WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/SE/W/24 
13 December 2010 
 
 (10-6697) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Dedicated Session Original:   English 
 
 
 
COMMUNICATION FROM BARBADOS ON BEHALF OF SMALL AND VULNERABLE 
ECONOMIES (SVES) ON SVE ASSESSMENT OF THE DOHA ROUND  
 
 
 The following communication, dated 8 December 2010, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Barbados on behalf of the Small and Vulnerable Economies (SVEs). 
 
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1. On behalf of Small and Vulnerable Economies (S VEs) delegations, I take the floor at this 
time to offer a few remarks on our views of the D oha Round, as we look to enter the endgame in the 
coming months.  
2. It could well be considered that 2010 has been a somewhat mixed year in the fortune of the 
Doha Round.  We had a first quarter  marked by a period of introspection and stocktaking, followed by 
a longer period of brainstorming and concentrated efforts at the re-invigoration of the Round.  More 
recently, following  the deliberations of a number of world leaders assembled for the G20 and APEC 
meetings, their political calls for the completion of the end game, already appear to have signalled a 
revitalization of energies in Geneva. 
3. While this movement is encouraging, it is v ital that the development dimension of the Doha 
Development Agenda (DDA), be the axis around wh ich the "successful, ambitious, comprehensive 
and balanced conclusion"
1 of the Round is fulfilled.  With a share of less than 0.1 per cent of world 
trade, and facing the attendant challenges of inherent  small size, the extent to which our development 
objectives are realised, will be the true test of  how successful, how ambitious, how comprehensive 
and how balanced the conclusion of the Round may be assessed. 
4. SVEs have used this period to engage in some strategic planning with the objective of 
identifying areas where we can better benefit from cu rrent negotiations.  Our focal points have proved 
invaluable in this exercise, which in some respects is  continuing. 
5. Mr. Chairman, Agriculture and NAMA have al ways been the drivers of the Round.  We 
believe that whilst great progress has been made in agriculture, greater effort and leadership, 
particularly among the larger players, is needed to complete the agriculture ne gotiations.  SVEs are of 
the view that any future discussions need to be based on progress made to date and that there should 
be no backtracking on any of the previously stabilised issues.  
6. In this regard there are a few agreed areas whic h  have not  yet found their way into text and 
SVEs will be making every effort to ensure that this  achieved, particularly in light of the expected 
movement of key personnel, lest  agreed positions are forgotten and stabilized areas are questioned 
again. 
                                                      
1 The Seoul Summit Document contained in TN/C/W/57, 26 November 2010. WT/COMTD/SE/W/24 
Page 2  
 
  7. On the outstanding issues, the modalities to give  effect to the Special Safeguard Mechanism 
for Developing Countries are of importance to SV Es.  Whilst the approach defining the general 
modalities before identifying the specific modalities fo r SVEs is a logical one, SVEs do not wish to 
see their concerns and interests sidelined due to in sufficient time.  There have aready been exhaustive 
discussions on SSM modalities but no agreement has b een reached.  SVEs are actively working on the 
modalities they desire, drawing on the proposal fo r special flexibilities drawn up for SVEs with the 
assistance of the G33.  This may even help to give impetus to the development of general modalities.   
8. With regard to the NAMA negotiations, we con tinue to believe that any future progress 
should be based on our achievements to date, specifica lly in relation to the treatment of SVE’s in the 
tariff treatment in these negotiations.  There should be no attempts to undermine any progress attained 
thus far, which could lead to an unraveling of the careful balance that we have worked hard over the 
last few years to realize. 
9. The recent discussion in these negotiations have continuously focused on the Non- Tariff 
Barriers (NTBs) proposals. In this regard and as hi ghlighted in the previous agenda item, the Group 
has presented various questions with regard to some  of the NTBs proposals, which outline the need 
for flexibilities for SVEs.  In this regard, we ar e working towards the inclusion of special and 
differential treatment provisions and technical assistance for SVEs in the Non Tariff Barriers 
proposals, specifically on those which are being discussed with priority in the Negotiating Group (including the horizontal mechanism, remanufact ured goods, textiles labe lling, among others) and 
hope that this can be reflected in the outcome of th e text based negotiations expected  in this area. 
10. With respect to Services where a considerable  level of agreement has been reached at the 
multilateral level, a significant number of SVE delegati ons consider that the Elements outlined in the 
Chair's Report of July 2008, serve as appropriate  and adequate guidance for further work in the 
Services negotiations and should not be re-opened, but rather upda ted to complete the outstanding 
areas, while at the same time ensuring that our pro posals remain relevant to our situation and promote 
our best interests.  Our delegations continue to attach particular importance to our specific trade 
related concerns to be considered by Members, as  stated in Paragraph 8 of Annex C the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration, and in recognition of our spec ial situation, for further liberalization to be in 
accordance with our development needs.  
11. Any new approaches being considered in relati on to the market access negotiations, must be 
in accordance with the establishe d modalities and approaches that have been agreed through previous 
Ministerial mandates.  
12. Within the Services Rules negotiations, our delega tions have been particularly active in the 
discussions for draft disciplines for domestic re gulation, where extensive legal and technical 
discussions have been taking place for some time. 
13. While recognizing that there is no perfect text, we  are satisfied with th e balance of interest 
that has been attained in the Ma rch 2009 Chair's draft and we look forward to intensification of work 
in this area. 
14. With regard to the fisheries subsidies ne gotiations, SVEs have remained engaged and 
committed to the process, as guided by the Ministerial Mandates on over fishing and over capacity, as well as the Doha and Hong Kong ma ndates on small vulnerable economies,  which have instructed this 
House and the Membership to find a ppropriate solutions to our concerns. 
15. 
SVEs have taken due note of the fact that we c ontribute minimally, if at all, to over fishing 
and over capacity, and consequently our proposal s ubmitted in January this year, seeks enhanced 
flexibilities for construction and operating costs subs idies for developing countries whose percentage  WT/COMTD/SE/W/24 
 Page 3 
 
