WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/640 
6 December 2005 
 (05-5804) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
AFRICAN UNION CONFERENCE OF MINISTERS OF TRADE 
2
nd Extra-Ordinary Session  
Arusha, Tanzania 
22-24 November 2005 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 5 December 2005, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Egypt on behalf of the African Group.  
_______________ 
 
 
THE ARUSHA DEVELOPMENT BENCHMARKS FOR THE 
SIXTH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE IN 
HONG KONG, CHINA 
 
 
Preamble
 
 
We, the Ministers of Trade of the Member States of the African Union meeting in our Second 
Extra-Ordinary session in Arusha, the United Repub lic of Tanzania on 24 of November 2005 to 
review the state of play in the negotiations unde r the Doha Work Programme (DWP) and coordinate 
Africa’s contribution to the Sixth Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference to be held in Hong Kong, China from 13 to 18 December, 2005. 
 
 Reiterating the African agenda contained in the Cair o Declaration and its annex, the Cairo 
Roadmap on the Doha Work Programme adopted at our Third Ordinary Session and endorsed by the 
5
th Session of the AU Assembly of Heads of State and Government; 
  Recalling  the commitment undertaken by the WTO Members at Doha to place the needs and 
interests of developing countries and, in particular least developed countries, at the heart of the WTO 
work programme; 
 
 Reaffirming  the need for the negotiations to be incl usive and transparent to ensure political 
ownership of the process and the outcome of the negotiations;   Recognizing  that the successful completion of the DW P is vital for enhancing the trade and 
development prospects of African countries and a priority for the achievement of the Millennium 
Development Goals by our countries;   Deeply concerned  at the lack of political will by some WTO Members to build on the 
momentum created by the General Council Decisi on adopted on 1 August 2004 as manifested in the 
limited progress on the core elements of the development dimension of the DWP; 
 WT/L/640 
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  Emphasizing the need for the Sixth Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong to deliver a 
balanced and fair outcome, progress towards mee ting the objectives of achieving full modalities while 
maintaining the high level of ambition agreed upon in Doha;   Underscoring the imperative for the Sixth Session of the WTO Ministerial Conference to 
focus on the development objectives of the Doha Work Programme; 
  Hereby adopt the Arusha Development Be nchmarks for the Sixth WTO Ministerial 
Conference.  
 We thank the Government and the people of the United Republic of Tanzania for the warm 
hospitality extended to us and for all the excellent facilities put at our disposal. 
  
Done in Arusha, Tanzania on 24 November 2005   WT/L/640 
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 THE ARUSHA DEVELOPMENT BENCHMARKS FOR THE  
SIXTH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE  
IN HONG KONG, CHINA.  
 
 
Reclaiming the Development Agenda  
 
1. We are concerned about the inadequacy of recen t proposals by some ke y developed countries 
and subsequent lack of flexibility to substantially  reduce or eliminate agricultural protectionism and 
subsidies as well as their failure to incorporate flex ibilities for African countries which we consider as 
central to the development objectives of the D oha Round and the key to progress in Hong Kong. 
2. We are committed to meaningful negotiations, wh ich will ensure that the Sixth Ministerial 
Conference in Hong Kong delivers a balanced  and fair outcome and makes progress towards 
achieving full modalities and maintaining the level of ambition agreed at Doha. 
3. For Africa, development outcomes in each of th e negotiating areas remain  the raison d’être of 
the Round. This means that tangible development re sults must be evident within each negotiating area 
and in the overall outcome. 
4. In order to ensure that a fair and equitable, rules-based multilateral trading system is the result 
of the negotiations, sufficient time must be ac corded to S&D and other elements within each 
negotiating area. Further delay to progress in the DDA  carries higher costs to developing countries in 
general, and African countries in particular, as existing inequalities and imbalances increase. 
Process  
 
