WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/COMTD/AFT/M/22 
12 January 2012 
 (12-0168) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Twenty-Second Session on Aid for Trade  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 10 NOVEMBER 2011 
 
Chairman:  H.E. Dr. Anthony Mothae Maruping (Lesotho)  
 
 
A.  ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  ........................................................................................................ 1  
B.  DRAFT AID-FOR-TRADE WORK PROGRAMME 2012-2013 .......................................................... 1  
C.  EIGHTH WTO  MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE - COMMUNICATION FROM BARBADOS ON 
BEHALF OF THE GROUP OF SMALL , VULNERABLE ECONOMIES  .................................................. 2  
D.  AID-FOR-TRADE ACTIVITIES  ...................................................................................................... 3  
E.  OTHER BUSINESS  ........................................................................................................................ 3  
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The Chairman informed that Barbados, on be half of the Group of Small, Vulnerable 
Economies, had submitted a revised communicatio n (WT/COMTD/AFT/W/29/Rev.1) in connection 
with Agenda Item C - Eighth WTO Ministerial Conference.  The agenda (WTO/AIR/3847), as 
amended, was adopted. 
B. DRAFT AID-FOR-TRADE WORK PROGRAMME 2012-2013 
2. The Chairman noted that the second revision of the draft Aid-for-Trade (AfT) Work 
Programme 2012-2013 had been issued in JOB/DE V/12/Rev.2.  The Secretariat provided an outline 
of how Members' comments,  notably those made at  the 7 November 2011 informal consultation, had 
been taken into account.   
3. The European Union (EU), Barbados, Benin on behalf of the African Group, Canada, the 
United States (US), Costa Rica, Ch ina, Peru, Dominica on behalf of  Small and Vulnerable Economies 
(SVEs), and Mexico took the floor.  Members noted that while the document did not meet all their 
concerns, it was a sufficient basis on which to mo ve forward. Canada, the EU and the US voiced 
concern over the length and "traditio nal" nature of the document, i. e an excessive focus on financial 
resources and insufficient emphasis to effectiveness a nd results.  The EU suggested that Standards and 
Trade Development Facility activities be included in the list of Work Programme events.  China 
reiterated its recommendation to change the title  to "Deepening coherence whilst stabilizing 
resources", and Dominica on behalf of SVEs, and Barb ados noted issues of interest and the need for 
active implementation.  Costa Rica noted the importan ce of a reference to additional financing.  Peru 
requested information on specific training activities in Spanish for LAC countries.  Mexico requested 
that all Trade Policy Reviews should be listed among the AfT-related events.  Dominica on behalf of 
the SVEs and Benin on behalf of the African Group, noted that their preference would have been to 
adopt formally the Work Programme by the Committee on Trade and Development  WT/COMTD/AFT/M/22 
Page 2 
 
 
  4. The Committee agreed that  the Aid-for-Trade Work Programme 2012-2013 in 
JOB/DEV/12/Rev.2 would be issued under the CT D Chair's own responsibility as an official 
document (WT/COMTD/AFT/W/30) and transmitted to the General Council for it to take note. 
C. EIGHTH WTO  MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE - COMMUNICATION FROM BARBADOS ON BEHALF 
OF THE GROUP OF SMALL , VULNERABLE ECONOMIES  
5. The representative of Barbados, on behalf of the Group of SVEs, presented document 
WT/COMTD/AFT/W/29/Rev.1  in which the SVE Gr oup encourages the WTO to urge international 
financial institutions (IFIs) to give special consid eration, including through special and differential 
(S&D) treatment, to small size and vulnerability in respect of requests for AfT funding.  Small 
economies were at a comparative disadvantage due  to small domestic markets and high operating 
costs.  A Commonwealth Secretariat study showed that SVE's share of global trade had fallen from 
1.05 per cent in the 1950s to 0.62 per cent in 2008 and that SVEs growth had been the lowest of any 
other group, including least-developed countries (LDCs).  Cameroon on behalf of the African, 
Caribbean and Pacific Group, the Dominican Rep ublic, El Salvador, Dominica on behalf of the 
Organization of Eastern Caribbean States, Australia , and Jamaica voiced support for the document.   
6. The EU, the US, Peru, Japan, and the Philippines raised concerns, and Costa Rica and 
Switzerland voiced opposition to the proposal.  Systemic  concerns raised included about creation of 
new groupings and whether the WTO had the mandate  to request such flexibilities from IFIs.  
Questions raised included about the underlying need  for S&D treatment for SVEs - given the nature 
of assistance currently offered to them - and how  the flexibilities sought would work, as well as which 
institutions would be covered by the request, how IF Is would be approached, and what factual data 
could be provided to substantiate the statements ma de in the proposal regarding the difficulties faced 
by SVEs with regard to accessing AfT funds, in particular from IFIs. 
7. The representative of the World Bank outlined supp ort it gave to small states which included 
concessional funding to Small Island Developing St ates through the International Development 
Association (IDA).  During IDA-16 replenishment,  the maximum per capita threshold had been 
abolished and the base allocation for small states ra ised which should allow for a substantial increase 
of IDA resources - by as much 44 per cent.  The Bank was also enhancing its ability to provide 
disaster relief.  Significant additional resources had,  for example, been provided to Samoa and Tonga 
after the 2009 tsunami.  The Bank had been able to leverage concessional funds through programmes 
such as its Pilot Program for Clim ate Resilience to assist the Cari bbean.  Other support included the 
organization of a Small States Forum during the World Bank/International Monetary Fund Annual 
meetings, active support of the Small States Networ k for Economic Development, support of greater 
investment opportunities for small states through the Bank's International Finance Corporation, 
increased analytical work on understanding the depth of, and finding viable options to address, small 
vulnerable states' debt problem, and the launch of a biannual "Small States Supplement" to the Bank's 
World Development Indicators publication.1 
8. In response, the representative of Barbados, on behalf of the SVE Group, noted IFIs were 
being asked to take the factors of small size a nd vulnerability into account when granting S&D access 
to AfT funding and that each IFI would determine wh at it considered as small and vulnerable.  She 
recalled the conclusion of a Commonwealth Secretar iat publication that current AfT allocations to 
SVEs were inadequate in relation to the challenges they faced.  She clarified that the advocacy role 
being requested of the WTO did not contravene the mandate already given to it by the General 
Council nor did it contravene the scope of the WTO's relationship with IFIs.  She informed that, the 
SVEs had not approached the IFIs directly as a Group, but that individual SVEs had discussed the 
need for greater access to concessionary funds.   
                                                      
