WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/3 
9 November 2009 
 (09-5590) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original: English/ 
 French 
 
  
INFORMAL AFRICAN WTO TRADE MINISTERIAL MEETING 
"CONSOLIDATING THE DEVELOPMENT DIMENSION" 
Cairo, 28 October 2009 
 
Communication from Egypt
 
   The following communication, dated 5 November 2009, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Egypt. 
 
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COMMUNIQUÉ 
 
1. We, the Ministers of Trade from African countries
1 participating in the Cairo meeting, from 
28-29 October 2009, would like to thank the Arab Republic of Egypt for its initiative to host this meeting in preparation for the Seventh Mi nisterial Conference of the WTO, and for its 
coordination of the African Group in the WTO.  The meeting represented a most valuable 
opportunity to take stock of the developmen ts in the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) 
negotiations building on the outcome of the Fi fth Ordinary Session of the AU Conference of 
Ministers of Trade held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from the 16 to 20 of March 2009.  The meeting was also instrumental in discussing th e preparations for the Seventh Ministerial 
Conference of the WTO. 
2. We recall  the Declaration and Decision of Heads of State and Government of the AU in 
Addis Ababa on the third of February 2009 on th e international financia l crisis and its far 
reaching economic and social impacts on African countries, and the need to conclude the Doha Development Round in order to ensure th at markets remain open for African products.  
3. We further recall  our communiqué on the impact of the Global Economic and Financial 
Crisis on Trade and Development in Africa issued during the fifth ordinary session of the AU 
Conference of Ministers of Trade held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 16-20 March 2009. 
4. We re-emphasize  our deep concerns regarding the tw o fold effect of the economic and 
financial crisis on African economic growth and national developmental plans, and the 
growing trend of protectionism around the world. 
                                                     
