. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/C/W/31 
15 August 2005 
 (05-3634) 
Trade Negotiations Committee 
21 and 28 July 2005 Original:   Spanish 
 
 
  
STATEMENT BY THE DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 
  
 The following statement by the delegation of the Dominican Republic, under agenda item 4, 
at the TNC meeting of 28 July 2005, is being circulated at the request of that delegation. 
 
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 First of all we should like to express our appr eciation for the reports submitted by the various 
chairmen of the negotiating bodies and to reiterate the Dominican Republic's commitment to work to 
achieve a successful conclusion to this developmen t round, and to obtain concrete results at the 
Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China, in Decemb er this year.  Furthermore, we wish to fully 
associate ourselves with the statements made by Ambassador Amehou of Benin on behalf of the 
ACP Group and by the Ambassador of Indonesia on behalf of the G-33. 
  We share the view which several delegations have already expressed today that we have not 
succeeded in meeting the expectations that we had for the end of July.  We have little time left and all 
the delegations, but especially the main Members of th is Organization, need to make a major effort in 
order to make progress. 
  With regard to the negotiations on agricultu re, we welcome the proposal submitted by the 
G-20, in particular on the market access pillar.   In this connection, we find it difficult to express a view on the tariff formula proposed, since 
we do not know the percentages of reduction that will be made.  In our  case, this information is vital, 
since most of our tariff lines would remain in the second band, and we cannot accept deep cuts there.  
In any event, to reiterate our position as a member of  the ACP Group, our preference is for the use of 
a Uruguay Round-type formula and we wish to state on ce again that escalation within the bands of the 
formula is not acceptable. 
 
 In addition, it is important to emphasize that for the Dominican Republic as a small and 
vulnerable economy the market access pillar in th e agricultural negotiations is of the greatest 
importance.  
 In this connection, we hope to reach agre ement on appropriate special and differential 
treatment with regard to tariff reductions, special  products and the special safeguard mechanism.  
Special products should not be subject to tariff reduc tions nor to commitments regarding tariff quotas. 
  In addition, we hope to see substantial reforms achieved in the pillars of domestic support and 
export competition. 
 TN/C/W/31 
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 With regard to the NAMA negotiations, we recognize that some progress has been achieved 
and that interesting proposals have been placed on the table. 
  However, after working for a year on a non-linear  formula, as indicated in Annex B of the 
July Package, we wish to express our deep concern, since to varying degrees  the formulas on the table 
produce adverse consequences on small and vulne rable economies which, like the Dominican 
Republic, have their whole tariff universe bound at low levels.  Consequently, we urge that efforts 
continue to be made to seek alternativ e ways of overcoming the current problems. 
  We wish to emphasize that the formula for ta riff reduction that is agreed for NAMA should 
not affect the tariffs applied.  It is for this reason that we view with sympathy the opinions of those 
who would prefer a linear reduction formula.  Thus, at the present state of the negotiations, we believe 
it is important to seek common ground for negotiations in  order to safeguard the interests of the small 
and vulnerable economies. 
 
 With regard to the negotiations on services, I must state that the Dominican Republic as a 
small developing country has a vital interest in th is area, which contributes approximately 57 per cent 
to the gross domestic product.   In this connection, our country is working hard on its revised offer.  We also hope that the developed countries will present substantially improved offers , especially in Mode 4. 
 
 There has been considerable progress in the nego tiations on services, especially with regard to 
market access, where we already have over 25 improved offers.   It is our opinion that with a little effort by all the Members, and by continuing to follow the 
guidelines and procedures for the negotiations on th e trade in services established in 2001 and the 
provisions in the Doha Ministerial Declaration, these negotiations on the trade in services can be 
successful.  We fail to understand what some delegati ons that have taken the floor before us mean 
when they say that "for Hong Kong we need to  conclude modalities for services with a level of 
specificity similar to that in NAMA and agricultu re".  In our view, the modalities for the services 
negotiations were defined long before  the presentation of initial offers began, which is logical in any 
area of negotiations. 
 
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