RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
29 January 2010 
 
 (10-0509) 
Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries 
Fifty-Fourth Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETIN G OF 5 NOVEMBER 2009 
 
Chairperson:  Ambassador Jean Feyder (Luxembourg) 
  
A.
 ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA .........................................................................................................1  
B. WTO WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
(WT/COMTD /LDC/11)....................................................................................................................1  
(I) Accession of Least-developed Countries to the WTO .................................................................2  
- Report of the Dialogue with acceding Least-developed Countries 
(WT/COMTD/LDC/15) .............................................................................................................. .2 
- Round Table Statement on Least-develop ed Countries' Accessions, Phnom Penh, 
Kingdom of Cambodia (WT/COMTD/LDC/16)..........................................................................6  
(II) Market Access for Least- developed Countries............................................................................9  
- Market Access for Products and Services of Export Interest to Least-developed 
Countries (WT/COMTD/LDC/W/46) ..........................................................................................9  
C. SIXTH LDC TRADE MINISTERS ' MEETING , DAR ES SALAAM , TANZANIA , 14 TO 
16 OCTOBER  2009:   REPORT BY THE COORDINATOR OF THE LEAST -DEVELOPED 
COUNTRIES (WT/L/772)..............................................................................................................20  
D. OTHER BUSINESS .......................................................................................................................22  
 
 A. 
ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The Chairman  requested Members to consider the draft agenda contained in document 
WTO/AIR/3465.  He informed Members that, unde r "Other Business", he would make a brief 
statement concerning the Fourth United Nations  Conference on LDCs to be held in 2011. 
2. The Sub-Committee  adopted the draft agenda contained in WTO/AIR/3465. 
B. WTO WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (WT/COMTD /LDC/11) 
3. The Chairman  said that he would take up two elements of the WTO Work Programme for the 
LDCs:  (i) accession of LDCs to the WTO;  and (ii) market access for LDCs. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
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  (I) Accession of Least-developed Countries to the WTO 
- Report of the Dialogue with acceding Least-developed Countries (WT/COMTD/LDC/15)  
4. The Chairman
 recalled that the item on accession had received special attention over the past 
year, reflecting the priority attached by the Memb ership on the accession of LDCs to the WTO.  The 
Sub-Committee had considered a detailed note on accession prepared by the Secretariat 
(WT/COMTD/LDC/W/44), in the early part of 2009.  As a follow-up to the discussions on that Note, 
the Secretariat had facilitated a Dialogue with  acceding LDCs and WTO Members on 28 May 2009 
(hereinafter "the Dialogue").  The Report of the Dialogue had been issued as document WT/COMTD/LDC/15, which provided a factual acc ount of the discussions.  Ten of the 12 acceding 
LDCs had participated in the Dialogue.  In addition,  fourteen WTO Members had taken part in it.  At 
the Dialogue, he had expressed his commitment to  work towards facilitating and accelerating the 
accession of LDCs to the WTO.  He then invited th e Director of the Accessions Division to introduce 
the Report.   
5. The Director
 of the Accessions Division said that th e Dialogue had been widely perceived as 
pragmatic, useful and worthwhile.  The role of th e WTO Secretariat was to facilitate the Dialogue, in 
accordance with its duty to provide support to Members.  Ten out of 12 acceding LDCs, as well as 14 
Members that had been active in the accession pr ocess, had taken part in the Dialogue.  The 
Discussions had been open, transparent and inclusiv e.  Participants had focussed on four areas, 
identified in the General Council Decision of 10 December 2002 on accession of LDCs (WT/L/508), 
(hereinafter the "LDC Accession Guidelines").  These areas included:  market access, WTO rules, 
process and trade-related technical assistance and cap acity building.  The acceding LDCs had shared 
their views, identified their priorities and had poi nted out the challenges faced by them in the 
accession process.  He noted that many of the challe nges faced by the acceding LDCs were internal to 
them since the accession process had been an instrument for fundam ental economic and institutional 
reforms within their countries.   
6. He continued by saying that since the Dialogue, Members had been constructively engaged, at 
every level, to assist the accession process of LDCs .  In fact, follow-up actions to the Dialogue 
continued to provide proof of pos itive engagement of Members in  facilitating the accession of LDCs 
to the WTO.  He briefly outlined the recent deve lopments that had occurred as a follow-up to the 
Dialogue.  First, he referred to the Round Ta ble on LDCs' Accessions organized by the Royal 
Government of Cambodia, in consultation with the United Republic of Tanzania, in Phnom Penh, 
Cambodia, from 28 to 29 September 2009.  He said that he had represented the Director-General of 
the WTO at the Round Table, which was chaired by the Senior Minister of Cambodia 
Mr. Cham Prasidh.  It had provided an opportun ity for the recently acceded  LDCs to share their 
accession experience with the acced ing LDCs to the WTO, for example through suggestions on the 
domestic economic reforms that were needed to in tegrate into the multilateral trading system.  A 
number of misperceptions about the accession pro cess were also dispelled at the Round Table.  
Second, he drew Members' attention to the fact  that the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) 
at its 76th Session on 3 November 2009, had adopted the Bi ennial Technical Assistance and Training 
Plan (2010-2011).1  Under that Plan, Members had appr oved a global seminar on Accessions and 
three regional seminars for 2010, in addition to  the seminar on African accessions scheduled for 
December 2009.  Third, he noted that the Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) Interim Board had started to approve resources under Tier 1 of the EI F Trust Fund to strengthen national capacity to 
mainstream trade;  this would also assist the LDC accession process.  Fourth, he said that the 
Secretariat had been engaged with the World Bank to  explore practical ways to provide resources and 
support to the acceding LDCs.  Regarding the way fo rward, he noted that the Dialogue had been a 
one-off exercise, facilitated by the Secretariat.  The accession process was an  entirely Member-driven 
                                                     
 
1 WT/COMTD/W/170/Rev.1  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
 Page 3 
 
 
  exercise.  Therefore, any further work on this front would need to be carried out in the framework of 
the Sub-Committee.  In this regard, he would remain in touch with the Chairman of the 
Sub-Committee.  He reiterated the commitment of th e Secretariat to provide support to Members and 
acceding countries to move forward the accession process.   
7. The representative of Tanzania , on behalf of the LDCs, thanked the Director of the 
Accessions Division for his exhaustive summary on the Dialogue.  He welcomed the Secretariat 
Report on the Dialogue which factually reflected the discussions.  The LDC Group considered the 
Dialogue as an initial step in the direction of reform and improvement for the LDCs' accession 
process.  More than 40 per cent of current ongoing accessions were LDCs.  He recalled the mandate 
given by WTO Members at the Fourth WTO Minist erial Conference, held in Doha in 2001, to 
facilitate and accelerate the accession of LDCs to the WTO.   
8. He said that, at the Dialogue, Members had in dicated their adherence to the LDC Accession 
Guidelines.  However, interpretations of the provisions  contained in those Guidelines, in particular in 
the areas of market access and WTO rules, were not necessarily the same by all Members nor by the acceding countries.  As a result, expectations from the LDC Accession Guidelines were diverse.  The 
acceding LDCs had hoped that their respective acc ession processes would flow smoothly, but were 
unfortunately confronted with difficult challenges in view of the lack of implementation of the 
Guidelines.   
9. He expressed concern that the accession process of  LDCs took longer, compared to the time it 
took for accessions of non-LDCs to the WTO.  Accord ing to WTO statistics, on average, it had taken 
11 years and 2 months for the first three LDCs  to accede to the WTO, while it had taken only 
eight years and six months for the 22 countries that acceded to the WTO since 1995.  This fact spoke 
for itself.  He requested the Sub-Committee to  mandate another round of dialogue with acceding 
LDCs in the first part of 2010 to build on the Di alogue held in May 2009.  That would move forward 
the accession process of LDCs.  He hoped that the request would find support from Members.   
10. The representative of India
 thanked the WTO Secretariat fo r facilitating the Dialogue, as well 
as for preparing a factual report on it.  He extended full support to the process of deeper engagement 
between Members and acceding LDCs to better unde rstand the priorities, concerns and challenges 
faced by the LDCs in their accession process and to explore possible options within the framework of 
the General Council Decision on the accessi on of LDCs adopted in 2002.   
11. India attached great importance to the early conclusion of the accession process of all 
countries, in particular the LDCs, leading to becoming Members of the WTO and enjoying the 
benefits of participating in the rules–based global trading system.  His delega tion continued to believe 
that the accession of countries to the WTO should be solely guided by trade and economic factors.  Non-economic considerations  should not be allowed to be brought in nor should they influence the 
accession negotiations.  He underlined the importance of providing adequate technical assistance to 
the acceding LDCs.   
12. At the LDC Trade Ministers' meeting held in Dar es Salaam in Oct ober 2009, his delegation 
had emphasized the need for the WTO to be truly global.  In this context, he quoted from the 
statement made by India at that meeting, copies of  which were made available at the meeting room:  
"It is not a happy commentary on the accession processes in the WTO that since the last seven years, only three LDCs have been able to complete their accession and 12 LDCs continue to wait their turn."  
He noted that in the past few months some important developments had taken place on accession, 
including the discussion in the General Council mee ting in October 2009 on the communications from 
the informal group of developing countries (WT/GC/W/611 and WT/GC/119).  In this context, he asked the Secretariat to prepare a follow-up report to capture further developments on issues relating WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
Page 4  
 