5. We reiterate the need for full inclusiveness and transparency in the negotiations to ensure 
political ownership of both the process and the outcome  of the negotiations.  In this regard, African 
Countries should be adequately represented in all preparatory meetings of the Hong Kong China, 
Ministerial, more particularly in any restricted meetings. 
Development  
6. We emphasize that the success of the Doha Round will be measured by its development 
outcomes.  For Africa, the priority areas are: 
(a) Market access for products of export interest to African countries; 
(b) removal of structural distortions in agricultural markets; 
(c) obligations to be undertaken by A frican countries should be proportional and 
commensurate with their level of development; and 
(d) increased financial assistance for countries th at will experience adjustment costs and 
technical assistance for trade capacity building and improvement of Africa’s competitiveness. 
7. We are concerned at the failure to deliver a ny tangible results on development issues, despite 
the characterization of the work programme launched at Doha as a “development round”. 
Accordingly, the outcome of 6
th Ministerial Conference Hong Kong, China, must ensure:  WT/L/640 
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 (a) Substantive movement towards meaningfully addressing implementation-related 
issues and concerns; 
(b) policy space and flexibilities should be mainstreamed in all aspects of the 
negotiations in order for African countries to achieve their legitimate development 
goals; 
(c) progress on the work on paragraph 44 of the D oha Ministerial Declaration relating to 
Special and Differential Treatment, including work on the establishment of a Framework Agreement on development;   
(d) that all issues related to Africa's development needs are properly reflected in the 
outcomes of the negotiations, notably the issues relating to enhanced technical 
assistance, food security, rural development, livelihood, preference erosion, 
commodities and Net Food-Importing Devel oping Countries (NFIDCs) are fully 
taken into consideration. 
8. We urge that the work on development issues s hould  proceed in tandem and  have the same 
level of specificity as all other elements of the negotiations. 
Technical Assistance
 
9. We emphasize the need for a new instituti onal framework and a clear mechanism for 
managing all the assistance and capacity building programmes within the WTO. 
10. We remain committed to constructive discussions with our trading partners in the developed 
world, as well as with different developing countries , in order to achieve the desired development 
deliverables of the round. 
Aid for Trade  
 
11. We reiterate the centrality of adequate a nd predictable development assistance for trade 
capacity building for African countries.  We empha size the need for a firm commitment to expand 
development assistance for trade capacity building in  all African countries.  The proposed Aid for 
Trade Initiative should focus not only on the capacity to  negotiate, adjust, produce and trade, but also 
lead to better market access, improved infrastructur e and address supply-side constraints.  Such aid 
should come in grant form without compromising on Members negotiating positions.  In this regard, 
we emphasize the establishment of a mechanism that , after consultation with Members, will develop 
and submit proposals to the Ge neral Council by March 2006. 
Agriculture  
 
12. We consider progress in the Agriculture negotiati ons as critical to Africa's development as the 
reform programme holds the potential to lift millions of  our people out of povert y.  We underscore the 
need for any agreement in 6th Ministerial Conference Hong Kong, China to encompass full 
operationalization of all S&D elements as well as the same level of specificity on vital issues for Africa , inter alia , longstanding preferences, SPs, SSM, issues relating to NFIDCs and LDCs as with 
other elements of the negotiation. 
13. We support full respect for exemption of LDCs from any reduction commitments in 
agriculture.  WT/L/640 
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 14. We consider progress in the agricultural negotiations as essential for the successful 
conclusion of the Doha Work Programme.  In this  regard, the following critical elements must be 
taken into account. 
I. MARKET ACCESS 
(a) Full operationalization of the principle of proportionality in the reduction of tariffs, 
and the need to take into account the different tariff structures of Members; 
(b) Provision of policy space and flexibilities that would allow our countries to pursue 
agricultural policies that are supportive of  our development goa ls, poverty reduction 
strategies, food security and livelihood c oncerns, while ensuring improved market 
access for the agricultural products of A frican countries, both in primary and 
processed forms; 
(c) Substantial improvement in market access fo r products of export interest to African 
countries. In this regard, special attention should be given to tariff escalation, tariff 
peaks and non-tariff barriers; 
(d) Designation and treatment of the special pr oducts must be devised in a way that 
provides maximum flexibility to the African countries to reflect particular domestic 
circumstances and development needs.  The SSM to be established for the developing 
countries should be operationally effective to address the specific circumstances of the African Countries;  
(e) Specific and concrete mechanisms and solu tions to the problems of preference 
erosion must be devised within the WTO c ontext to fully address the concerns of 
African countries in accordance with paragraph 44 of the 1 August 2004 General 
Council Decision.  The consideration of this issue should be paramount when 
designating the list of sensitive prod ucts by developed countries.  
II. DOMESTIC SUPPORT 
(a) Need to review the Green Box Criteria to provide policy space for developing 
countries; 
(b) review and tighten the Green Box Criteria for developed countries to ensure that it is 
non or minimally trade distorting;  
(c) the tightening of the criteria for the Blue Box measures is critical;  
(d) modalities should include disciplines to prevent box shifting; 
(e) African countries must be exempted from de minimis and AMS reduction 
commitments; 
(f) African countries must be allowed to main tain policy space for the development of 
the farming communities; based on the fair a nd equitable targets of poverty reduction, 
food and livelihood security, and rural development; and 
(g) African countries underline the importance of  meeting the Doha objective of real 
reductions in trade distorting domestic support. WT/L/640 
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 III. EXPORT COMPETITION: 
(a) The need or the elimination of all forms of export subsidies on agricultural products 
by 2010. This elimination shall be without  prejudice to S&D treatment of NFIDCs 
and LDCs;   
(b) interests of food aid recipients must be taken into account in developing disciplines 
on food aid;  
(c) immediate implementation of the Marrak ech Decision on NFIDCs and LDCs, in 
accordance with paragraph 4 of the Decision , as it is long overdue; and  
(d) State Trading Enterprises (STEs) in Africa  play an important developmental and 
poverty alleviation role and in this re gard, African countries’ STEs should be 
exempted from the application of any disciplines. 
Cotton
 