 
1 Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso,  Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Libya, Mauritius, Morocco, 
Namibia, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda. (H.E. Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of South Africa also attended). 
Representatives of Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Ce ntral African Republic, Chad, Cote d'Ivoire, 
Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Lesotho, Malawi, Mali, Mauritania, Madagascar , Mozambique, 
Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Swaz iland, Tunisia, Zambia, Zimbabwe. WT/MIN(09)/3 
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  5. We recall  in this context, the African Developm ent Bank’s estimates that losses in export 
revenues for the African contin ent will reach $251 billion in 2 009, and $277 billion in 2010, 
with attendant adverse socio- economic consequences, including aggravation of the high debt 
burden and budget deficit of Afri can countries, and further delay in their achievement of 
Millennium Development Goals, in pa rticular that of poverty reduction. 
6. We welcome  the initiatives and efforts declared by th e G8 in their last summit held in 
L'Aquila, Italy, in July 2009, and the con secutive G20 summits, that aim at strengthening 
support to low income countries to mitigate the ad verse impact of the current global financial 
and economic crisis and protect them from fu ture ones, improve long term food security, and 
enhance the availability of trade finance. 
7. We pledge  to work on supporting and sustaining all in itiatives in this regard and efforts that 
promote and defend Africa’s interests, and reiterate  our determination to pursue a proactive 
and effective role in the interna tional economic and trade arenas.  We are furthermore 
determined  to collaborate and intensify our coor dination and engagement in the new 
international economic governance groupings and relevant global decision making processes, 
and call for Africa’s adequate representation. 
8. We underscore  that the early and successful conclusion of the Doha Development Round, 
with the developmental component at its core , has become imperative as a stimulus for the 
growth of African economies, and represent their means towards further integration in a more 
strengthened and development fri endly multilateral trading system, in addition to contributing 
to restoring the confidence in world markets. 
9. We welcome  the political statements emanating from Summits and regional ministerial 
meetings since 2008, and most recently from the G20 summit held on September 25, 2009, in 
Pittsburg, USA, to seek an ambitious and ba lanced conclusion of the Doha Development 
Round in 2010.  We stress however our concerns that these statements have not yet been 
translated into concrete negotia ting positions and flexibilities.  We, therefore, consider  that 
the success of the current work pr ograms in Geneva will depend on translating those political 
statements into concrete actions while not lo sing sight of the developmental aspects of the 
Round. 
10. We therefore  call on the major players, particularly  the developed countries, to show the 
required leadership to move the negotiations fo rward on the basis of the agreed mandates.  
We caution , in this regard, against any attempts to reinterpret or change the existing 
mandates and deviate from agreed principles in  the negotiations, and reject any form of 
selective re-sequencing of issues, or reopeni ng of the stabilized parts of modalities.  We, 
furthermore,  stress that the negotiations should preserve and build on progress achieved thus 
far. 
11. We strongly reemphasize  that the negotiating process must remain multilateral and fully 
transparent, with a bottom-up approach.  We consider  that informal bilateral and plurilateral 
consultations may be useful in enhancing mutu al understanding.  However, such consultations 
cannot be a substitute for a genuine multilateral process, nor should they affect the consensus 
reached within the multilateral context.  We also stress  the need for Africa's full participation 
in all negotiating processes based on balanced and consensually agreed agendas.  In this 
respect, we underline that issues pertaining to the African Group should be adequately 
addressed and not sidelined nor relegated. 
12. We remain concerned  that no significant progress has been achieved in key issues of interest 
to Africa, and therefore call once more on Members to give priority to resolve all issues of 
critical concern to Africa.  WT/MIN(09)/3 
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  13. Given the particular importance of Cotton, we call upon  WTO Members to achieve an "early 
harvest" of an ambitious, exped itious and specific outcome for cotton trade related aspects, on 
the basis of the approach a dvocated by the Chair of the Committee on Agriculture-Special 
Session contained in document TN/AG/ W/4/Rev.4 dated December 6, 2008. 
14. We also reaffirm our position favoring a solution for the Banana issue which would take 
into consideration the interests of African bana na producing countries.  This solution should 
integrate the required flexibility and the gradual enforcement of the right of MFN as well as 
important financial measures necessary to ensure the survival of this sector. 
15. We stress that for Africa  development outcomes in each of the negotiating tracks remain the 
raison d’être of the Doha Deve lopment Round.  This means that tangible development content 
must be evident within each negotia ting track, and in the overall outcome.  We reiterate  our 
firm and declared commitment to contribute po sitively to all efforts leading to the successful 
conclusion of the Round. 
16. We take note of  the launching of the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) for LDCs.  We 
call upon our development partners to contribut e more resources that are needed for the 
effective delivery of the EIF mandate.  We  further call upon all remaining implementing 
agencies to expeditiously sign appr opriate partnership agreements. 
17. We strongly support  the Declaration of the Sixth LDC Trade Ministers meeting held in Dar 
Es Salaam, Tanzania, from 14 to 16 October 2009. 
18. We also strongly support  the Declaration of the Third Meeting of Ministers of Trade of 
Landlocked Developing Countries held on 21 and 22 October 2009 at Ezulwini, in Swaziland. 
19. We reaffirm  our full solidarity with all African countries, particularly LDCs, that are 
undergoing the WTO accession process, and urge all WTO members to facilitate and accelerate their accession. Acceding African C ountries should not be required to make 
concessions that go beyond their level of development and current WTO rules.  We, 
therefore , call upon the General Council to exped ite action on the process to review and 
recommend ways to undertake reforms needed in clarifying the relevant provisions for 
accession and improve systemic transparency through regular progress reports on Accession.  In addition, Accessions should focus primarily on the trade policies and practices of acceding 
countries, rather than other extraneous considerations. 
20. We underscore  the importance of Aid for Trade in addressing the supply side capacity and 
trade related infrastructure, particularly for African countries.  We stress  the need to maintain 
the momentum in securing additional, predictabl e and sustainable resources, and reiterate the 
importance of ensuring that the offer matches th e demand, and the need for improving the aid 
supply mechanism, while strengthening its mon itoring and assessment in order to maximize 
AFT effectiveness and impact. 
21. We Reaffirm  our previous positions and concerns  as contained in the Addis Ababa 
Declarations of (20 March 2009), (3 April 2008), and (15-16 January 2007); the Nairobi 
Ministerial Declaration (12-14 April 2006) ; the Arusha Development Benchmarks 
(21-24 November 2005); the Cairo Road Map on th e Doha Work Programme (5-9 June 2005) 
and the Kigali Consensus (27-28 May 2004). 
22. We take note  of the Annex to this communiqué, wh ich reflects the ge neral parameters, 
concerns, and recommendations that may be usef ul in guiding our negotiators' engagement in 
Geneva. WT/MIN(09)/3 
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  23. We underscore  the importance of the Seventh Ministerial Conference of the WTO that 
would provide an opportunity for Members to express their views and concerns pertaining to 
the regular work of the WTO, and its cont ribution to enhancing the multilateral trading 
system in the current global economic environment.  We are determined  to effectively and 
constructively participate in its deliberations.  In this regard, we welcome  the initiative led by 
several members to launch a deliberate process to  improve the transparency, efficiency and 
functioning of the WTO. 
 
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