./.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/26 
16 December 2005 
 (05-6099) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
   
ACP GROUP PROPOSED TEXT ON DEVELOPMENT SPECIFIC ISSUES 
 
Communication from Mauritius
 
 
  The following communication, dated 16 December 2005, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Mauritius on behalf of the ACP Group. 
 
 
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1. Aid for Trade
 
 
It is the view of this group that on the issue of Aid for Trade as captured in paragraph 51, the 
following issues shall be added:  
• New financial assistance shall be made ava ilable under Aid for Trade to fully meet the 
developmental objectives especially to cr eate and enhance the productive capacity, inter alia  
through Transfer of Technology, SPS, TBT, Tr ade Facilitation, Institutional Capacity, human 
resources development and appropriate policy space in order to achieve the full integration of these 
countries into the multilateral trading system. 
 
• Financial assistance shall be made available in  grant form and there shall be no conditionality 
attached. 
 • The task force shall be fully representative of members from the developing countries and LDCs.  
This Task Force shall provide appropriate recomme ndations to the General Council by April 2006. 
 
• In view of the above, the revised paragraph 51 will read as follows:  "We welcome the discussions of Finance and Devel opment Ministers in various fora, including the 
Development Committee of the World Bank and IMF, that have taken place this year on expanding 
Aid for Trade.  Air for Trade shall aim to he lp developing countries and LDCs to build the 
supply-side capacity and trade-related infrastructure that they need to assist them to implement and 
benefit from WTO Agreements and mo re broadly to expand their trade.  Aid for Trade cannot become 
a substitute for the development benefits that w ill result from a successful conclusion to the DDA, 
particularly on market access.  However, it can be  a valuable complement to the DDA.  New financial 
assistance shall be made available under Aid for Tr ade to fully meet the developmental objectives 
especially to create and enhance the productive capacity inter alia  through Transfer of Technology, 
SPS, TBT, Trade Facilitation, institutional capacity , human resources development and appropriate WT/MIN(05)/26 
Page 2  
 
 policy space in order to achieve their full integrati on into the multilateral trading system.  Financial 
assistance shall be made available in grant form  and there shall be no conditionality attached. 
 51bis. We invite the Director-General to create a T ask Force that shall provide recommendations on 
how to operationalize Aid for Trade.  We invite the Director-General to consult with Members as well 
as with IMF, World Bank, the regional developm ent banks and other re levant international 
organisations with a view to reporting to the Ge neral Council on appropriate mechanisms to secure 
the necessary financial resources for Aid for Trade on grant basis.  The Aid for Trade mechanism 
shall enter into force no later than December 2006."  2. Special and Differential Treatment
 
 
ACP members submit that paragraph 31 and 32 of th e Draft Ministerial Text be replaced by the 
following:    
"Reaffirming the provisions for Special and Differential Treatment as an integral part of the WTO 
Agreements, we urge the remaining work on Speci al and Differential Treatment be fulfilled and 
completed by July 2006.  We renew our determinat ion to fulfil the mandate in paragraph 44 of the 
Doha Mandate that all Special and Differential Treatme nt provisions shall be reviewed with a view to 
making them more precise, effective and operationa l.  Given the limited progress on issues referred to 
subsidiary bodies, we instruct that all outsta nding Special and Differential Treatment issues be 
addressed by the Committee on Trade and Developmen t in Special Session, giving priority to the 
agreement-specific proposals.  The Special Session shall report to the General Council with clear 
recommendations for a decision by July 2006.  We furt her instruct the Special Session to complete its 
mandated work on the framework on Sp ecial and Differential Treatment". 
 3. Other Issues
 
 
It is fundamental to ensure the developmental di mension is fully entrenched in WTO rules with a 
view to supporting the sustainable development of developing countries and LDCs.  In this context, 
the ACP Group attaches high importance to the followi ng issues and urges that the Draft Ministerial 
Text be amended with the addition of the following: 
 
(i) Agreement on Anti-Dumping and ASCM (pagraph 10 Annex D) 
 
"The new disciplines shall be simpler and less st ringent and provide a more development friendly 
framework in as far as developing countries and LDCs are concerned." 
 
(ii) Dispute Settlement (paragraph 28 of the Draft Ministerial Text) 
 
Paragraph 28 of the Draft Ministerial Text be amended with the addition of the following text: 
 "We reaffirm that the DSM shall be improved and clarified with a view to introducing the necessary 
flexibilities for developing countries and LDCs." 
  
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