 
15. We stress the importance of cotton for African countries and the urgent need to achieve 
concrete results at 6th Ministerial Conference Hong Kong, China. In this respect, we call for: 
(a) Total elimination by the 31st December 2005 of export subsidies; 
(b) substantial reductions of dom estic support measures that distort trade on cotton, under 
the following time frame : 
(i) 80% by the 31st of December 2006.  
(ii) 10% by the 1st January 2008.  
(iii) 10% by the 1st of January 2009.  
(c) elaboration of disciplines that prevent shif ting of domestic support between different 
boxes; 
(d) setting up of Emergency Fund to address co tton revenue deficits resulting from cotton 
price depressions in the international markets;  
(e) mobilization of the technical and financia l assistance for the reinforcement of the 
cotton sector in Africa that will build cap acity of African Countries to process and 
add value to cotton and its by products;  and 
(f) improved market access through the provision of duty free and quota free access for 
cotton and its by-products for the LDCs  cotton producers and net exporters.   
Commodities  
16. We emphasize that commodities play an important role in supporting the livelihood, food 
security and rural development needs of African count ries.  We stress the need to establish concrete 
modalities for addressing the issues of the volati lity of commodity prices in accordance with 
proposals in JOB(05)/113 submitted by some African countries.   WT/L/640 
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 17. In this regard we endorse the recommendations  contained in the section 4 of the Arusha 
Declaration and Plan of Action on Commodities including volatility of commodity prices and supply side constraints adopted in Arusha, the Unite d Republic of Tanzania on 23 November 2005.  
Non-Agricultural Market Access
 
18. We urge that NAMA negotiations must take in to account the developmental, financial, and 
industrial needs of the diverse range of African eco nomies.  Accordingly, African countries view the 
following elements as critical in the NAMA negotiations: 
(a) An appropriate formula or any other tari ff reduction approach that incorporates 
development factors and concerns and w ould allow African countries to pursue 
industrial policy, employment creation and diversification objectives and take as 
priority the Special and Differential Treatment and less than full reciprocity; 
(b) due to the critical importance of prefer ences for African countries and the likely 
negative impact of erosion of such preferences on their economies, a methodology should be agreed upon to identify those products likely to be affected for a special treatment in the negotiations as proposed in the ACP TN/MA/W/53  and the African 
Group proposal TN/MA/W/49; 
(c) preserve policy space and flexibility that fu lly takes into account African countries 
developmental, financial a nd industrial needs, which averts the risk of de-
industrialization and fiscal revenue c onstraints and its attendant negative 
consequences on poverty reduction; 
(d) these flexibilities should allow African c ountries the means to determine their 
commitment levels, including binding coverage, commensurate with their 
development objectives; 
(e) the conditions in Paragraph (6) of the A nnex B of the 1 Augus t 2004 General Council 
Decision should be relaxed to give th e African Countries concerned adequate 
flexibilities to pursue their development and industrial objectives; 
(f) in this regard, the provision of flexibiliti es for developing countries is an essential 
element of the NAMA package and cannot be  made conditional to other elements, 
including the formula, nor as fulfilling the pr inciple of the less than full reciprocity, 
as this would alter the balance of Annex B; 
(g) flexibilities under paragraph 8 of the Annex B are stand-alone provisions and should 
not be linked to the formula. These flexibilities are constrained and therefore constitute a minimum requirement that may need to be broadened to provide the 
policy space needed by African countries;  
(h) exclude sectoral initiatives because of thei r potential detrimental effects on African 
countries; 
(i) full respect for LDCs exemption from tariff reduction commitments and full 
flexibility with regard to binding coverage; 
(j) the reduction and elimination of NTBs, in order to meet the development objectives 
of these negotiations, and the need to ensu re that work on NTBs be conducted in 
tandem with other elements of the Annex B; WT/L/640 
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 (k) NTBs faced by products of export interest  to African countries should be eliminated 
as a priority; 
(l) measures that are consistent with the existing WTO Agreements and applied by 
African countries to meet their developmen tal objectives shall not be compromised in 
the NTBs negotiations. 
Services
 