  to accession.  He also extended support to the request  made by Tanzania for another round of dialogue 
with acceding LDCs in the first part of 2010.  
13. The representative of the United States
 appreciated the Secretariat's Report on the Dialogue.  
She found the Report to be a factual reflection of th e discussion.  She also a ppreciated the circulation 
of the Round Table Statement on LDCs' Accessions  held in Phnom Penh in September 2009.   
14. Her delegation had been supportive of the accession of LDCs to the WTO, so that they could 
successfully integrate into the multilateral trading system.  She stressed that the adoption of WTO 
provisions could build strong economic institutions , bringing long-term positive impact on trade, 
economic growth and domestic deve lopment in the acceding country.  The process of WTO accession 
facilitated the reforms necessary to enhance ec onomic growth and development in the acceding 
country.  She stressed that membership in the WT O would only be useful if the applicant country 
could actually apply WTO provisions to strengthen its trade regime.  This was doubly true for the LDCs.  Therefore, the efforts of the US in LDC accessions had been centered on helping the applicant 
lay out its plan, including through technical assistan ce, to accomplish the necessary steps to integrate 
into the rules–based multilateral trading system.  Keeping in line with the General Council Decision 
on the accession of LDCs adopted in 2002, the US had continued to provide targeted technical 
assistance to facilitate the accession of LDCs to the WTO.  Over the past year, her delegation had 
provided technical assistance to Yemen and Laos.  The US provided ongoing technical assistance to Ethiopia.  In the past, it had also provided  accession–related technical assistance to Cambodia and 
Cape Verde. 
15. She supported additional reviews of accessions  in the Sub-Committee.  She would also 
welcome increased activity of WTO Secretariat offi cials in providing technical assistance to the 
acceding LDCs.  She reiterated the commitment of her delegation to facilitate the accession process 
including through streamlined procedures, simplifie d documentation requirements and through the use 
of informal consultations and meetings to move the negotiations forward.  She would also support a 
process whereby travel of LDC officials could be  minimized.  Her delegation had been working 
tirelessly with the WTO Secretariat to ensure that  the commitments to be undertaken by the acceding 
LDCs reflected the action plans that they develo ped for implementation, including full flexibility for 
necessary transitions.   
16. She fully appreciated the challenges faced by the LDCs in their accession negotiations.  She 
supported the use of the LDC Accession Guidelin es to shape the access ion terms eventually 
negotiated for the acceding LDCs.  She believed that the LDC A ccession Guidelines had facilitated 
the accession of LDCs, and would continue to do so, enabling them to undertake the necessary 
reforms to enhance their economic growth and de velopment;  and thereby successfully integrating 
them into the multilateral trading system.  She re iterated the commitment of her delegation to assist 
the few remaining LDCs that were outside the WTO system to become fully functioning Members if 
they choose to join. 
17. The representative of the European Communities
2 underlined the importance that her 
delegation had been attaching to the accession of LDCs to the WTO.  The EU member States would continue to support the early accession of LDCs, incl uding through appropriate technical assistance.  
She took note of the Report of the Dialogue held on 28 May 2009 in which the EC had participated.  
She also took note of the outcome of the Round Ta ble held in Phnom Penh in September 2009.  She 
                                                     
 
2 On 1 December 2009, the Treaty of Lisbon amendi ng the Treaty on Europe an Union and the Treaty 
establishing the European Community (done at Lisbon, 13 December 2007) entered into force.  On 
29 November 2009, the WTO received a Verbal Note (WT/L/779) from the Council of the Eu ropean Union and 
the Commission of the European Communities stating that, by virtue of the Treaty of Lisbon, as of 
1 December 2009, the European Union replaces and succeeds the European Community.  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
 Page 5 
 
 
  reiterated the commitment of her de legation to continue to faithfu lly implement the LDC Accession 
Guidelines adopted in 2002.  She underscored th e need to provide necessary support, including 
financial assistance, to the acceding LDCs.  In this  regard, she invited the acceding LDCs to identify 
their needs and make them known to Members.  Her delegation would be happy to support them 
either bilaterally or multilaterally through instrume nts such as the EIF.  The EU member States and 
the EC had been providing accession related Aid fo r Trade to ten of the 12 acceding LDCs.  She 
welcomed the suggestion made by the LDC Coordi nator to pursue the dialogue with acceding LDCs 
in the first part of 2010.  In this regard, sh e was of the view that the Sub-Committee was the 
appropriate forum to continue pursuing such di alogues on LDC accessions.  She recalled that the 
Sub-Committee had a specific mandate relating to the review of the implementation of the LDC 
Accession Guidelines.   
18. The representative of Canada  noted the ideas and suggestions made at the meeting, and those 
that had been made at the Dialogue and the Round Table in Phnom Penh held in September 2009.  He 
thanked the Secretariat for its efforts in prepari ng a summary on the Dialogue.  He also thanked the 
LDC Group for circulating the Round Table Statement on LDCs' Accessions.  He considered the ideas 
and suggestions to be helpful in the collective understanding of the challenges faced by the acceding 
LDCs.   
19. Canada had been a strong advocate of univer sal WTO Membership.  Its commitment to the 
accession process had been demonstrated through its active participation in all accession working parties, and through its continued support to th e LDC Accession Guidelines adopted in 2002.  The 
LDC Accession Guidelines had recognized the implic it tension in market access negotiations, where 
WTO Members had been directed to exercise re straint in seeking concessions and commitments on 
trade in goods and services from acceding LDCs.  At the same time, acceding LDCs had been 
requested to offer access thr ough reasonable concessions and commitments on trade in goods and 
services.  In this regard, he underlined the need for a right balance so that the rights and obligations of 
WTO Membership were exercised in the accession pro cess to the ultimate benefit of new Members.   
20. Concerning the ideas and suggestions that ha d been put forward to address the challenges 
faced by the acceding LDCs, he wondered whether the Members of the Sub-Committee had fully implemented the provisions and processes provided for in the LDC Accession Guidelines.  For example, the General Council Decision of 10 Dece mber 2002 on the Accession of LDCs offered the 
option of calling on the good offices of the Director-General to assist acceding LDCs and 
Chairpersons of the LDCs' Accession Working Pa rties in implementing the Guidelines.  That 
Decision had also provided for the regular review of the implementation of the Guidelines in the 
Sub-Committee;  it envisaged a regular monitori ng role of the Sub-Committee on the accession of 
LDCs.  The Decision also stipulated  that the results of such reviews would be included in the annual 
report of the CTD to the General Council.  That process would bring issues concerning LDC accessions to the attention of the General Counc il, ultimately providing an opportunity for a 
Ministerial stocktaking of LDC accessions, as a ppropriate.  The number of options available to 
Members might not have played as robu st a role as originally intended.  
21. He underlined the need for a closer examina tion of the specific problems faced by acceding 
LDCs as well as of the remedies that might be suggested.  That entailed Members to look at an appropriate process to first better define the scope of the challenges and then to find an appropriate 
means to address them.  He suggested  that the existing tools available to Members be used in the most 
appropriate manner, before expl oring other options to address the problems faced by the acceding 
LDCs.  In this context, he welcomed the suggesti on of the LDC Coordinator to continue the dialogue 
on LDCs' accession in 2010 to further reflect on the ch allenges faced by the LDCs in their accession 
process.  That would better identify the options av ailable to the acceding LDCs as well as to Members 
in looking for practical wa ys to ensure timely accession of LDCs to the WTO. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
Page 6  
 
  22. The representative of China
 thanked the Secretariat for its Report on the Dialogue.  China had 
also taken part in the Dialogue, and had contributed  to the discussion with constructive proposals.  His 
Government had been supporting the early accession of a ll acceding countries, in particular the LDCs.  
China had concluded bilateral negotiations with a number of LDCs, including Sudan and Yemen.  He 
encouraged Members to accelerate the negotiations with acceding LDCs, in line with the General 
Council Decision on the accession of LDCs adopted in  2002.  He further urged Members to refrain 
from imposing excessive demands on the acceding LDCs.  He referred to the discussion held in the General Council in October 2009 on the communica tion from the informal group of developing 
countries (WT/GC/W/611).  China supported the objectives and principles contained in that communication.  He believed that further discussion in the General Council on that communication 
would be complementary and supportive to the wo rk being carried out in the Sub-Committee.  He 
supported the proposal made by the representative of Tanzania to continue the dialogue with acceding 
LDCs in early 2010. 
23. The representative of Brazil
 attached great importance to the accession of all developing 
countries to the WTO, in particular the LDCs.  She thanked the Secretariat for the work done in 
favour of the acceding LDCs.  She expressed support to  the request made by the representative of 
Tanzania for continuation of the dialogue  with acceding LDCs sometime in 2010.   
24. The representative of Japan  thanked the Secretariat for its Report on the Dialogue.  He 
expressed support for the LDC Accession Guidelines;  those Guidelines should ensure early accession 
of LDCs to the WTO.  He noted the challenges faced by the acceding LDCs.  He believed that 
continued discussion on those challenges as well as other accession-related issues would ensure better 
results towards early accession of LDCs to the WTO.   
25. The representative of Lesotho  underlined the importance of speedy accession of LDCs to the 
WTO.  He extended support to further discuss th e issues of accession, including through another 
dialogue with acceding LDCs in 2010.  He stress ed that facilitating the accession of LDCs would 
make the WTO more inclusive and participatory.   The universality of WTO Membership would 
further strengthen the multilateral trading system. 
26. The Chairman  said that accession of LDCs had received special attention in the work of the 
Sub-Committee in 2009.  The Dialogue held in May 2009 had been able to help Members to better 
understand the concerns and challenges faced by th e LDCs in their accession process.  He hoped that 
the implementation of the Guidelines would be furthe r improved in future.  He was encouraged to see 
that a number of activities, including accession semina rs, had been envisaged in the coming months 
under the WTO's technical assistance and training Plan .  He looked forward to receiving feedback on 
those accession seminars.  He took note of the request made by the LDC Coordinator for the 
continuation of the dialogue with acceding LDCs in  2010.  He proposed that the Sub-Committee take 
note of the Report of the Dialogue contained in WT/COMTD/LDC/15 as well as of the statements made. 
27. It was so agreed.
 
