. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/732 
24 July 2008 
 (08-3567) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
 
SAARC MINISTERIAL COMMUNIQUÉ 
 
Geneva, 23 July 2008 
 
  The following communication, dated 23 July 2008, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Bangladesh, on behalf of the SAARC Member States in the WTO. 
 
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 The Ministers and Senior Officials of SAARC
1 Member States met in Geneva on 
23 July 2008 to discuss issues of their mutual inte rest in the Doha Round.  They welcomed the 
initiatives taken by the WTO to reach an agreemen t at least on Agriculture and NAMA modalities by 
the end of July 2008.  They reaffirmed their comm itment to an early conclu sion of Doha Development 
Agenda focusing on the development dimensi on in outcomes in all areas under negotiation. 
  SAARC Trade Ministers recognised the problem that long standing preference receiving countries will face due to MFN tariff liberalisation in this Round.  They therefore, supported relatively 
longer phasing of tariff reduction for products of export interest to these Members for which the EC 
and the US have granted non-reciprocal tariff pref erence.  The issue of longer reduction period and 
the product coverage should be a ddressed in a manner that balances the interest and legitimate 
expectations of all developing countries, pa rticularly the least developed amongst them. 
  SAARC Trade Ministers noted that some de veloping countries would be disproportionately 
affected due to the proposed extended phasing.  An accelerated phasing on a few products of their 
export interest covered by the preference erosion list has been proposed in the NAMA Text.  While 
two of its Members namely Pakistan and Sri Lanka  are disproportionately affected and are presently 
covered, the solution provided to them is not ade quate.  The Ministers stressed that their concerns 
should be comprehensively addressed  by appropriately expanding the list of products in both markets. 
 
 SAARC Trade Ministers recognised that tw o SAARC LDC Members namely Bangladesh and 
Nepal will also be disproportionately affected if products of their export interest are not provided 
DFQF market access.  The Ministers supported the need to ensure that the LDC market access 
expectations are fully met in this Round.  Products  of their export interest should be comprehensively 
covered in the DFQF scheme by all developed coun tries.  Bangladesh and Nepal should be included 
in the list of disproportionately affected, if products of their export interest are not included in the 
DFQF list.  Information about the DFQF product co verage and assurance of non-concentration of the 
excluded products in specific product groups or sectors will have to be provided at the earliest so that 
they are able to benefit in a commercia lly meaningfully way from these Programs. 
 
                                                     
 
1 South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation; Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, 
Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka  WT/L/732 
Page 2  
 
   SAARC Trade Ministers also emphasised the need for a positive outcome in the Services 
negotiations in favour of developing and least developed countries to enable them to benefit in full 
from the opportunities offered by the multilateral trading system.   SAARC Trade Ministers fully supported the disclosure proposal seeking enhanced mutual 
supportiveness between the TRIPS Agreement and th e Convention on Biological Diversity.  They saw 
an outcome on this issue based on this proposal as an  important measure to prevent bio-piracy; protect 
traditional knowledge and to promot e fair and equitable benefit sharing from use of such resources 
and knowledge.  
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