WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/93 
16 December 2005 
 (05-6091) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   French 
 
  
MALI 
 
Statement by HE Mr Choguel K. Maïga
 
Minister for Industry and Trade  
   I should first of all like to thank the people and the Government of the Hong Kong Special 
Administrative Region of China for the warm welcom e and excellent facilities that my delegation and 
I have enjoyed since arriving in the beautiful city of Hong Kong – a centre of international finance, a 
symbol of free trade and a melting pot of age-old civilizations.   I should also like to assure Minister Tsang, Chairman of the Ministerial Conference, of our support and cooperation in working towards a successful outcome.  
 The Hong Kong Conference is taking place at a time when trade negotiations under the Doha 
Work Programme are far from being concluded.  A gr eat deal is at stake in  this development round 
and a successful outcome is essential if there is to be greater participation by all Members in the multilateral trading system.  
 The main issues currently under negotiation – ag riculture (including cotton), non-agricultural 
market access, trade in services and special and differe ntial treatment – remain the subject of a serious 
divergence of opinion among the Members and no significant progress has yet been made in these areas.   After the failure of Cancún, the July 2004 Framework Agreement allowed us to establish a 
road map for different areas of the negotiations. 
  However, the present course of the negotiations is a cause for concern, particularly in the 
sensitive area of agriculture.  
 I would like to affirm, before this august as sembly, that the Framework Agreement has given 
my country considerable hope, in particular the decision to address the issue "ambitiously, 
expeditiously, and specifically" and the creation of a Sub-Committee on Cotton.   We take note of the proposals made by certa in developing countries or groups of developing 
countries, which, I hope, will result in real co mmitments that move the negotiations forward. 
  With regard to the specific subject of cotton, which is a cause of some concern, we note with 
much regret that this issue has become bogged down in procedural questions and that it is accorded 
little attention in the negotiations by certain large countries.  
 However, I shall never tire of repeating that co tton plays an important role in the development 
of rural areas and in the growth of Mali's econom y.  Some 3.3 million people live directly off the 
income derived from growing cotton, which account s for eight per cent of Mali's gross domestic WT/MIN(05)/ST/93 
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 product, 40 per cent of agricultural labour force, 75 per cent of the cash income of cotton producers 
and 60 per cent of agricultural export earnings.   Our cotton, contrary to certain claims, is ve ry competitive.  The cotton grown in Mali is a 
rain-fed variety and is very carefully picked by  hand.  It is cotton of the highest quality. 
 
 For some years now, the sharp drop in world pri ces, caused mainly by the exorbitant level of 
subsidies granted by developed countries, has led to  a decline in the profitability of the cotton sector 
in the poorest countries.  
 Thus, in the 2004-2005 season alone, Western a nd Central African cotton-producing countries 
suffered an estimated deficit of approximately 220 billion CFA francs, or more than US$ 400 million.  
Mali itself recorded a loss of around 50.2 billion CFA francs i.e. about US$ 100 million.    
  For these reasons, my country, like the other co -sponsors of the Sectoral Initiative in Favour 
of Cotton, while remaining faithful to the principle of the single undertaking, continues to uphold the 
following main objectives for the present Ministerial Conference:  
• The total elimination of export subsidies on cotton by 31 December 2005; 
 
• a substantial reduction in dom estic support measures that cause serious injury to the 
cotton trade, in accordance w ith the following timetable: 
 
- 80 per cent by 31 December 2006; 
- the following 10 per cent by 1 January 2008;  - the remaining 10 per cent by 1 January 2009. 
 
• the formulation of disciplines for the prohibition and monitoring of the conversion of 
unauthorized support into authorized support; 
 
• the establishment of an emergency fund to offset deficits caused by falling cotton 
prices on the international market; 
 
• the mobilization of technical and financ ial assistance for the development of the 
cotton sector in Africa. 
 