- Round Table Statement on Least-developed Countries' Accessions, Phnom Penh, Kingdom of 
Cambodia (WT/COMTD/LDC/16)  
 
28. The Chairman  said that the Royal Government of Cambodia had organized a Round Table on 
LDCs' accessions in Phnom Penh from 28 to 29 September 2009.  The Statement from the Round 
Table had been circulated as WT/COMTD/LDC/16.   The Statement had also been issued as a 
document of the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference (WT/MIN(09)/1) and the General Council (WT/L/769).  An addendum to the Round Table Statem ent had also been issued recently, containing  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
 Page 7 
 
 
  the statement made by Cambodia on the Round Ta ble at the General Council meeting held on 
20 October 2009 (WT/COMTD/LDC/16/Add.1).3  He invited the delegation of Cambodia to 
introduce the outcome of the Round Table. 
29. The representative of Cambodia said that his Government had organized the Round Table to 
assist the current Coordinator of LDCs, Tanzania, to advance the cause of LDCs' accession.  The 
Round Table had been co-chaired by the Senior Mi nister of Cambodia, H.E Cham Prasidh, and the 
representative of Tanzania.  It had been attende d by representatives from most of the acceding LDCs 
as well as recently acceded LDCs.  International organizations represented at the Round Table 
included: the EIF Executive Secretariat, ITC, UNC TAD, UNDP, UNIDO, the World Bank and WTO.  
The Round Table was a follow-up to the Dialogue with acceding LDCs held on 28 May 2009.  It was 
also a part of the preparatory process to the Sixt h LDC Trade Ministers' meeting which took place in 
October 2009.  It had provided an  opportunity to the participants to exchange views on the accession 
process and the challenges faced by the acceding LDCs, and had come up with a number of recommendations to facilitate and accelerate the accession negotiations with the acceding LDCs.   
30. He said that accession to the WTO was a difficu lt and lengthy process.  Since the entry into 
force of WTO in 1995, only three LDCs – Cambodia,  Cape Verde and Nepal – had managed to join 
the organization.
4  Twelve LDCs were at different stages of their accession process;  they were facing 
enormous challenges due to a series of factors, including resource constraints, complicated accession processes, and excessive and unfair demands made by WTO Members.  He noted that Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement had give n complete power to the existing Members of the WTO to make 
demands from acceding countries.  That was the core problem in the delay in completing the 
accession negotiations.  He quoted from paragraph 42 of  the Doha Ministerial Declaration in which 
Ministers had stated that:  "Accession of LDCs remain s a priority for the Membership".  In addition, 
paragraph 59 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declar ation stressed the importance of facilitating and 
accelerating the accession negotiations of LDCs, taking due account of the Guidelines on LDC 
accession adopted in December 2002.  Despite thes e commitments, the situation of acceding LDCs 
had not improved.   
31. He went on to say that in order to respond to  the challenges faced by  the acceding LDCs and 
recently acceded LDCs, participants at the Round Ta ble:  (i) called for improved transparency on 
LDCs' accession;  (ii) urged Members to stri ctly respect the 2002 LDC Accession Guidelines;  
(iii) urged Members to give the Director-General th e mandate for an enhanced role as a facilitator and 
to present annual progress reports on LDCs' acce ssion to WTO Membership;  (iv) stressed the 
importance of technical assistance for acceding and recently acceded LDCs and urged all technical 
cooperation agencies to continue to provide targ eted technical assistance in favour of LDCs' 
accession;  (v) urged donors to continue to provide , on a sustained and predictable basis, technical 
assistance and other support as well as funding in cluding through multi-donor trust funds;  
(vi) reaffirmed the request made by the LDC Coordinator that the subject of LDCs' accession be 
placed on the agenda of the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference.  He said that the Sixth LDC Trade 
Ministers' meeting held from 14 to 16 October 2009 had fully endorsed the Round Table Statement, 
for consideration by the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference.  His delegation had made a statement 
at the General Council meeting held on 20 Octobe r 2009, in which a request was made for the 
Director-General of the WTO and the Chairman  of the General Council to establish a process 
whereby acceding LDCs and WTO Members could e ngage in a discussion to build on the Round 
Table.  He supported the request made by the LD C Coordinator for organizing another dialogue with 
acceding LDCs in the first part of 2010.   
                                                     
 
3 WT/MIN(09)/1/Add.1 and WT/L/769/Add.1  
4 Cape Verde graduated from the LDC status in 2007. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
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  32. The representative of Tanzania
, on behalf of the LDCs, welcomed the Round Table Statement 
on LDCs' Accessions held in Phnom Penh, Cambodi a, from 28 to 29 September 2009.  The Round 
Table had examined the issues, challenges and concerns raised by the acceding LDCs.  It had also acknowledged the Dialogue, facilitated by the Secretaria t, in May 2009.  He drew Members' attention 
to the major recommendations from the Round Table, namely:  improved transparency on LDCs' 
accession, and strict respect for the LDC Accession Gu idelines.  Those would best be served through 
a more constructive engagement between WTO Members and acceding LDCs.  He was of the view 
that the recommendations from the Round Table could be addressed, possi bly through another 
dialogue with acceding LDCs, as suggested by him u nder the previous item.  He emphasized the need 
for the enhanced role of the Director-General of  the WTO as a facilitator fo r LDCs' accession.  The 
Director-General should present annual progr ess reports on LDCs' accessions to the WTO 
Membership, starting with the Seventh Ministeria l Conference of the WTO.  He requested the 
Sub-Committee to endorse the recommendations from the Round Table so as to move forward the accession of LDCs to the WTO.   
33. The representative of Bangladesh
 associated himself with the statement made by the 
representative of Tanzania, on behalf of the LDCs.  He thanked the Secretariat for facilitating the 
Dialogue with the acceding LDCs held on 28 May 2009.  He expressed appreciation to the Royal 
Government of Cambodia for organizing the Round Ta ble.  He endorsed the suggestions made in the 
Round Table Statement, in particular the need  for annual progress reports on accessions by the 
Director-General to the General Council as well as  periodic informal dedicated sessions on accessions 
in the General Council.  He said that issues ar ising in LDC accessions should be included on the 
agenda of the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference.  He extended support to the request made by the 
LDC Coordinator for holding another dialogue with  acceding LDCs early next year.  He invited 
Members to engage with acceding LDCs in line with the steps suggested in the Round Table 
Statement.   
34. He noted that 40 per cent of acceding countries in the WTO were LDCs.  He recognized the 
difficulties faced by the acceding LDCs.  As a f ounding Member of the WTO, his Government was 
fortunate to have escaped the painful accession process.  There were specific Guidelines and 
Declarations to facilitate accession of LDCs.  As  an example, he quoted from paragraph 42 of the 
Doha Ministerial Declaration:  "accession of LDCs remains a priority for th e Membership.  We agree 
to work to facilitate and accelerate negotiations  with acceding LDCs".  He then quoted from 
paragraph 59 of the Hong Kong Minist erial Declaration:  "We stress the importance of facilitating and 
accelerating the accession negotiations of least-dev eloped countries, taking due account of the 
guidelines on LDC accession adopted by the Gene ral Council in December 2002".  He underscored 
the importance of the implementation of the commitments contained in the LDC Accession Guidelines as well as in the WTO Ministerial and other Declarations.  He regretted the fact that in the 
past 14 years, since the creation of the WTO, only three LDCs had acceded to the WTO and that one 
of them had already graduated from the LDC stat us.  That was not an encouraging sign.   
35. He recalled that the LDC Trade Ministers, at the Dar es Salaam meeting held in 
October 2009, had urged the adopti on of a binding mechanism to fast-track the accession of LDCs, 
based on faithful adherence to the letter and spirit  of the LDC Accession Guidelines.  They had also 
requested Members to avoid raising non-trade conc erns in the accession negotiations.  He requested 
Members to show adequate flexibility to the 12 LDCs  that were at various stages of their accession 
process.  He drew Members' as well as Secretariat' s attention to a provision in the Work Programme 
for the LDCs, and quoted:  "The Chairpersons of  LDCs' Accession Working Parties and the acceding 
LDCs shall be invited to brief the Sub-Comm ittee on progress made by the Working Parties in 
fulfilment of the Ministerial mandate".  He under lined the need for the implementation of this 
provision.  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
 Page 9 
 