1 See http://www.worldbank.org    WT/COMTD/AFT/M/22 
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  9. The Chairman noted support provided to SVEs by the regional development banks and stated 
that it was clear that more work needed  to be done on this proposal.   
D. AID-FOR-TRADE ACTIVITIES  
10. The Organisation for Economic Co-opera tion and Development (OECD) provided 
information on the Fourth High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF-4) to be held in Busan, 
Korea on 29 November to 1 December 2011.  He noted that the WTO and OECD would organize a 
joint side event to showcase the Ai d-for-Trade Initiative and referred Members to a policy brief, "Aid 
for Trade:  Showing Results", prepared for the meeting. 2   
11. The African Development Bank (AfDB) noted that the Bank's focus for 2011-2015 was 
defined in its Regional Integration Strategy Papers (RISPs) which c onformed to the Bank's two pillars 
of regional integration strategy, namely regional infrastructure (transport, energy, information and 
communication technology) and capacity building (support to the design, coordination, and 
monitoring of infrastructure programmes, and tr ade facilitation).  RISPs had been approved for 
Central, Southern, East and West Africa and a RI SP for North Africa was under preparation.  Other 
Bank work included the organization of AfT regional reviews in West Africa and Central Africa, as 
well as events in co-operation with COMESA and SADC, and a national AfT review in Swaziland.  
The Bank had scaled up funding for trade-related in frastructure and had expanded its trade capacity 
building programmes and would continue to play an active role in the AfT agenda.3 
12. United Nations Committee on Trade and Devel opment (UNCTAD) referred to a report to 
UNCTAD XIII that had underscored the im portance of the Aid-for-Trade Initiative.4  She provided 
information on UNCTAD's "coherence" activities, notably on trade finance and noted UNCTAD 
contributed to Aid-for-Trade Initiative by, inter alia , assisting developing country trade-financing 
institutions.  She noted that UNCTAD would be or ganizing a number of AfT activities and events.  
13. The World Bank informed about its newly-created Services Knowledge Platform.  A first 
pilot platform had been launched for Eastern and S outhern Africa in the area of professional services.  
The Bank work was also working on a Services Trade Restrictiveness Index measuring barriers to 
services in 103 countries which would be ready early  in 2012.  A study on the challenges that 
developing countries would face in implementing a trade facilitation agreement which the Bank had 
presented at the "WTO Symposium on Practical Experience of Implementing Trade Facilitation 
Reforms, including their Costs and Benefits" was also referenced.   
14. The representative of Jamaica noted that Jamai ca's National Aid-for-Trade Strategy had been 
officially launched on 27 October 2011.  The Stra tegy built on its existing 2030 Vision and was a 
clear demonstration of Jamaica's commitment to mainstream trade. 
15. The representative of China noted the assistan ce it was providing to LDCs through, for 
example, its contribution of US$400,000 to the China-LDC accession programme. 
E. OTHER BUSINESS  
16. No item was raised under "Other Busi ness".  The meeting was adjourned. 
__________  
 
                                                      
2 See http://www.aideffectiv eness.org/busanhlf4/  
3 See http://www.afdb.org  
4 See http://www.unctad.org/en/docs/tdxiii_report_en.pdf