WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  TN/MA/W/100 
14 January 2008 
 
 (08-0160) 
Negotiating Group on Market Access Original:   Spanish 
  
 
MARKET ACCESS FOR NON-AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS 
 
Submission by Small, Vulnerable Economies on Modalities
 
Applicable to Non-Agricultural Market Access1,2 
 
 
 The following communication3, dated 16 October 2007, is being circulated at the request of 
the delegation of El Salvador on behalf  of the Small, Vulnerable Economies. 
 
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PRINCIPLES  
1. Small, Vulnerable Economies (SVEs) have si gnalled their willingness to contribute to the 
current Doha Development Round, c onsistent with their ability so to do, and taking into account their 
trade, economic and social realities.  SVEs shoul d neither be penalized for their liberalization 
decisions taken thus far, nor be required to unde rtake reductions that are disproportionate to the 
marginal level of benefits li kely to accrue from this Round. 
2. SVEs have verbally, and in wr itten submissions, articulated th e principles which have guided 
their proposals.  These principles emanate fro m work in the WTO Committee on Trade and 
Development over the years as well as from paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, the 
July 2004 Framework Agreement and the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration. 
MODALITIES APPLICABLE TO SMALL , VULNERABLE ECONOMIES  
3. The current modalities proposed for SVEs do not c onform to the principle of less than full 
reciprocity in reduction commitments as these moda lities require higher levels of contributions from 
SVEs in comparison to other developing countries, and even some developed  countries.  These results 
are inconsistent with the various mandates in this  Doha Development Round on the flexibilities to be 
accorded to developing countries in general, and the enhanced flexibilities to be provided to SVEs, in 
particular, and are therefore unacceptable. 
4. The SVEs have, in the past, submitted proposals based on five bands, taking into account the 
tariff dispersion of the proponents.  It should be noted that the Chair's proposal effectively restricts the 
SVE proponents to two (2) bands, with the third band accommodating SVE RAMs.  However, 
consistent with the constructive enga gement that has characterized the approach of SVEs thus far, the 
Group is willing to work within the three-band approach outlined by the Chair, so long as such bands adhere to the principles outlined in the various ma ndates, including the principle of less than full 
reciprocity.  Acceptance of a three-band approach  is contingent on adequate flexibilities being 
                                                     
 
1 Bolivia will not be able to accompany this proposal. 
2 This proposal is without prejudi ce to the rights of those Recently Acceded Members (RAMs) that are 
Small, Vulnerable Economies, and the proposals submitte d by that Group to specifica lly address their concerns. 
3 This communication was initially distributed as JOB(07)/154. TN/MA/W/100 
Page 2  
 
  afforded to SVEs, including the requirement for ma ximum average reductions that are less than those 
of developed countries and which are consistent with the economic, social, trade and development 
needs of SVEs. 
5. The flexibility to exempt, at their discretion, 10 per cent of tariff lines from reduction 
commitments is also an integral aspect of the flexibilities required by SVEs.  This flexibility is 
independent of the maximum ta riff reduction required of SVEs. 
6. The specific tariff reduction modalities to apply to SVEs are outlined in Annex 1 to this 
paper.  TN/MA/W/100 
 Page 3 
 
 
  ANNEX 1 
 
Revised Textual Proposal on the Provisions Applicable  
to Small, Vulnerable Economies  
 
 
(a) Members with a bound tariff average of non-agricultural tariff lines:  
(i) At or above 50 per cent shall bind their non- agricultural tariff lines at an average level 
of [32] per cent.  Where this average r esults in reductions that are greater than 
[40] per cent, the Member concerned would be entitled to apply lesser reductions, at 
its discretion, in keeping with this ma ximum average reduction of [40] per cent; 
(ii) at or above 30 per cent but below 50 per cen t shall bind their non-agricultural tariff 
lines at an average level of [28] per cent.  Where this average results in reductions 
that are greater than [30] per cent, the Member concerned woul d be entitled to apply 
lesser reductions, at its discretion, in keeping with this maximum average reduction 
of [30] per cent. 
Fiji shall be deemed to fall under (i). 
  In addition, 90 per cent of all non-agricultural tariff lines shall be subject to a minimum cut of 
5 per cent. 
 
(b) SVEs with a binding coverage of 50 per cent or less shall have the flexibility to maintain 
[10 per cent] of tariff lines unbound. 
 (c) The implementation period for Small, Vulner able Economies shall be [2] years longer than 
that for other developing countries. 
 
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