. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/109 
2 December 2009 
 (09-6380) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   French 
 
  
CAMEROON 
 
Statement by HE Mr Luc Magloire Mbarga Atangana
 
Minister of Trade  
   I must congratulate you on the successful organization of this Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference and above all on the new impetus that you are injecting into our Organization, which was 
reflected in the consensual tone of the remarks you made here yesterday and those of the other 
speakers.   Due to time constraints, I will come straight  to the point by affirming that Cameroon, as a 
founding Member of the WTO, is committed to reaching a successful conclusion to the Doha Round of negotiations. 
 
 Of course, there is no blank cheque.  The de velopment dimension must be fully integrated 
into the content of the Round, with  tangible and measurable results. 
  By that, I mean that the Round must lead to not only consolidated but improved market access 
for products from the developing countries. 
  If I were to use language already familiar to so me of us here, I would say that products from 
the developing countries, whether collectively or individually, should not find themselves in a less 
favourable situation than in the past or at present (is that not so, European Commission?). 
 
 It goes without saying that the conclusion of the Doha Round must enable our countries to 
increase and improve production and find markets fo r the goods produced - markets which are both 
predictable for all concerned and lucrative.   In view of such an objective, what could be  more fitting than Aid for Trade, the innovative 
concept devised by none other than Mr Pascal Lamy, the resources of which must be additional, easily 
mobilized and destined for the financing of both logistical and production infrastructures?   In the name of common sense, and as a matter of fairness, the system should become more 
flexible and try to evolve. 
 
 It would be highly prejudicial if, on the pretex t of wanting to correct alleged inequality, the 
system were to lead, as in the banana case, to the exclusion from the market of the most fragile 
producers, or in any case those who are least well-prep ared, for all sorts of reasons relating to history 
and economic logic.  The change must take place in stages, reasonable stages.  
 We should never lose sight of the fact that  the multilateral trading system was originally 
conceived not simply to promote trade, but to promote development through trade. WT/MIN(09)/ST/109 
Page 2  
 
   I hope I have made myself clear in reiterati ng Cameroon's willingness to seek consensual and 
balanced solutions to all the issues posing prob lems, in particular the question of bananas. 
  In this, I am echoing the position of the many  ACP countries concerned by the banana issue, 
countries which feel they are not being heard a nd which have all sorts of questions to ask. 
 
 Small-scale cotton producers in Cameroon, the third largest cotton-producing country in 
French-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa, look forward to  the outcome of the Doha Round and very much 
hope for a brighter future.  
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