. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/29 
15 December 2011  
 
(11-6582) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original: English 
 
  
KENYA 
 
Statement by the Hon. Amos Kimunya 
Minister of Transport 
 
 
On behalf of the African Group, I wish to info rm the Conference that the African Ministers of 
Trade met in Accra, Ghana from 2 to 3 December 2011 to discuss and exchange views on the state of 
play of the DDA and the multilateral trading system .  The full Ministerial Declaration which was 
issued in Accra has been circulated to this Mini sterial Conference as Document WT/MIN(11)/9, dated 
8 December 2011.  
I have also submitted a Declaration of Minister s of "Friends of development" comprising over 
100 members to be included in the minutes of this meeting. 
 
The African Group is deeply concerned with the paralysis in the DDA, after ten years of 
costly negotiations to our countries.  In this resp ect, we wish to emphasize the following key areas of 
concern and priorities:  
- We are committed to and urge urgent c onclusion of the DDA in  accordance with the 
existing mandate and on the basis of the Singl e Undertaking.  In this regard, we call 
on all WTO Members to intensify negotiati ons starting January 2012 on the basis of 
progress achieved to date. 
 
- We re-emphasize the need for a fair and balanced outcome of the DDA, which must 
prioritize development as the main deliverabl e;  with priority given to LDC issues, 
implementation-related issues and concerns , and effective Special and Differential 
(S&D) treatment. 
 
- We underscore that any "new appro aches" to unlock the impasse must be 
multilaterally acceptable and negotiated in an  inclusive, transparent and bottom-up 
manner, and be firmly anchor ed within the Doha mandate. 
 
- The Group advises that no attempt should be made to add "new issues" to the 
DDA Agenda. 
 
- We emphasize the compelling need to fu lly operationalize the mandate of the 
Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) as the focal point for development. 
 
- We call upon the WTO Members to adopt measures and decisions aimed at 
simplifying accession processes for acceding developing countries and LDCs.  We 
welcome the accession of Russia, Vanuatu, Samoa and Montenegro. 
 WT/MIN(11)/ST/29 
Page 2  
 
  - We call upon the General Council to initiate  a comprehensive work programme to 
mitigate the impact of food market prices and volatility, and report on the same by 
MC9. 
 
- Last, but not least, we wish to insist on the provision of effective special and 
differential treatment via sector-specific financial and technical assistance and 
sustainable capacity building. 
 
- Finally, on behalf of my own delegation Kenya to say, we fully endorse all issues 
raised by the African Group and as the Friends of Development and re-emphasize the 
centrality of development as a major outcome of this Ministerial Conference. 
 
Kenya has submitted on behalf of the African  Group, the African Union Conference of 
Ministers of Trade 7
th Ordinary Session held in Accra, Ghana, from 29 November to 
3 December 2011 together with Friends of Deve lopment Ministerial Declaration representing over 
100 countries to be included in the minutes of this meeting as part of my statement. 
 
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