. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/55 
1 December 2009 
 (09-6125) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English 
 
  
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO 
 
Statement by the Honourable Mariano Browne
 
Minister of Trade and Industry  
   Madame Chair, on behalf of the Government  and People of the Republic of Trinidad and 
Tobago, I applaud you, the Vice-Chairs and the Dir ector-General for your superlative efforts to date. 
 
 Trinidad and Tobago remains committed to  the principles of multilateralism and the 
indispensable role of the multilateral trading system in facilitating global wealth creation.  We believe 
therefore that we must re-commit to ensuring the conclusion of the Doha Development Round of 
negotiations in 2010, to foster greater confidence in the multilateral trading system by all Members 
and particularly, small and vulnerable economies. 
 
 The global economic slowdown has had a negative impact on all our economies.  In spite of 
the external pressures, Trinidad and Tobago has not  implemented any protectionist measures because 
of our firm belief in the principle of free and fair trade.  However, Trinidad and Tobago as a small and 
vulnerable economy believes that there is an urgent  need for special attention to be placed on 
countries such as ours to ensure quick recovery from the crisis and to ensure that this recovery is 
sustained and robust.  We are of the view that the developmental objectives of the Doha Development 
Agenda will only be achieved when trade rules are made to address our particular circumstances.  
Accordingly, any agreement must contain an adequa te time span for liberalization, less than full 
reciprocity and development support ge ared to facilitate building capacity. 
 
 Mr Chairman, as many have noted, the time has come for a review of the multilateral trading 
system.  We must ensure that its rules take into account the realities of developing countries.  We are 
adamant that Doha and the way we proceed from th is Ministerial, must be more than meeting 
deadlines and schedules.  It must demonstrate that the development agenda of the Round is the central 
theme of our deliberations. 
 
 We recognize the need for a liberalized glob al trading environment to be accompanied by 
effective disciplinary mechanisms to deal with  practices such as anti-dumping and unauthorized use 
of subsidies.  It has been also observed that  the existing trade remedies framework under the WTO 
has not sufficiently worked for developing countries, particularly the small and vulnerable ones.  This 
is another area which requires a rebalancing of existing multilateral rules and meaningful special and 
differential treatment.   The Aid-for-Trade initiative is an  invaluable tool that can assi st developing countries to build 
their capacity to benefit meaningfully from the project ed gains of this development round.  We remain 
convinced that our trade interests must be supporte d by targeted, operational and flexible measures 
and procedures with the recognition of the need fo r sufficient policy space to allow SVEs to address 
their trade imbalances and to achieve their developmental goals. WT/MIN(09)/ST/55 
Page 2  
 
   We have demonstrated our commitment to th e multilateral process through our participation 
in the WTO negotiations and in shaping the out comes of the Fifth Summit of the Americas in 
April 2009 and the Commonwealth Heads of Govern ment Meeting which ended two days ago in 
Port of Spain.  We stand willing and ready to engage all Members in  a constructive manner to ensure 
a successful conclusion of the Doha Round in 2010. 
 
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