WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/AG/GEN/11 
11 November 2005 
 (05-5290) 
Committee on Agriculture 
Special Session  
 
 
 
PROPOSAL BY SMALL, VULNERABLE ECONOMIES ON  
MARKET ACCESS IN AGRICULTURE1  
 
Communication from Barbados, Bolivia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, El Salvador,  
Fiji, Guatemala, Honduras, Mauritius, Mongolia, Nicaragua,  
Papua New Guinea, Paraguay and Trinidad and Tobago  
 
 1. The Agriculture sector constitut es the mainstay of the economy of the large majority of 
developing countries. Its relative importance is  especially significant for Small, Vulnerable  
Economies whose production and export profile is con centrated on a limited number of agricultural 
commodities and export markets.  
2. Agricultural exports constitute one of the ma jor sources of export earnings for the Small, 
Vulnerable Economies, vital for financing infr astructure and other development needs. Export 
earnings are also critical in the procurement of food from international markets in the context of small 
and highly open and liberalised economies.   
3. The Small, Vulnerable Economies represent an in significant share of world trade. The impact 
of their exports and imports vis-à-vis world trad e is thus very little.  However, access to world 
markets for their exports is critical for these countri es.  Equally, low price imports and surges if not 
properly managed can have deleterious effects in the small and fragile agricultural sectors of the 
Small, Vulnerable Economies.  The Annex to this  communication provides an indication of the share 
of world merchandise exports of Small, Vulnerable  Economies over the period of implementation of 
the Uruguay Round Agreements.  It shows that their sh are has been consistently  and persistently low 
throughout this period.  4. The importance of the agriculture sector goes much beyond its economic contribution to the 
small and vulnerable economies however.  As stat ed in JOB(05)/161, fundamental social and non-
commercial policy objectives and concerns of the de veloping countries are linked to the performance 
of the agriculture sector such as food security, rural development, povert y reduction and livelihood 
security.  5. The Small, Vulnerable Economies undertook significant commitments during the Uruguay 
Round by binding unilateral liberalisation efforts.  The majority of the Small, Vulnerable Economies 
had dismantled non-tariff barriers before the Urugua y Round Agreement on Agriculture entered into 
force. Further, many Small, Vulnerable Economies bound their tariffs in ad valorem  terms and at low 
overall averages.  Also, many of the Small, Vulner able Economies are NFIDCs, and it is important for 
these countries to maintain a minimal level of sustai nable agriculture, irrespective of tariff levels.  
                                                     
 
1 This document is without prejudice to  the right of individual small economie s to make further submissions on 
any of the issues contained in this document and/or on any othe r issue not included here. This document will be used as a 
basis for further work.  
 TN/AG/GEN/11 
Page 2  
 
  
6. The objective of the Work Programme on Small Economies, as contained in paragraph 35 of 
the Doha Ministerial Declaration, is to frame responses to reduce the trade-related sources of vulnerability of small economies.  Therefore, wh ile Small, Vulnerable Economies reiterate their 
commitment to the process of agricultural liberalisation we strongly believe that the contribution of 
small economies to this process must be assessed in recognition of their capacity constraints and 
vulnerabilities, and made in accordance with th eir development needs and policy objectives. 
 
 
Modalities for market access in agricul ture for Small, Vulnerable Economies  
 
7. The Small, Vulnerable Economies reiterate th eir submission of 27 July 2005 (JOB(05)/161) 
which conveyed their point of view with respect to  critical issues of the agriculture negotiations.  
 8. Small, Vulnerable Economies, with the excep tion of LDCs, whose average share of world 
merchandise exports over the pe riod 1995-2004 does not exceed 0.10% , will make a contribution to 
the reform process in agriculture accord ing to the following provisions:  
 
• Small, Vulnerable Economies will undertake lin ear 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 SPs based on their food security, livelihood 
security and rural development needs.   
• Special Products (SPs) of Small, Vulner able Economies will be exempted from tariff 
reductions and tariff rate quota commitments. 
• All agricultural tariff lines will be eligible fo r the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM). SPs 
of Small, Vulnerable Economies w ill 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 effec tive and flexible to respond to the needs of 
the Small, Vulnerable Economies.   
  
 
  
   
  TN/AG/GEN/11
 Page 3ANNEX  
 Table 1: Share of World Merchandise Exports (1995-2004) and Average   
Small Economies particip ation in Total Merchandi se Exports (1995 – 2004) 
Year 
(Percentage) Small Economy 
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 Average 
World 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 100.00 
Antigua and Barbuda 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 
Barbados 0.0050 0.0050 0.0050 0.0050 0.0050 0.0040 0.0040 0.0030 0.0030 0.0020 0.0041 
Bolivia 0.0220 0.0220 0.0220 0.0210 0.0190 0.0200 0.0210 0.0210 0.0210 0.0240 0.0213 
Cuba 0.0320 0.0380 0.0330 0.0280 0.0270 0.0270 0.0280 0.0220 0.0230 0.0250 0.0283 
Dominica 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0000 0.0009 
Dominican Republic 0.0750 0.0770 0.0850 0.0930 0.0920 0.0910 0.0880 0.0820 0.0750 0.0650 0.0823 
El Salvador 0.0330 0.0340 0.0450 0.0460 0.0450 0.0470 0.0480 0.0480 0.0430 0.0370 0.0426 
Fiji 0.0120 0.0140 0.0110 0.0100 0.0110 0.0090 0.0090 0.0090 0.0090 0.0080 0.0102 
Grenada 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0008 0.0006 0.0012 0.0010 0.0010 0.0006 - 0.0007 
Guatemala 0.0430 0.0390 0.0430 0.0480 0.0430 0.0430 0.0410 0.0350 0.0340 0.0330 0.0402 
Honduras 0.0240 0.0250 0.0270 0.0290 0.0210 0.0220 0.0220 0.0210 0.0180 0.0170 0.0226 
Mauritius 0.0310 0.0340 0.0290 0.0310 0.0280 0.0250 0.0270 0.0290 0.0260 0.0230 0.0283 
Mongolia 0.0090 0.0080 0.0080 0.0090 0.0080 0.0090 0.0090 0.0080 0.0080 0.0100 0.0086 
Nicaragua 0.0090 0.0090 0.0110 0.0110 0.0100 0.0100 0.0100 0.0090 0.0080 0.0080 0.0095 
Papua New Guinea 0.0530 0.0480 0.0400 0.0330 0.0340 0.0330 0.0300 0.0260 0.0300 0.0280 0.0355 
Paraguay 0.0180 0.0200 0.0200 0.0190 0.0130 0.0140 0.0160 0.0150 0.0170 0.0180 0.0170 
Saint Kitts and Nevis 0.0000 0.0000 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0000 0.0010 0.0010 0.0007 
Saint Lucia 0.0020 0.0020 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0012 
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0010 0.0000 0.0009 
Trinidad and Tobago 0.0490 0.0480 0.0470 0.0420 0.0500 0.0680 0.0710 0.0620 0.0710 0.0710 0.0579 
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