 
  36. He said that the process and requirements of  accession were highly demanding, often beyond 
the capacity of acceding LDCs.  That was why Members needed to be more sympathetic to the special 
economic, trade and financial needs or instituti onal and administrative capacities of these acceding 
LDCs.  He underlined the importance of technical assistance and support for capacity building at all 
stages of the accession process.  He noted with a ppreciation that acceding LDCs had been receiving 
technical assistance and capacity building support from a number of agencies including from the EIF 
Executive Secretariat, ITC and UN CTAD.  He urged technical c ooperation agencies to strengthen 
their assistance to the acceding LD Cs.  At the same time, he underscored the need for LDCs' 
negotiating partners to demonstr ate adequate flexibility.   
37. The Chairman congratulated the Government of Cam bodia for organizing the Round Table.  
He hoped that Members would give due considera tion to the calls made by the LDCs, through the 
Round Table, for further improvement of the acces sion process of LDCs.  He invited acceding LDCs 
to keep the Sub-Committee informed of developmen ts in their accession process.  He also invited 
them to contact him in case they had any concern.  He would stay in touch with the LDC Coordinator 
in the coming months in order to work out the b est way to continue the dialogue with acceding LDCs 
and Members next year.  He proposed that th e Sub-Committee take note of the Round Table 
Statement contained in document WT/COMTD/LDC/ 16, its addendum as well as of the statements 
made. 
38. It was so agreed . 
(II) Market Access for Least-developed Countries 
- Market Access for Products and Services of Ex port Interest to Least-developed Countries 
(WT/COMTD/LDC/W/46)  
39. The Chairman  recalled that according to the Work Pr ogramme for the LDCs, the Secretariat 
had been preparing a document every year to f acilitate the annual review of market access for 
products originating from LDCs.  The note cont ained in document WT/COMTD/LDC/W/46 was the 
latest market access review by the Secretariat.  It provided an account of trends in LDC trade and 
analyzed the impact of the financial crisis on the LDCs.  He invited the Secretariat to introduce the 
Note. 
40. The representative of the Secretariat  said that the Note prep ared in 2009 gave special 
emphasis to the financial crisis and its impact on th e LDCs.  First, the Note looked at trends in LDC 
trade during 2000-2007/2008.  Second, it analyzed th e evolution of market access conditions for LDC 
exports in developed as well as developing country ma rkets.  Third, it examined the impact of the 
crisis on the LDCs.  Recent developments in market access initiatives for LDCs had also been 
included in the Note.   
41. He said that the value of LDC exports had grown by 35 per cent in 2008, while that of 
imports grew by 27 per cent.  The LDC exports, th erefore, had grown much faster than total world 
trade and had represented 1.1 per cent of world merc handise trade in 2008.  This was the first time, 
since the 1990s, that the share of LDCs in world merchandise trade had gone beyond 1 per cent.  This 
trend was explained by the oil exporting LDCs who se exports grew more than 45 per cent in 2008.  
There had also been an upward trend for other cate gories of LDC exporters.  The volume of exports of 
textiles and manufacturing products had also increased in 2008, but their prices had remained stagnant;  in some cases, prices had even declined .  He stressed that since 2006, the LDCs as a Group 
had been enjoying a surplus in trade in goods.  Th at surplus was mainly explained by the revenues 
generated by the oil exporting LDCs .  Exporters of other categories like minerals, agriculture and 
manufactures had continued to experien ce deficit in their trade balance. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
Page 10  
 
  42. He went on to say that the situation of the net food-importing developing countries (NFIDCs) 
was not encouraging.  The net food bill made up be tween 5 to 50 per cent of the trade deficit of 
NFIDCs.  He noted that food exports could be a major source of foreign exchange earnings.  
However, only a few LDCs were net food exporters and they did not necessarily enjoy overall positive trade balance.  For instance, in 2008, both Malawi and Zambia were net food exporters, but 
only Zambia had an overall positive trade balance.  He pointed out that trade in food and food 
products among developing  countries had been difficult to capture in  statistics, as much of the trade in 
these products was not registered at the border.  For instance, supply of livestock from one LDC to 
another neighbouring country had been a frequent  phenomenon.  However, no record of such 
transactions were systematically made at the border.   
43. The Note analyzed the major changes in LDC trade during the period 2000-2007/2008, with a 
view to better understanding the impact of the crisis  on the LDCs.  This analysis showed that all 
categories of LDC exporters had performed at par with  the world average or ab ove the world average.  
LDC exporters of oil and minerals recorded the fastest growth since 2000, with 28 and 24 per cent 
average annual growth rate, respectively.  This average was higher than the world average.  The 
annual average growth rate for the LDCs exporting mainly agricultural products was 14 per cent while 
the figure was 13 per cent for exporters of manufacture.  With regard to market destinations, he noted 
that LDCs had gained market share in the majority  of its export markets.  They had increased their 
presence in dynamic and emerging markets like China and India.  These results were also confirmed 
by the shift-share analysis (SSA). 
44. The Note used the SSA to understand the majo r trends in LDC expor ts during 2000-2007.  
This methodology confirmed that the LDCs had been  able to adapt their exports to the changing 
international environment.  In particular, they ha d gained market share in dynamic products (such as 
fuels and minerals).  As regards market destinati ons, LDCs were able to increase their presence in 
both traditional (Canada, Japan, the US) as well as dynamic markets (China, India).  He noted that the LDCs dependent on agricultural expor ts had begun to diversify their export base;  with the increase in 
the price of minerals, a number of agriculture –dependent LDCs, which ha d other natural resources 
like minerals, had been able to increase their exports  of minerals.  Exports of manufactures, mainly 
textiles and clothing, were conditioned by their intern ational prices, which had mostly been stagnant.  
The major market destinations for these products – developed markets – were also growing less than 
the world average.  However, LDCs as a Group did manage to gain market share of textile and 
clothing products in their traditional mark ets through increased competitiveness.   
45. He said that the crisis had hit the LDCs during a phase of particularly rapid growth of their 
exports of goods and services.  While the growth of  LDC exports had been higher in the pre-crisis 
period, the impact of the crisis had also been stronge r on them than the rest of the world.  The impact 
had not been evenly spread and had not affected a ll LDCs in the same manner.  The impact of the 
crisis on LDC exports was particularly perceptible  from September 2008, mainly due to the collapse 
of oil and commodity prices which had dropped by more than 40 per cent during the last quarter of 
2008, and had remained depressed during the first quar ter of 2009.  The exports of LDCs, as a Group, 
were particularly affected by this strong price correction effect due to the fact that fuel and minerals weighed heavily in their total exports.  Exporters of  agricultural and food products in the crisis period 
were less affected, since demand for food products had been less elastic.  The situation with the exporters of manufactures was mixed.  For instance,  Bangladesh had registered positive growth of its 
woven and knitwear exports in its 2008-2009 fiscal year.  Specialization in the low end of the market 
might have contributed in this outcome.  He said th at there had been a rebound in the prices of fuel as 
well as other commodities since the first quarter of 2009.  For instance, prices of coffee, sugar and 
cocoa had gone up in the second quarter of 2009 while  that of cereals, rice, wheat and corn had 
registered a decline.  He underlined the limitations  of availability of mont hly and complete data on 
LDC trade.  The preliminary data indicated that the overall LDC exports had been recuperating during 
the second quarter of 2009.    WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
 Page 11 
 
 
  46. He said that market access conditions for LDC e xports had not seen a major change since the 
previous report by the Secretariat.  There had been limited progress in the extension of duty-free 
quota-free (DFQF) market access for LDC products .  In 2007, on average (weighted), the LDCs 
benefited from preferential duty-free treatment on 91 per cent of the dutiable MFN tariff lines in 
developed country markets while the figure was 67  per cent for developing country markets.  He 
recognized that the non-reciprocal preferences granted to the LDCs  had had an impact on exports 
from LDCs.  Finally, he said that information on the implementation of the Hong Kong Decision on DFQF market access to LDCs had also been included in the Note.    
47. The representative of Tanzania
, on behalf of the LDCs, thanked the Secretariat for its Note 
which contained comprehensive information on LDCs' tr ade.  The focus on the impact of the global 
economic crisis on LDCs' trade was a timely one.  He also appreciated the way the Secretariat had 
been preparing this document on an  annual basis.  This helped LD Cs better understand the trends in 
LDC trade as well as market access conditions faced by their exporters.   
48. He noted that the structure of LDC exports ha d not changed.  The share of LDCs in world 
trade remained dismally low.  The export base of  LDCs remained narrow.  Most of the LDCs had 
been relying on two to three export products.  The productive capacity in the LDCs had also not seen 
real transformations.  He hoped that initiatives such  as EIF and Aid for Trade would help diversify the 
LDCs' export base and improve their participation in world trade.  
49. He was encouraged that market destinations  for LDC exports were being diversified.  
Developing countries had accounted for nearly half of LDC exports in 2007.  He, however, expressed 
concern over the composition of LDC exports to developing country markets, which was limited to 
basic raw materials and commodities.  The challenge  for the LDCs was to move up the value chain 
and thereby earn more revenues from their exports.  He also pointed out that the LDCs had not been 
able to diversify their exports to developed countr y markets.  They were relying heavily on the EU 
and the US markets, and were exporting only a handf ul of products which included fish and fish 
products, agricultural products a nd textile and clothing items. 
50. He noted that LDC exports, overall, had exhibite d good trends in the past few years.  This 
was largely due to the weight of oil and commodity exporters in the total exports of LDCs.  He said 
that only a handful of LDCs had been exporters of oil and minerals which experienced a rapid growth 
of their exports in the past few years.  However,  the benefits from such exports did not necessarily 
accrue to these LDCs as a major chunk of revenues was retained by the foreign i nvestors in this area.  
He expressed concern that LDC exporters of agri cultural products did not see an increase in their 
trade performance during the period 2000 to 2007.   
51. He went on to say that international trade ha d been severely affected due to the current 
economic and financial crisis.  WTO forecasts for 2009 indicated a decrease of world trade by 10 per cent.  The LDCs were not spared from the adverse impact of the crisis.  It did put a brake on the rapidly expanding exports from LDCs.  The impact was stronger on LDCs compared to the world 
average, especially during the period September 2008 till the middle of 2009.  Although the LDCs 
had started to recover from the crisis from the second quarter of 2009, it would take a while for 
exports to pick up and come back to the pre-crisis tr ends.  He noted that other than a few oil exporters, 
most of the LDCs had been experiencing a negative trade balance.  This trade deficit had been large 
for exporters of agricultural products.  The pictur e was also bleak for the LDCs dependent on services 
exports.  While some categories of services exports had shown resilience in times of the crisis, the 
tourism sector had been severely affected by it.  This sector was of critical importance to several 
LDCs.  The Note indicated that due to thrift in consumption in developed countries, LDCs depending 
on tourism would continue to face challenges in the months ahead.  He hoped that the international 
community would redouble its efforts to help the LD Cs recover from the crisis and to better integrate 
into the global economy. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
Page 12  
 