 
  share of world NAMA trade is not more than 0.1 per cent; and whose percentage share of global 
marine wild capture is not more than 1 per cent. 
16. We are fully aware of the difficulties that remain  in crafting disciplines that suit the interests 
of all Members, however we would like to note th at in our consultations with Members we have 
found full recognition and understanding from key deve loped and developing Members of the need to 
find appropriate solutions that will effectively ad dress the SVEs sensitivities in the fisheries sector. 
However, we look forward to a revision of the Chair's first draft text on Fisheries Subsidies 
disciplines that takes due consideration of the vulne rabilities and peculiarities that befall us as SVEs.  
We look forward to disciplines that would allow sufficient and workable flexibilities that provide 
adequate policy space to develop our fisheries sectors and address poverty and rural livelihood 
concerns.  
17. As all other Groups of Negotiation under the DDA, the Rules Group has intensified its work 
and will be meeting soon in the first months of the new year 2011, we look forward to the opportunity 
of engaging substantially with Memb er in order to keep our issue at the top of the list of priorities 
within the discussion of the S&DT for developing c ountries in the Fisheries Subsidies negotiation.  
We must ensure that SVE concerns are not overlooked until the end game. 
18. In Trade Facilitation, although no formal SVE Group  proposal has been tabled, of interest to 
our delegations is the realisation of the mandate  in Annex D of the Hong Kong Ministerial which 
requires that Special and Differential treatment  should go beyond additional time periods for 
implementation.  Our delegations ar e further interested in the crafting of provisions that seek to aid 
our development, as well as a commitment to th e provision of adequate and effective technical 
assistance and capacity building.   
19. Mr. Chairman, it is well recognised that our  concerns and the flexibilities being sought 
through our various proposals are not the stumbling bl ocks of this Round. We therefore consider that 
they should not be treated marginally, pendin g the completion of those issues that are more 
challenging.  We look forward to early and sustai ned engagement on our out standing identified areas 
of interest towards the delivery of specific and effective trade related responses to our needs. 
20. We have recommended to members that they use the attempt to use the next few months to 
conduct simulation exercises so as to ascertain how the modalities will work for them when 
implemented.  This is intended to give members an opportunity to spot any unexpected outcomes 
which might present themselves when the modalities become operational. 
21. Finally Mr. Chairman, I wish to conclude with a few words about Aid for Trade.  Although 
not a part of the Doha negotiating Agenda, its im portance as a mechanism to  increase and facilitate 
our productive capacity to trade, cannot be overstated.   For many of our delegations, trade is the key 
vehicle through which economic development can occur.   The combination of our inherent structural 
vulnerabilities and the uncertainty of the present globa l environment, makes the need for assured and 
predictable commitments to resources for trade deve lopment all the more relevant in helping us 
benefit from any market access opportunities which ma y emanate from the Doha Round.  This has the 
potential to become an important driver for the fulle r integration of Small, Vulnerable Economies into 
the multilateral trading system. 
 
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