WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/16 
14 December 2005 
 (05-5932) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
   
COMMUNICATION FROM LANDLOCKED DEVELOPING COUNTRIES 
 
Communication from Paraguay
 
  
 The following communication, dated 13 December 2005, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of Paraguay on behalf of  landlocked developing countries. 
 
 
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 We, the Ministers of the Landlocked Developi ng Countries (LLDCs), meeting in Hong Kong, 
China, the 13th December 2005, on the occasion of  the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World 
Trade Organization (WTO),  
  Recalling the Asuncion Platform for the Doha Development Round , adopted at the Meeting of  
Ministers of Landlocked Developing Countries R esponsible for Trade on the 10th August 2005 in 
Asuncion, Paraguay and recognizing  that this instrument articulates the common position of the 
landlocked developing countries within the framewo rk of the ongoing negotiations of the Doha 
Round, 
  Reaffirming our commitment to the liberalization of trade, thus ensuring that the multilateral 
trading system contributes to promote developm ent among the landlocked developing which are least-
developed countries, small and vulnerable economies and economies in transition,  
 
Urging Members of the WTO to address the special problems and vulnerabilities of the 
landlocked developing countries, through specifi c measures taken with the aim of addressing 
their concerns in order to enable their greater participation in the multilateral trading system,  
 
Propose  as follows:  
 
1. Members shall maintain  the level of ambition in the ongoing Doha round and commit 
themselves to successfully conclude the trade negotiations in a timely fashion. 
2. Members of the Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation  shall start working to develop 
multilateral commitments covering all elements of Annex D of the De cision of the General Council of 
1 August 2004 providing, when appropriate, a sp ecial and differential treatment (S&DT) for LLDCs 
and aim to help them mitigate the negative impact of their lack of territorial access to the sea, and of 
their remoteness and isolation from world markets. WT/MIN(05)/16 
Page 2  
 
 3. Members shall deepen and intensify the analysis  of S&DT, technical assistance, and capacity 
building, as well as of the linkages among them, in or der to create equitable, precise and operational 
trade facilitation  provisions. Obligations shall be cons istent with the LLDCs’ individual 
development, financial and trade needs or th eir administrative and institutional capabilities. 
4. Donors and international organizations shall prov ide LLDCs with technical assistance to start, 
continue, or broaden the process of identifying their trade facilitation needs and priorities and the 
cost implications of proposed measures to enable  their full and effective participation in the 
forthcoming negotiating process. 
5. Members shall adopt specific measures that would facilitate a fulle r and more effective 
integration of the small, vulnerable economies, including landlocked developing countries, into the 
multilateral trading system. For this purpose, Member s shall continue work in the Dedicated Session 
of the CTD on the Work Programme on Small Economies and to monitor progress of the small economies' proposals in the negotiating and other bodies. 
6. Members agree on the need to reach a prompt agreement on proposals submitted by LDCs in 
May 2002 , seeking to strengthen and operationalize them , while making S&DT provisions more 
effective for LDCs. In this regard, developed countries and those developing countries declaring 
themselves in a position to do so, shall provide LDCs' products with  a special and differential tariff 
treatment and ensure that rules of origin applicable  to imports contribute to facilitating this enhanced 
market access. 
7. Taking into account the inter linkages of the th ree pillars and the state of the multilateral 
negotiations, it is imperative that  developed Members improve their market access offers in the 
agriculture  negotiations at the earliest, in order to move the overall negotiating process. The ongoing 
negotiations on agriculture are the engine of the D oha Development Round and a substantial part of 
the “single undertaking”.   
8. Members shall take into account the special tr ade and development needs and concerns of 
LLDCs and to improve as much as possible the market access to  agricultural  products  of special 
interest to them. 
9. Members shall undertake and immediately implement more ambitious commitments on 
cotton  than for agriculture as a whole, so as to support the development in developing cotton 
producing countries. For that purpose, Members shall adopt the proposals made by the African Group and supported by other developing cotton producing countries, partic ularly the elimination of all 
forms of export subsidies and domestic support wh ich distorts the international cotton market. 
Members shall also adopt measures that would v astly improve market access conditions for cotton 
and cotton-derived products.  
10. Members shall agree to provide LLDCs  with substantial improvement in market access for 
non-agricultural products , with the view to help them diversify their exports.  
11. Members shall facilitate the exports of a wide range of services
 of the LLDCs, through the 
substantial liberalization of market access in sec tors and modes of supply of their interest. 
Development partners shall provide technical a nd financial assistance to upgrade the transit services 
of LLDCs.  
12. Members shall pay particular attention to the commercially meaningful improvements in 
mode four of  GATS , by eliminating or reducing burdensom e procedures and domestic regulations 
and by promoting mutual recognition requirements.  WT/MIN(05)/16 
 Page 3 
 
 
 13. Members shall provide appropriate flexibilities for individual developing countries, taking 
into account the size of their economies, so as to ma ke possible the progressive liberalization of their 
services  sectors.  
14. Members shall continue to work on the relationship between the TRIPS  Agreement and the 
Convention on Biological Diversity. Within this frame work, patent applicants shall be required: to 
disclose the source and country of origin of the bi ological/genetic material and associated traditional 
knowledge used in their invention; to obtain the prio r informed consent; to shar e the benefits of these 
inventions and to provide evidence proving that the patent applicants have adhered to these 
requirements.   
15. Members shall continue negotiati ons under paragraph 31 of the Doha Declaration with a view 
to enhancing the mutual supportiveness of trade and environment  and, particularly, looking forward 
to achieving environmental and commercial benef its for developing countries, including LLDCs.  
16. Members shall facilitate and accelerate the accession  of the nine LLDCs that are not 
Members of the WTO, through simplified and stream lined procedures. S&DT shall be applicable to 
landlocked developing countries on a priority basis.  The acceding commitments  of these countries 
shall be in accordance with their stage of developm ent and specific situation. Special importance shall 
be provided to targeted technical assistance to acceding LLDCs. 
17. Members recognize that Aid for Trade  is a key element of the development package and 
shall therefore contribute to the improvement of market access and enhancement of trading capacity to gain effectively from the trade liberalization process. Aid for Trade shall contribute to promote 
development dimension at the Doha Round. However, this aid in the WTO can not be a substitute for 
the development benefits resulting from ongoing negotia tions. Aid for trade shall not be subject to any 
conditionalities.   
18. The Aid for Trade  initiative shall also provide full benefits to LLDCs, helping them 
overcome the obstacles which impede their efficient participation in international trade and which  
undermine their competitiveness.   
 Ministers request the UN – OHRLLS in close cooperation and coordination with other 
relevant organizations to continue to assist th e landlocked developing countries in their effective 
participation in international trade talks including  in the Doha Round of Trade Negotiations   
 
 Ministers also call upon international, fi nancial and developmen t institutions and 
development partners to enhance their assistance and cooperation to address the special problems of 
LLDCs and promote their meaningful participa tion in the international trading regime.  
 
 Ministers express their appreciation to the authorities and people of Hong Kong , China , for 
their warm hospitality as well as for organizing the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade 
Organization.  
 
 
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