  52. He noted that market access conditions for LD C exports to developed country markets had 
been improving.  Nearly all developed countries met the threshold of providing DFQF market access for at least 97 per cent of products originating from LDCs.  However, some Members needed to fully 
implement the DFQF Decision taken at the Hong K ong Ministerial Conference in 2005.  He hoped 
that WTO Members would fully implement that Decision on a priority basis.  This was one of the 
elements of an early harvest that the LDC Tr ade Ministers had called upon the Membership to 
achieve, through their Dar es Salaam Declaration.  The other area of importance to LDCs in the 
ongoing DDA negotiations was to secure a waiver deci sion for according special priority to LDCs in 
services trade.  He stressed that enhanced mark et access opportunities, both in goods and services, 
were needed to make a difference to LDC trade.  He hoped that WT O Members would make their best 
efforts to ensure meaningful and e ffective market access for LDC products. 
53. The representative of Bangladesh
 thanked the Secretariat for its high quality Note on market 
access issues for LDCs, which had been prepared in  accordance with the mandate of the WTO Work 
Programme for the LDCs.  He encouraged the Secretariat to keep up its praiseworthy efforts.  He associated himself with the statement made by Tanzania, on behalf of the LDCs.  He said that 
meaningful market access for products of export inte rest to LDCs was key for their integration into 
the global trading system.  The participation of LDCs in global merchandise trade had increased to 
1.1 per cent in 2008, although this share declined to 0.85 per cent in the first half of 2009.  The main export destinations of LDCs remained the EU and the US covering 28 per cent and 26 per cent of 
LDCs' exports, respectively.  The recent increase in S outh-South trade was welcome.  In this regard, 
he suggested that the future versions of the re port should show in greater detail the composition of 
LDC exports to developing country markets.  He  noted that duty-free market access to developing 
countries, in general, was due to the eliminati on of tariffs under the most-favoured-nation (MFN) 
treatment rather than an extension of true preferential treatment.  Compared to the treatment received by all developing countries, the margin of pr eference for LDCs was si gnificant in the case of 
agricultural products.  He pointed out that most of his country's garment exports to the US had been 
facing high tariffs.  That was why his delegation ha d been emphasizing on the need for DFQF market 
access for all products from all LDCs. 
54. He took the opportunity to thank developed as well as developing Members that had already 
granted DFQF market access to the LDCs, and more importantly without linking it to progress in the 
Doha Round of negotiations.  He said that almost four years had elapsed since the Decision on DFQF 
market access to the LDCs had been taken by Me mbers at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.  
Only one developed Member of the WTO had not implemented that Decision.  That Member had also 
not provided information on the prod uct coverage that would enjoy DFQF market access.  He urged 
Members to implement the Hong Kong Decision on DFQF market access to the LDCs without further delay.  He also requested Members to delink th e implementation of the DFQF Decision from progress 
in the Doha Round.  In fact, a number of Me mbers had already done so demonstrating their 
commitment to the LDCs.  He also underlined the importance of making progress in the area of 
preferential rules of origin.  In this regard, Member s needed to intensify their dialogue with the LDCs 
to come up with an outcome so that rules of orig in associated with preference schemes could facilitate 
exports from LDCs.   
55. He agreed with the observation made in the Note that the expansion of the continued 
preferential treatment to LDCs, including the impl ementation of the Hong Kong Ministerial Decision 
on DFQF market access to the LDCs could contribute  to the deepening and diversification of LDCs' 
global trade.  Rapid conclusion of the Doha Round of negotiations, along with adequate Aid for Trade 
targeted to address supply-side limitations, would help  LDCs overcome the present crisis.  In addition, 
trade finance with easy terms was also vital. 
56. The Note highlighted the importance of comme rcial services exports for many LDCs.  For 
instance, tourism receipts were an important sour ce of income for a number of LDCs.  The current  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
 Page 13 
 
 
  crisis severely affected the revenues derived fro m this service sector.  He said that since LDCs' 
merchandise exports had a limited base, it was in services trade that they had been looking for 
enhanced opportunities.  As the contribution of the services sector to the GDP was more than 
50 per cent in many LDCs, there was potential in the global trade in services.  He regretted the fact 
that the participation of LDCs in global trade in services had been minimal.  That was why a 
breakthrough in services negotiations, including through the implementation of special modalities for 
the LDCs in services was critical.  He outlined three key issues that w ould need to be addressed in the 
services negotiations, namely:  (i) roadmap for granting a waiver to allow specia l priority to LDCs in 
services trade;  (ii) effective response to LDCs' co llective request on mode 4 (JOB(06)/155);  and 
(iii) adequate flexibilities for LDCs in deve loping disciplines on domestic regulation.  
57. The representative of the United States  said that the Note provide d valuable insights on export 
performance of the LDCs.  She appreciated the effo rts of the Secretariat in preparing the Note and 
found that many sections of the Note had made a valu able contribution to the literature in this area.  
She appreciated the points made in paragraphs  22 and 23 (page 10, English version) which 
highlighted the geographical redistribution of LD C trade flows, with LDC exports to developing 
countries expanding, particularly to major developi ng economies such as China and India.  While her 
delegation was pleased to see this increase in South- South trade, it appeared from the Note that the 
majority of LDC exports to major developing economi es continued to be commod ities, destined to be 
used as inputs, rather than finished goods.   
58. She noted from paragraph 42 (page 21, English vers ion) that the weighted average tariff faced 
by LDCs in developing countries in 2006 was nearly  12 per cent, and that only 30 per cent of their 
agricultural exports were imported duty free, while  the remaining agricultural exports faced an 
average tariff of 26 per cent.  She agreed with th e Secretariat's conclusion made in paragraph 42 and 
quoted from that paragraph:  "this situation illustrates the wide dispersion of tariffs facing South-South trade, and the potential for improvi ng LDCs' market access in developing countries". 
59. She went on to say that there was clearly a strong incentive for LDCs to pursue a 
market-opening outcome in the Doha Round of nego tiations which could ensure new trade flows for 
LDC exports – to include their finished and value- added goods – into advan ced developing countries.  
The need for LDC exporters to gain market a ccess into advanced developing countries would only 
increase over time.  According to the IMF, 58 pe r cent of global economic growth between now and 
2014 would be provided by Argentina, Brazil, China, India, South Africa and the ASEAN countries.  She said that with the increasing market influence of  advanced developing countries, there was not a 
simplistic "North – South" dichotomy to the current  dynamics in the negotiations.  While the LDCs 
had been enjoying broad market access to develope d countries, they would stand to gain significant 
new market access in these emerging economi es, particularly for value–added goods.   This could only 
happen if these economies made meaningful market  access contributions in the ongoing Doha Round.   
60. With respect to the points made on pages 17 and 18 of the Note (English version), concerning 
"market access conditions facing LDC exports in selected developed countries", she said that her 
delegation was of the view that there was a rep eated and misleading reference to "actual duty-free 
treatment".  The Note included a brief explanation th at this term meant the fraction of the value of 
imports from LDCs in lines that were covered by LDC preferences, which could be more accurately 
characterized as "potential duty-free treatment".   However, in the discussion on market access 
conditions it was not clear that "actual duty-free treatment" did not mean the portion of trade that 
actually received duty-free treatment.  This clarifica tion needed to be emphasized in the report, and 
there was a need to further discuss the portion of trade that actually received duty-free treatment.  
There was also a passing mention on page 16 (Englis h version) that the actual rate of preference 
utilization could be as low as 40 per cent for product s such as textiles and clothing, due to factors 
including rules of origin.  However, this point was made separately from the main discussion, and was 
not reflected in the subsequent tables.  This overs ight had resulted in the table data showing some WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
Page 14  
 
  preference programmes as more liberal than they were in reality as they had in fact low "actual duty–
free treatment", possibly due to rules of origin requirements. 
61. She expressed concern with the points made  on pages 25 and 26 (English version) with 
respect to the section on "Implementation of th e Hong Kong Ministerial Decision on DFQF Market 
Access to LDCs".  She said that she would submit so me specific text-based changes to this section as 
her delegation considered those changes necessary.   She suggested that paragraph 49 (page 25, 
English version) of the Note be split into two pa ragraphs in order to separate the Hong Kong DFQF 
Decision, which encompassed agri culture as well as non-agriculture products, from the NAMA LDC 
text.  Additionally, she felt that the reference to convergence on "market access for LDCs" was vague 
as currently reflected in the Note.  In this regard, she requested that the actual paragraphs contained in 
the December 2008 NAMA modalities text be specified into the revised version of the Note.  She 
pointed out that the wording of paragraph 50 of the Note (page 25, English version) could suggest that 
the latest NAMA modalities text supported the LDC position, in particular that developed country 
Members should provide information on the 97 per cent coverage under DFQF access by the time Members submitted their draft schedule of concessions.  She requested that the phrase "In this regard" 
be deleted from paragraph 50 and be replaced by "However".  She al so requested the Secretariat to 
delete the phrase "Furthermore" from paragraph 50.  In  addition, the Note needed to be revised to 
reflect accurately the actual rules of origin language from the latest NAMA modalities text.   
62. With respect to paragraph 52 (page 26, English ve rsion), she said that the Note did not reflect 
the level of intense controversy that still prev ailed concerning the expansion of the list of 
disproportionately affected countries to include Bangladesh and Cambodia, in particular the strong 
objections raised by the African LDCs.  To better re flect the actual status of the discussion on that 
issue, as well as to incorporate the Chair's own characterization of the current state of play, she 
requested that the last sentence of this paragra ph be modified as per the following formulation:  
"However, several Members objected to the expansi on of the group of 'disproportionately affected 
countries'.  The December 2008 text thus represente d what the NAMA Chairman believed to be the 
'landing zones', but the solution has not been agreed".  
63. She indicated that some technical corrections were required with respect to Annex Table 3 
(page 40, English version), regarding the descripti on of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, 
which had been mislabelled.  The "coverage/mar gin of preference" information also required 
modification.  In addition, footnotes "e" and "g" of  Annex Table 3, required updates based on current 
legislation and countries covered by the AGOA.  Finally, she proposed that, considering the on-going 
work in the Sub-Committee on LDC accessions, it would be  beneficial if the 2010 report could review 
the market access changes experi enced by LDCs, such as Cambodia and Nepal, prior to and since 
their accession to the WTO.  
64. The representative of Zambia
 thanked the Secretariat for its comprehensive report which, 
inter alia, highlighted market access initiativ es adopted in favour of LDCs.  He associated himself 
with the statement made by Tanzania, on behalf of the LDCs.  He thanked Members for keeping this 
item under regular review.  He expressed apprecia tion to Members that had granted DFQF market 
access to the LDCs, in response to the calls by LD Cs in the current Round of negotiations.  A number 
of Members continuously supported the develo pment of LDCs, including through progressive 
improvements in their preferential market access schemes  in favour of LDCs.  He welcomed the full 
implementation of the EC's EBA scheme since Oct ober 2009, as well as the full integration of the 
DFQF market access scheme by Switzerland for al l products from all LDCs as of September 2009.  
He welcomed the efforts being made by the devel oping countries to grant DFQF market access to the 
LDCs.  The recent extension of the waiver which would allow the developing country Members to 
continue to provide preferential tariff treat ment to LDC products on a non-MFN-basis would  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
 Page 15 
 