 
19. We remain committed to the services negotiations  and underscore the need to maintain the 
development-friendly architecture of the GATS and the negotiations there under.  We stress the 
following: 
(a) Our concerns on the issue of complementary approaches, and oppose the inclusion of 
approaches that are incompatible with the spirit and structure of the GATS; 
(b) that the establishment of any quantitative individual or collective targets would 
undermine the flexibilities provided for developing countries in the GATS provisions and the existing negotiating guidelines and procedures. We are therefore opposed to qualitative and quantitative targets, modal targ ets as well as sectoral negotiations, or 
any language on the plurilateral request/offer approach that goes beyond the 
negotiating guidelines; 
(c) that special attention should  be accorded to the needs and interests of small service 
suppliers of African countries; 
(d) the importance of maintaining GATS provisions for the right of members to regulate 
their services sector and to open-up fewer sectors and liberalize fewer types of 
transactions in line with their development situation; 
(e) the effective implementation of the provisions  of Article IV of the GATS, and we are 
concerned with the continued disregard of this issue in both the negotiating process 
and the draft Ministerial text; 
(f) the Ministerial text must ensure that members make commercially meaningful 
commitments in sectors and modes of suppl y of export interest to developing 
countries, particularly in Mode IV; 
(g) the need to intensify the rule-making negotiations in order to develop pro-
development disciplines, particularly in domestic regulation and emergency safeguard 
measures; and 
(h) the full and effective implementation of LDCs modalities.  
TRIPS and Public Health 
 
 
20. The issue of TRIPS and Public Health is of crucial importance for African Countries. We are 
committed to finding an expeditious and appropriate  permanent solution based on paragraph 11 of the 
General Council Decision of 30 August 2003, while maintaining the balance therein.  The solution 
should be put in place before the Hong Kong-China Ministerial Conference.   WT/L/640 
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 Least Developed Countries (LDCS ) 
 
21. We reiterate the importance of incorporating the specificities of LDCs in all areas of the 
negotiations, as they require special treatment, due to th eir level of development.  To this end, we call 
for:  
(a) LDCS to be exempted from undertaking any reduction commitments; 
(b) developed countries and developing counties in a position to do so to provide LDCs 
with bound duty free and quota free market access for all LDCs for all products, and ensure that preferential rules of origin a pplicable to imports from LDCs are simple 
and transparent and contribute to facilitating market access; 
(c) LDCs to be provided with policy space and flexibilities in order to pursue their 
development goals, including the use of  Trade-Related Investment Measures 
(TRIMS) for development purposes; 
(d) LDCs to be provided with adequate and appropriate technical assistance and capacity 
building in order to build export capacities and competitiveness.  In this regard, we 
the African Ministers continue to attach hi gh priority to the Integrated Framework for 
LDCs.  We welcome the decision of the IMF and the World Bank for an enhanced IF.  
We recognize the agreement at the IF Steering Committee on the three elements 
forming part of an enhanced IF name ly: increased, additional and predictable 
financial resources, strengthened capacities in the IF beneficiaries to manage and 
implement the programmes; and 
(e) We urge the developed partne rs to substantially increase their contribution to the IF. 
Trade Facilitation
 
