i) To enhance the ability of service suppliers  of small, vulnerable economies to access 
information on legislation and regulati on of export markets, information on 
qualification requirements and procedures, licensing requirements and procedures, 
and technical standards must be transparent and made available in an easily accessible manner to all interested service providers. 
(ii) To ensure increased supply capacity and competitiveness in global services trade, 
suppliers of small, vulnerable economies shall have appropriate, transparent and 
accessible administrative and judicial channels for reviewing and appealing decisions that result in denying entry of their exports. 
H. D
EVELOPMENT OBJECTIVES  
(i) Small, vulnerable economies shall be given adequate time to upgrade their 
institutional capacity to comply with Article VI:4 disciplines. 
(ii) Technical assistance and capacity building assistance and various types of flexibility 
including adequate time frames shall be provided in order to help developing 
countries to develop their capacity to implement new disciplines. 
(iii) To guarantee that qualification and licensing requirements and procedures and 
technical standards do not in themselves constitute barriers to trade, technical 
assistance and capacity building assistance shall be provided in order to help small, 
vulnerable economies meet such requirements and procedures. 
(iv) To ensure full and equal participation in the development of international technical 
standards, measures shall be adopted and implemented in order to ensure the full 
representation and effective participati on of small, vulnerable economies in 
international standard setting bodies and in complying with the standards.  Such 
measures shall include, but not be limited to, enhanced technical and capacity building assistance provided by trading partners to service suppliers of small, vulnerable economies for meeting such requirements.   WT/COMTD/SE/W/21 
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  Committee on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures  
 
PROCEDURES FOR EXTENSIONS UNDER ARTICLE 27.4 OF THE AGREEMENT ON 
SUBSIDIES AND COUNTERVAILING MEASURES - G/SCM/W/535 (12 April 2006)  
 
 Proponents :  Antigua and Barbuda, Belize, Barbados, Dominica, Dominican Republic, 
El Salvador, Fiji, Grenada, Jamaica, Mauritiu s,  Papua New Guinea, St. Kitts and Nevis, 
St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. 
 
I. The sponsors of this proposal believe that the objective of "fuller integration of small, 
vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system"2 could be achieved in part by reaffirming 
the Article 27.4 procedures and extensions within the context of the provisions of 14 November 2001, 
Doha Ministerial Decision on procedures for Extens ion under Article 27.4 of the ASCM by granting 
further extensions until the year 2018 . 
 
II. The sponsors of this proposal submit the following  modification to the procedures set forth in 
document G/SCM/39 and call for the preparati on of an addendum detailing 'Procedures for 
Extensions Under Article 27.4 for Certain De veloping Country Members' which would amend 
paragraph 1(e) of G/SCM/39 to state as follows:  
 
A. ‘Through the calendar year  2018 , subject to annual reviews during that period to 
verify that the transparency and standstill requi rements set forth in (3) and (4) are 
being fulfilled, Members of the Committee s hall agree to continue the extensions 
granted pursuant to 1(c)’.  
III. The extension procedures under Article 27.4 woul d hence be applicable to all of the members 
and the existing program mes referred to in Annex A in line with paragraph 2 of G/SCM/39.  This 
extension process would be applicable from the end of 2007 through to the end of 2018  with identical 
procedures as indicated in G/SCM/39 paragraph 1(f) and 1(g).  
__________ 
 
 
 
                                                     
 
2 WT/L/579, paragraph 1(d) - 2 August 2004.