 
  encourage the developing countries to  adopt preferential schemes for LDCs.5  In this regard, he 
underscored the need to explore the potentials of South-South cooperation, specially in view of the fact that most of the developing countries had been producing similar goods.   
65. He said that the LDCs had a high export con centration, and thus remained vulnerable to 
external shocks.  The current global economic  environment created great concerns over the 
diversification prospects of LDCs.  He noted from Box 1 (page 14, English version) of the document 
that the manufacture exporters suffered from a ba d positioning in both products and markets as 
international prices for manufactures had only grown slowly and these products were mainly exported 
to developed markets which had been growing less than world average.  He further noted from 
paragraph 30 (page 15, English vers ion) of the document that there had been virtually no progress in 
duty-free access for the LDCs, as a Group, since 2004.  He felt that this statement might not be 
accurate as some progress had recently been registered  in the area of market access for LDCs.  For 
instance, the full integration of rice and sugar unde r the EC's EBA initiative had been achieved as of 
October 2009.  The DFQF market access for all pr oducts from all LDCs had been implemented by 
Switzerland as of September 2009.  In addition, many developed countries had provided total or 
nearly total duty-free status to LDC exports in 2007, which included Australia, Canada, Japan, New 
Zealand and Norway.  Developing countries like China and India had also undertaken enhanced 
market access schemes for LDCs.  The African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) had been 
further extended.  In view of all these developmen ts, paragraph 30 should be  appropriately revised.  
He then made an observation on Table 3 of the Note  (page 16, English version) concerning trends in 
tariff treatment of merchandise impor ts by developed countries.  He suggested that it would be more 
useful for Members to see the trends in duty-fr ee treatment of LDC exports for agriculture and non-
agriculture products in broad terms, before disaggr egating into specific products as provided in that 
Table.  In addition, it would be useful if the Se cretariat could provide sta tistics on industrial products, 
other than textiles and clothing, so as to assess th e extent of diversification with regard to 
manufactured products.  He sought a clarification with respect to paragraph 38 (page 17, English 
version) of the Note.  The first sentence of that pa ragraph stated that the actual duty-free treatment for 
agricultural exports was much higher than the total coverage considering all agricultural tariff lines, 
with or without imports from LDCs.  He asked the Se cretariat to explain whether it meant tariff lines 
covered were higher than actual trade.  He requested  the Secretariat to illustrate the paragraph in its 
revised version. 
66. He underscored the need to depict LDC tr ade in developed country markets, under 
preferences as well as under MFN, separately so that the differences in trade under MFN and 
preference schemes could be assessed.  Similarly, in case of developing countries, there was a need to make a distinction between products traded at zero per cent MFN duty and those traded with 
preferential tariff treatment.  Referring to Table 7 of the Note (page 22, English version), he requested 
that information on China's and India's tariff regim es be covered in a comprehensive manner in view 
of the schemes maintained by them  for the LDCs.  He noted from paragraph 47 of the Note (page 25, 
English version) that the authorities of Brazil were  examining the legal and administrative steps to 
provide preferential treatment to LDCs.  In this re gard, he requested an update from the delegation of 
Brazil on the latest developments.  In conclusion, he said that future reports on this topic should 
include information on the steps taken by the trading part ners of LDCs to simplify their rules of origin 
criteria associated with preference schemes.  He stressed that all elements of the Hong Kong Decision 
on DFQF market access to the LDCs should be  followed up in a comprehensive manner. 
67. The representative of the European Communities
 thanked the Secretariat for its Note, which 
provided useful information and factual material on market access issues for LDCs.  Her delegation 
had found the section on the impact of the crisis on LDCs interesting and relevant.  She encouraged 
Members to make use of the information cont ained in the Note beyond the work of the 
                                                      
5 The waiver extension is contained in WT/L/759. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
Page 16  
 
  Sub-Committee.  She welcomed the fact that th e share of LDCs in world merchandise trade had 
reached 1.1 per cent in 2008;  this share had do ubled compared to the share of LDCs in world 
merchandise trade in 1998.  She also took note of the fact that this expansion in trade was mainly due 
to the positive evolution of commodity prices.   
68. The Note mostly contained aggregate figures on LDC trade.  The weight of the largest LDC 
exporters, mainly the oil exporters, in total LDC trade had masked the heterogeneity of individual 
country performances within the group.  She wonde red whether the analysis of LDC trade could be 
done separately for the non–oil exporting LDCs.  She al so suggested that the situation of the LDC net 
food–importers be better integrated into future editi ons of the Note or in the revised version of the 
present Note.  She was encouraged to see that the market destinations for LDC exports were being 
increasingly diversified;  China had become one of the three main destinations for LDC exports.  On 
the other hand, LDC export products remained hi ghly concentrated.  Almost three quarters of LDC 
merchandise exports depe nded on only three products.  That was a great source of vulnerability for 
the LDCs.   
69. She noted the results from the SSA, which showed that LDCs had improved their capacity to 
adapt to market changes.  She would welcome furthe r analysis in this regard.  The Note showed the 
potential for improvement of LDCs' market access in some developed countries as well as in emerging developing countries.  It rightly pointed ou t that as of 1 October 2009, all products from all 
LDCs had been entering the EU market duty and quota free under the EBA initiative.  As of 1 October 2009, the transitional restrictions for rice and sugar had lapsed.  She added that in 
preparation of the G-20 Summit held in Pittsburgh  (Pennsylvania) in Se ptember 2009, the EU had 
invited other G-20 Members to adopt initiatives like EBA without delay to support the LDCs in the 
present crisis.  Adoption of such schemes would al so be opportune in view of the fourth UN 
Conference on LDCs to be held in 2011, which would, inter alia,  look at the implementation of the 
Brussels Programme of Action for the LDCs for the Decade 2001-2010.   
70. She had specific comments and questions on some  of the data contained in the Note, which 
she intended to take up bilaterally with the Secr etariat.  She shared the remarks made by the 
representative of Zambia on Table 7 (page 22, Eng lish version) concerning tariff treatment of LDC 
exports in selected developing country markets;  si nce information on preference schemes adopted by 
developing countries for LDCs had been limited, she invited the developing countries to provide data, 
preferably on tariff–line level, as well as other rele vant information to the WTO Secretariat so that 
Table 7 could be more complete in  future versions of the Note.  She was interested to know how 
many LDCs had sent applications to access the DFQF scheme adopted by India.  She also enquired as 
to when Brazil intended to complete its examinati on of providing DFQF market access to LDCs.  She 
wished to know whether China had any plan to fu rther open up its market for LDCs, including in the 
area of agriculture.  She looked forward to continue d interaction with the Secretariat and Members on 
this subject.  
71. The representative of India
 made a couple of remarks on the contents of the Note.  With 
respect to recent trends in LDC trade, he noted  that the document covered data up until the end of 
2008.  However, LDC exports had decl ined drastically after that period;  some studies had indicated a 
decline of exports by 43.8 per cent in the first ha lf of 2009 compared to that of 2008.  These studies 
had also looked at the impact of the crisis on the social sector, which revealed huge employment 
losses in the LDCs.  These trends could have been be tter reflected in the Note.  He further noted from 
the document that LDC commodity exporters, includi ng oil and mineral exporters, had been enjoying 
some natural comparative advantage.  He argue d that in the case of oil and minerals, the only 
comparative advantage was provided by the nature and their production and exports did not require 
inputs other than investment and technology.  He also noted that exporters of manufactures suffered 
from stagnant or low increase in prices.  In this re gard, the Note did not elaborate on some of the more 
determining factors, such as high price of inputs  as well as high transportation costs, which affected  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
 Page 17 
 