 22. We attach great importance to the issue of tr ade facilitation and remain engaged in the work 
in this area.  We reaffirm the importance of th e S&D and Technical Assistance and Capacity Building 
(TACB) components and the linkages of Annex D in the 1 August 2004 General Council Decision. 
23. We reiterate that the commitments in Annex D mandate on TACB be reaffirmed, reinforced 
and made operational in a timely manner and that developed countries continue to intensify their 
support in a comprehensive manner, on substa ntial basis and backed by secure funding. 
24. We call for the deepening and intensifying of negotiations on special and differential 
treatment, with the view to arriving at S&D provisions that are precise, effective, operational and allow for necessary flexibilities in implementing any possible outcome of the negotiations. 
Trade and Environment
 
 
25. We note the progress made in the trade and environment negotiations since Doha.  We 
caution against any undue pressure in this area, an d call on more efforts to be made to facilitate 
effective African participation in these areas, to ensure  that there are gains to be made for the region. 
All elements of the mandate should be treated equally.  
Rules  
26. In the negotiations on WTO Rules, the fo llowing issues are key for achieving progress: WT/L/640 
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 (a) The need to avoid the introduction of more complex rules and disciplines under the 
Anti-Dumping Agreement and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures; 
(b) the provision of adequate technical assistance to African countries in order to enable 
them effectively enforce their rights und er the Anti-Dumping Agreement as well as 
the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing measures; 
(c) flexibility for subsidies accorded by African Countries to their fisheries infrastructure 
development be non-actionable; 
(d) the need for WTO members to keep in  mind the importance of fisheries for 
livelihood, food security, and sustainable de velopment in Africa.  Additionally, the 
rules negotiations should address our concerns regarding over depletion of fish stocks 
and threats to sustainable fisheries in Africa. 
(e) the need to address sufficiently the devel opment dimension of these negotiations by 
ensuring that when elaborating proposals, the needs and concerns of African countries are reflected therein; 
(f) the development aspects are taken fully in to account in the negotiations aimed at 
clarifying and improving disciplines and procedures relating to regional trade agreements; 
(g) clarification and improvement of disciplin es and procedures relating to regional trade 
agreements, as mandated under Paragraph 29 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, 
should not reopen the Enabling Clause under transparency or systemic issues in RTA 
negotiations as this would not meet  Africa’s developmental needs; and 
(h) negotiations on systemic issues should incl ude appropriate flexibilities and S&D to 
take into account the development c oncerns of African countries.   
Accession
 
 
27. We note with concern that no African State has acceded to the WTO since its establishment in 
1995.  In order to facilitate the accession of African LDCs, Members should fully implement the 
“Guidelines on WTO Accession Procedures for LDCs” adopted by the General Council in December 
2002 without seeking excessive and strenuous commitments. 
28. We request that Members should respond rapidly to African countries that have applied to 
commence their accession process, by not using non-tr ade considerations that delay accessions, and 
also refrain from making excessive onerous demands  on the applications of African countries during 
the accession negotiations. 
29. Acceding African LDCs should benefit from th e S&D provisions that would emerge from the 
DDA negotiations. 
Work Programme on Small Economies  
 
30. We call on WTO Members to fully address the sp ecific needs and trade-related problems of 
small economies in the context of the work programme mandated by th e Doha Ministerial 
Declaration.  WT/L/640 
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 Trade, Debt and Finance  
 
31. We recognize the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance (WGTDF) as one of the 
concrete manifestations of the development focu s of the Doha Work Programme.  We emphasize the 
linkage between trade, debt and finance for African  countries, is at the heart of the development 
concerns.  We note the debt situation of sever al African countries and call upon WTO Members to 
make progress at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conferen ce, to resolve the trade-related aspects of debt, 
through delivering on the coherence mandate. 
Trade and Transfer of Technology  
 
32. We recognize the working group on trade and tran sfer of technology as one of the concrete 
manifestations of the development focus of the Doha Work Programme.  Technology Transfer is a 
major prerequisite to our meaningful participati on in World Trade.  If Africa is to overcome its 
present plight of technological deficiency, techno logy transfer must be mainstreamed in the 
multilateral trading system. 
Dispute Settlement  
 
33. We are concerned with lack of progress in the negotiations in this area.  We therefore urge 
that the negotiations in this regard be expedited, taking into account Africa’s concerns as contained in 
our proposals that are aimed at assisting Africa utilize the DSU. 
 
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