 In other words, we need measures that can  be applied immediately and which will have 
visible results for our farmers.  These include : specific commitments for phasing out domestic and 
external subsidies; guarantees of continued ma rket access; and interim funding to protect the 
livelihoods of cotton-growers in the short term.  
 To this end, cotton producers joined forces to  collect more than 3 million signatures from all 
over Western and Central Africa, including almost 900,000 from Mali.   Mali, like all other LDCs, has a great many con cerns, and yet, while aware of the relevance of 
all the subjects addressed in the Doha Agenda, Ma li attaches particular importance to advances on 
certain issues, such as market acce ss, access to essential medicines,  trade in services, special and 
differential treatment, policy coherence and capacity-building. 
  In order to obtain improved market access for our export products, it is important that developed countries and, if possible, developing c ountries eliminate all tariff and non-tariff barriers 
protecting their domestic markets. 
  WT/MIN(05)/ST/93 
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  Moreover, market liberalization must be carried out in a way that does not lead to the erosion 
of the preferences enjoyed by LDCs on the markets of developed countries.   I should also like to emphasize the improvement of technical and financial assistance in order to upgrade and perfect our production to ols and develop our negotiating capacity. 
 
 I should like at this point to welcome the recent Decision of the Council for TRIPS, to extend the transition period for least-developed countries by sev en and a half years and to give full effect to 
the August 2003 Decision on TRIPS and Public Health .  We call on all WTO Members to undertake 
to implement this decision in a diligent manner.  Furthermore, we appreciate the commitments made 
to provide technical assistance to help the l east-developed countries prepare to implement the 
Agreement.   In order to protect and promote its rich her itage, Mali requests the recognition of the rights of 
indigenous peoples to traditional knowledge and know- how and the natural genetic resources of their 
land, for which a non-originating third party has applied for a patent. 
  My country is working hard on its gradual incorporation into the services liberalization 
process.  Accordingly, developed country Member s should undertake to improve market access for 
services which offer certain advantages to developing countries, in particular the LDCs, in this case 
under "Mode 4".   
 
 In this context, difficulties arising from the management of emigration from developing 
countries to developed countries should in no circumstances be a reason for impeding the temporary movement of individuals.  
 I consider the improvement of the principle of  special and differential treatment in favour of 
developing countries and, in particul ar, LDCs to be very important.  
  The implementation of provisions on special a nd differential treatment must be sufficiently 
binding and offer certain trade advantages for LDCs.  
 Furthermore, within the context of regi onal trade agreements covering developed and 
developing countries, it is important that devel oping countries should bene fit from longer transition 
periods and, above all, sufficient flexibility to ad apt their economies as necessary.  Asymmetric trade 
liberalization must be established in such a way that  a free trade zone responds to concerns regarding 
development, since it is development that is the main purpose of such liberalization. 
 
 At the current stage of the Doha Round, it is  vital that the Members of our Organization  
accept their responsibilities and make real progress in the negotiations.  We must be pragmatic and 
much more committed when addressing the trade c oncerns of developing and, in particular, 
least-developed countries.  
 Only in this way will we be able to overcom e the marginalization of developing countries, 
improve their effective participation in the multila teral trading system and secure a world in which 
peace and social justice reign.   My country is glad to participate in the Integrated Framework and the Joint Integrated 
Technical Assistance Programme (JITAP), which, if  effectively implemented, will help to increase 
and diversify trade in order to speed up growth and reduce poverty in my country.  This will be proof 
enough that, within the multilateral system, trade contributes to development.   Before concluding my statement, I should like to thank the Secretariat of the World Trade 
Organization for all the capacity-building assistance it gives my country.   WT/MIN(05)/ST/93 
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 I should also like to thank the internationa l institutions and all the countries that work 
tirelessly to make trade an engine of development in poor countries.   I hope that development-through-trade issues rema in the priority of the negotiations held at 
this sixth Ministerial Conference and that appr opriate solutions will be found to the numerous 
concerns of developing and, in particular, least-dev eloped countries, so as to ensure that trade is a 
genuine source of growth, an important factor in the reduction of poverty and an engine of 
development.  
 
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