 
  the global competition in manufactured products.  A combination of these factors had led to the 
closure of many factories in developing countries incl uding in the LDCs.  He suggested that the next 
version of the document provide an analysis of the performance of the industrial sector in the LDCs.  
It would be important to see how the output from LDCs' industrial sector had been featuring in the 
domestic, regional and global markets.  He thanke d the representative of Zambia for pointing out the 
market access initiative undertaken by  India in favour of LDCs.  India adopted the Duty Free Tariff 
Preference scheme for all LDCs in April 2008.  The scheme had met with encouraging response;  
18 LDCs had already signed on to it.  He looked forward to the involvement of all LDCs in the 
scheme. 
72. The representative of Lesotho  associated himself with the statement made by Tanzania, on 
behalf of the LDCs.  The LDCs had been hit ha rd by the ongoing economic and financial crisis.  
Exports of goods and services from LDCs had been adve rsely affected.  The impact of the crisis was 
much deeper on the LDCs than on other developing countries.  Foreign Direct  Investment (FDI) had 
slowed down.  Overseas Development Assistance (ODA) had been affected, mainly due to 
fluctuations in exchange rates.  Remittance flows to LDCs had also declined as a result of the global 
recession.   
73. He went on to say that the Note provided a good framework to continue pursuing the issues 
relating to market access for LDC products.  His delegation would scrutinize the paper further and 
would continue to reflect on it.  He cautioned against the achievements that had been mentioned in the 
Note.  The Note provided aggregate statistics on LD C trade, which had masked the heterogeneity in 
individual trade performance.  The good performance of  LDCs had been highly concentrated in a few 
oil and mineral exporting LDCs, which represented a small percentage of the LDC Group.  He also 
cautioned against undue emphasis on DFQF market access for LDCs, as there existed other hurdles in the area of market access.  For instance, non-tariff m easures faced by LDC export s, including rules of 
origin, needed urgent and adequate attention;   market access opportunities would only then be 
meaningful to the LDCs.  He underlined the importance of promoting South-South trade, including 
regional integration.  He also put emphasis on private sector development in the LDCs.   
74. The representative of China
 expressed appreciation to the Secretariat for its comprehensive 
document, which provided Members with an update d picture of market access conditions for LDC 
products.  The document had assumed particular impor tance in view of the financial crisis.  The 
section in the Note entitled "the LDCs and the global financial crisis" was, therefore, a timely one.  
Exports had been playing a paramount role in the LD Cs, especially in genera ting revenues.  However, 
they remained vulnerable in global trade, mainly  due to export concentration which had been a 
structural characteristic of LDC economies.  He agre ed with the point made in the Note that although 
the short-term indicators might suggest that the worst of the crisis was over, the effects of the crisis 
might last long.  The uncertainty in global trad e and other challenges were looming large for the 
LDCs.  He underlined the importance of providing ad equate attention to the challenges faced by the 
LDCs in this unprecedented crisis, recognizing the fact that Members had been preoccupied with 
solving their respective domestic problems.  He reite rated the commitment of China to work with the 
LDCs to achieve common development.   
75. He continued by saying that unlike the previous  two reports, his delegation did not have any 
specific comments or suggestions on the current Note, which reflected the hard work by the 
Secretariat.  He then made some general remarks on the Note.  His delegation felt comfortable with 
the conclusion drawn from the SSA that the LDCs  had been gaining market share in the Chinese 
market.  China had absorbed 24 per cent of LDC exports in 2007.  These performances of LDCs well 
reflected the efforts made by China in promoting trad e relations with them in the past decades.  He 
took the opportunity to inform Members that the 4th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on 
China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) would be held  in Egypt from 8 to 9 November 2009.  China 
attached great importance to this event at which its delegation would be led by WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
Page 18  
 
  Prime Minister Mr. Wen Jiabao.  The purpose of th is Conference was to evaluate the implementation 
of achievements of the Beijing Su mmit held in 2006, and to work out the blueprint for China-Africa 
cooperation in various fields for the next three year s, with a view to consolidating and strengthening 
the relationship between China and African countri es, which included the majority of LDCs.  His 
delegation would provide a summary of the 4
th Ministerial Conference of the FOCAC, to the 
Sub-Committee as well as to the CTD in due course.   
76. He underlined the importance of the DDA to the LDCs.  His delegation remained firmly 
committed to ensuring that the specific concerns of LDCs were addressed comprehensively and 
expeditiously.  He welcomed the Dar es Salaam Declaration adopted by LDC Trade Ministers in 
October 2009.  He extended full support to the calls ma de by the LDCs through that Declaration.  He 
shared the sense of urgency for concluding the D oha Round of negotiations.  It was more compelling 
for the legitimate concerns of the LDCs.  He recogni zed the role of developing countries in the Doha 
Round of negotiations.  However, the develope d Members should fulfil their commitments in 
achieving the development objectives of the Round.  He  stressed that specific issues, such as DFQF 
market access for LDC products, Aid for Trade and cotton should be properly addressed in the final 
outcome of the Doha Round of negotiations. 
77. The representative of Japan  thanked the Secretariat for its comprehensive Note.  With regard 
to the NFIDCs, he wished to know the countri es from where the LDC net food importers had been 
importing food and food products.  As regards the DFQF market access to the LDCs, Japan had 
already complied with the Hong Kong Decision as of 2007.  He sought more information on the 
developments in the Aid-for-Trade initiative, in particular following the Global Review of Aid for 
Trade held in July 2009.  
78. The representative of Rwanda  associated himself with the statement made by Tanzania, on 
behalf of the LDCs.  He commended the Secretar iat for its study, which highlighted the positive 
trends in LDC trade, in particular in some sector s such as fuels and textiles and clothing.  However, 
the current economic and financia l crisis had reversed the pos itive trends.  The LDCs, where 
manufacturing capacity was weak and where services sectors were not developed, were facing a 
difficult time.  Development of the manufacturing sector in times of crisis was thwarted as the required investment and technolog y were not forthcoming.   
79. Since 2000, many LDCs, including Rwanda, had undertaken substantive macroeconomic 
reforms, intended to create a conducive environment for economic growth and trade.  As a result, a 
number of LDCs had seen a positive response from donor s including in the area of trade development 
and in achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).  He underscored the importance of 
maintaining, and even strengthening, this mome ntum of cooperation show n by the development 
partners.  This was critical to address the adverse impacts of the current financial crisis.  In this context, he urged Members to make initiatives su ch as Aid for Trade and the EIF successful.  He 
stressed that Aid for Trade and EIF had the potenti al to assist LDCs in developing their supply-side 
capacity and building infrastructure.  A clear roadma p, along with effective monitoring and evaluation 
mechanism, would bring maximum results from the Aid-for-Trade initiative.   
80. He noted that LDCs had been mainstreaming tr ade into their national development strategies, 
including to benefit from the EIF process.  He, how ever, expressed concern that the contributions to 
the EIF Trust Fund had been low, which at present stood somewhere between US$60 to 70 million.  That amount was intended to assist all the 49 LDCs.  He pointed out that US$1 or 2 million per LDC 
would not be able to sufficiently support their trade development, particularly in building 
manufacturing capacity.  He called upon development partners to take stock of the progress in the 
implementation of the EIF and to contribute generous ly to the EIF Trust Fund.  He requested the EIF 
donors to continue championing the programme so that  other donors were encouraged to contribute to 
the EIF.    WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
 Page 19 
 
 
  81. He underlined the importance of diversifica tion of export products as well as market 
destinations in order to raise the share of LDCs in  world trade.  Diversification of the market base 
could also come through strengthening regional integr ation, including by taking advantage of new 
initiatives undertaken by Brazil, China and India.  In this regard, improvements in productivity were 
critical so that the LDCs could export products with value addition.  The LDCs also needed to make 
improvements in the area of trade facilitation.  He  emphasized the need for the LDCs to develop 
capacity to meet standards in their export markets.  
82. He informed Members that Rwanda was in th e process of updating its DTIS.  The trade policy 
of his Government was being reformed;  a review of export strategies had also been undertaken with 
the help of ITC, UNCTAD and UNIDO.  He hope d that towards the end of 2009, his authorities 
would be able to finalize the DTIS update while work on export strategies would be completed by the 
middle of 2010.  These exercises would allow his country to develop several trade projects which could be submitted to the development partners for their support.  His Government had put in place 
measures to facilitate investment and business in th e country.  In fact, the recent World Bank Doing 
Business report had ranked Rwanda as one of th e top reformers of business regulations.  In 
conclusion, he stressed the importance of conc luding the Doha Round of negotiations as soon as 
possible.  That would further boost his country's efforts to integrate into the global economy.  
83. The representative of Canada
 expressed appreciation for the informative report of the 
Secretariat.  Her delegation would welcome an update with respect to the progress on a waiver 
mechanism for LDCs in services trade, and any ot her relevant information in this regard;  she 
expressed concern over the lack of transparen cy concerning the discussion on this subject. 
84. The representative of the Secretariat  took note of all the remarks.  He would try to incorporate 
those in the revised version of the Note.  He said  that the Note provided a broader picture of LDCs' 
trade.  He took note of the suggestion to provide more detailed information on individual LDC trade, 
given the fact that oil was overshadowing the tr ade performance of LDCs, as a Group.  He reminded 
Members of the difficulty to obtain disaggregate stat istics on LDC trade.  He informed Members that 
the Secretariat would be presenting a document en titled "Participation of De veloping Economies in 
the Global Trading System", at the next meeting of the CTD and many of the questions asked at this 
meeting, including the relation betw een LDCs and other developing c ountries, would be answered in 
that document.6   
85. Each year, the Secretariat focused on specific t opics in preparing the Note.  This year, the 
focus had been on the impact of the crisis on the LDCs.  In the previous year, the Secretariat had 
focussed on the situation of LDCs in agricultural and food trade.  Issues relating to preference erosion 
and rules of origin had also been addressed in th e past editions of the Note.  He underlined the 
limitations of data on preference utilization, since information had been limited on the actual 
treatment received by the LDCs.  As a result, th e Secretariat, in its past papers, had presented 
examples of utilization of some preference schemes based  on partial information.  That could also be 
done in preparing the next review on this topic.  He also sought understanding from Members that not 
all issues relating to market access for LDCs could be accommodated in one single document.  With regard to incomplete information on preferential schemes granted by developing countries, he said 
that efforts were being made to close the time-lag in  obtaining the data.  In this regard, an important 
decision was taken by the Committee on Market Access on 13 July 2009, which would improve the 
quality of the database.  A number of other initiatives were also being taken in the WTO to improve 
availability of data on the trade coverage of deve loping countries.  The tr ansparency mechanism for 
all RTAs adopted by Members in 2006 could contribu te in this regard.  He hoped to have a better 
statistical coverage of LDC trade in  future versions of the Note.   
                                                     
