. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/12 
15 December 2011 
 (11-6530) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
SAARC MINISTERIAL COMMUNIQUE 
 
Geneva, 14 December 2011 
 
  The following communication, dated 14 December 2011, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Bangladesh. 
 
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1. The Commerce and Trade Ministers of the S AARC countries recalled the mandate given by 
the 14
th SAARC Summit held in New Delhi in 2007, and met in Geneva on 14 December 2011 on the 
side lines of the eighth WTO Ministerial Conference  to exchange views on the state of the Doha 
Round and to stress the centrality of the developmen t dimension in all areas of negotiations.  They 
further reaffirmed their commitment to strengt hen the rules based multilateral trading system. 
2. The Ministers expressed deep regret at the present impasse in the DDA negotiations despite 
the full engagement of the developing countries a nd reaffirmed their commitment to conclude the 
negotiations at the earliest. 
3. The Ministers stressed the importance of in creasing trade amongst the SAARC countries to 
mitigate the negative impact of the global financia l and economic crisis and urged WTO Members to 
resist protectionism in all forms. 
4. The Ministers underscored the importance of providing Duty Free Quota Free (DFQF) market 
access to LDCs on all products of their export in terest in line with Annex F of the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration.  While welcoming the notif ication of the DFQF scheme by some developing 
countries, the Ministers urged others, especially the developed countries, to implement and notify 
their DFQF schemes on all products of export interest  of LDCs, without any further delay, preferably 
by  2012. 
5. The Ministers also welcomed the consensus on the "Preferential treatment to Services and 
Service suppliers of Least-Developed Countries" an d underscored its early implementation, bearing in 
mind the areas of interest to LDCs. 
6. The Ministers welcomed the "Decision on LDC Accession" and called for an early accession 
of two SAARC members to the WTO viz. Afghan istan and Bhutan. They further stressed the 
importance of benchmarking and ensuring transparency in the process of accession. 
7. The Ministers reiterated the limitations of the proposed solution for Disproportionately 
Affected Countries and emphasized that it is impera tive to have a full and comprehensive solution to 
address the concerns of the DACs of SAARC. WT/MIN(11)/12 
Page 2  
 
  8. The Ministers recalled the declaration made at the 11
th SAARC Summit held in Addu, 
Maldives and affirmed their commitment to work  on regional food security issues, including setting 
up of a SAARC Food Bank. 
9. The Ministers underscored the importance of flexibilities available to the developing 
countries under the TRIPS Agreement and expressed  concern over the actions taken by some 
members to circumscribe these flexibilities,  in the context of public health. 
10. The Ministers reaffirmed their support to the disclosure requirement for enhanced mutual 
supportiveness between the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). 
11. The Ministers stressed the importance of technology transfer and trade finance for 
development.  They also underscored the need for predictable and uninterrupted flow of adequate 
resources for 'Aid for Trade'. They also acknowledged the importance of foreign direct investment.   
12. The Ministers appreciated the extension of th e moratorium on customs duty and the emphasis 
on the development aspects of E-commerce as enunciated in the 1998 Work Programme on E-
Commerce. 
13. The Ministers welcomed the adoption of Istanbul  Programme of Action for the LDCs for the 
decade 2011-2020 and urged for its ear ly and full implementation. 
14. The Ministers welcomed the accession of Mont enegro, Russia, Samoa and Vanuatu as new 
WTO members. 
15. The Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to wo rk together for a successful completion of 
the Doha Round at the earliest. 
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