 
6 The document had been issued as WT/COMTD/W/172. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
Page 20  
 
  86. The representative of Tanzania
 informed Members that the work on the services waiver had 
advanced, under the leadership of Norway.  That  work would soon be shared with the entire 
Membership.  A report on the discussions concerni ng the establishment of a waiver for LDCs in 
services trade would be made at the Council for Trad e in Services (Special Session) scheduled for the 
middle of November 2009, following which the entire me mbership would be able to take it forward.  
87. The Chairman  noted that Members had been attaching high importance to the Note, prepared 
by the Secretariat every year.  Some positive mess ages on LDCs' overall trade performance, contained 
in the Note, needed to be treated with caution.  For instance, petroleum exports had been benefiting 
only a limited number of LDCs.  Many LDCs were  exporting products with low-value addition.  
Diversification of LDCs' export base continued to be a major challenge.   
88. He noted the rise in the share of LDCs in  world merchandise trade, which had reached 
1.1 per cent in 2008.  At the same time, the destin ations of LDC exports were becoming diversified.  
Developing countries had absorbed half of LDC expo rts in 2007, which reflected the potentials of 
South-South trade.  There had been progress in the implementation of the Decision on DFQF market 
access for the LDCs adopted at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in 2005.  He noted the full 
implementation of EC's EBA initiative as well as of the Swiss scheme on DFQF market access to the 
LDCs.   
89. The LDCs had been hard hit by the crisis.  Th e impact of the crisis had been uneven among 
the LDCs.  There were some signs of recovery in recent months for the commodity exporters.  However, LDCs remained highly vulnerable to external  shocks.  Therefore, efforts to further improve 
market access for LDC products shoul d continue.  He noted that the majority of LDCs were suffering 
from large external deficits, which had increased thei r vulnerability in times of crisis.  Developing 
countries including LDCs had an overall agricultural trade surplus in the 1960s, which disappeared by 
the end of 1980s.  The agricultural trade deficit, including food deficit, of LDCs had widened rapidly 
since the late 1990s.  This was a trend which need ed to be reversed.  He said that based on the 
remarks made by Members, the Secretariat would issue a revision of the Note for Members' 
consideration at the next meeting of the Sub-Co mmittee.  He proposed that the Sub-Committee take 
note of the document contained in WT/COMTD /LDC/W/46 as well as of the statements made. 
90. It was so agreed
. 
C. SIXTH LDC TRADE MINISTERS ' MEETING , DAR ES SALAAM , TANZANIA , 14 TO 
16 OCTOBER  2009:   REPORT BY THE COORDINATOR OF THE LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES 
(WT/L/772) 
91. The Chairman  said that the Sixth LDC Trade Ministers' meeting had been held in 
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, from 14 to 16 October 2009,  with the aim of preparing the LDCs for the 
Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference, as well as to articulate their positions on the ongoing DDA 
negotiations.  The outcome of the meeting, the Dar es Salaam Declaration, had been circulated to 
Members as WT/L/772.  The Declaration had also been issued as a document of the Seventh WTO 
Ministerial Conference (WT/MIN(09)/2).  He invi ted the LDC Coordinator, Tanzania, to make a 
report on that meeting.  
92. The representative of Tanzania,  on behalf of the LDCs, said that 37 LDCs had attended the 
LDC Trade Ministers' meeting held in Dar es Sala am in October 2009, of which 27 were represented 
at Ministerial level.  Apart from Ministers, senior officials from capitals of the LDCs as well as from 
Geneva had taken part in the mee ting.  A number of international organizations were represented.  
The meeting benefitted from the presence of the Dire ctor-General of the WTO.  He thanked Members 
as well as the agencies for their support to the LDCs.  He  also paid special tribute to the Chairman for  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
 Page 21 
 
 
  his unflinching support to the cause of the LDCs and fo r his active interest on issues of interest in the 
LDCs.  
93. He said that the LDC Ministers had been able to exchange views on issues relating to trade, 
and had adopted the Dar es Salaam  Declaration.  The Declaration called upon Members to address the 
issues of concern to LDCs in the Doha Round of negotia tions on a priority basis, and to have an "early 
harvest" on:  (i) the implementation of the Deci sion of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration on 
DFQF market access to the LDCs;  (ii) a waiver decision on preferential and more favorable treatment to services and service suppliers of LDCs;  (iii) an ambitious, expeditious and specific outcome for 
cotton;  and (iv) an early accession of LDCs to th e WTO.  He emphasized the importance of resolving 
the cotton issue, which was key for a successful conclusion of the Round.  The Declaration also 
supported the Phnom Penh Statement on LDCs' accession.   He drew Members' attention to the fact 
that the Dar es Salaam Declaration had been circulated as a document of the Seventh WTO Ministerial Conference.  He reiterated the commit ment of the LDC Group to engage constructively 
with the rest of the membership  towards a successful conclusion of the Round as soon as possible. 
94. The representative of Bangladesh
 associated himself with the st atement made by Tanzania, on 
behalf of the LDCs.  He expressed gratitude to the Government of Tanzania for hosting the Sixth 
LDC Trade Ministers' meeting.  He thanked th e UK Department for International Development 
(DFID) for providing financial assistance to facilit ate the meeting.  He also extended thanks to 
Ambassador Lumbanga (Tanzania) and his team in Geneva for leading the Geneva process with due 
professionalism and dedication which had culminated in the outcome of the meeting contained in 
WT/L/772.  He urged Members to take due account of the proposals, contained in the Dar es Salaam 
Declaration, in the negotiations in Geneva.  That would help LDCs secure mean ingful integration into 
the multilateral trading system.   
95. The representative of India  said that his delegation had had th e privilege to take part in the 
LDC Trade Ministers' meeting held in October 2009.   The Dar es Salaam meeting had come at an 
opportune moment as it took place only a month before the Seventh WTO Ministerial meeting.  The 
LDC Trade Ministers' had taken stock of issues con fronting the LDCs with a view to advancing their 
interests in trade.  This had happened at a time when efforts were being made to impart a fresh 
momentum to the Doha Round of negotiations.  He sai d that India would continue to work with the 
LDCs on various development issues, including towa rds ensuring an outcome of the DDA that fully 
reflected the development mandate.  India had also contributed to Aid for Trade, through its South-South cooperation, mainly the Indian T echnical and Economic Coope ration Programme (ITEC) 
and by providing assistance in setting up infrastructure projects in several LDCs.  The full text of the 
statement made by India at the LDC Trade Ministers'  meeting was available in the meeting room.  He 
concluded with a quote from that statement:  "the development of LDCs is not a matter for LDCs 
alone.  It concerns all of us who value freedom.  As Mwalimu Nyerere said freedom and development 
are as completely linked as chicken and eggs.  W ithout chickens you get no eggs, and without eggs 
you soon have no chickens". 
96. The Chairman
 said that he had given a detailed report on the work of the Sub-Committee at 
the LDC Trade Ministers' meeting held in Octobe r 2009.  Copies of his statement made at that 
meeting were available in the meeting room.  At Dar es Salaam, the LDC Trade Ministers had exchanged ideas and articulated their position on vari ous issues of importance to them in the area of 
trade.  He congratulated the Government of Tan zania for hosting the meeting, and paid particular 
tribute to Ambassador Lumbanga (Tanzania) for hi s leadership.  He hoped that the Members would 
give due attention to the appeals made by the LD Cs through the Dar es Salaam Declaration.  He 
proposed that the Sub-Committee take note of the Dar es Salaam Declaration contained in WT/L/772 
as well as of the statements made. 
97. It was so agreed.
 WT/COMTD/LDC/M/54 
Page 22  
 
  D. 
OTHER BUSINESS  
98. The Chairman  said that the Fourth United Nations Conference on LDCs (LDC-IV 
Conference) would be held in 2011.  The intergovern mental deliberations to prepare for the outcome 
of the LDC-IV Conference would start in late 20 10.  The UN system–wide preparatory process for the 
Conference had already begun early 2009.  The first meeting of the inter-agency consultative group 
was held in March 2009.  The second meeting was held on 4 November 2009.  Apart from these 
meetings, a series of national and regional events we re being organized to prepare for the Conference.  
As Chairman of the UNCTAD's Trade and Developm ent Board, he had recently presented a report to 
the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in New York where he was able to take stock of the work that had been undertaken so far to  prepare for the LDC-IV Conference.   
99. A number of agencies had started their work  for LDC-IV Conference.  For instance, 
UNCTAD had organized a meeting in  Kampala in October 2009.  It was also undertaking a major 
review of substantive issues relating to LDCs' de velopment strategies based on its LDC report (2009).  
He invited Members to reflect on how all the work  undertaken by different agencies in favour of 
LDCs should channel into the preparatory process leadi ng up to the LDC-IV Conference.  He said that 
pursuant to the call from the UNGA resolution, th e WTO, through the Sub-Committee would provide 
substantive inputs to the LDC-IV Conference in due course.   
100. The Sub-Committee
 took note of the statement by the Chairman on the LDC-IV Conference. 
101. The Chairman  informed Members that the next meeting of the Sub-Committee was 
tentatively scheduled for the first quarter of 2010 .  The exact date would be communicated in due 
course. 
102. In the absence of any other business, the meeting was adjourned . 
 
 
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