WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/85 
16 December 2011  
 
(11-6655) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
LESOTHO 
 
Statement by H.E. Dr Mothae Maruping 
Ambassador 
  
At the outset let me tender profound apology on behalf of the Honourable Dr Leketekete 
Ketso, Minister of Trade and Industry, Cooperatives and Marketing, for his inability to participate in 
this session due to exigencies. 
 
Allow me to congratulate you for your election as the chairman of this global conference.  
Be assured that you enjoy Lesotho delegation's confidence, high respect and pledge of full 
cooperation.  
Gratitude goes to the Director-General of the WTO and his team for the high sense of 
mission, diligence, prudence, high quality reports and fo r the efforts that went into preparing for this 
conference.  
Worthy of commendation and high admiration is H.E. Yonov Frederick Agah of Nigeria, for 
his astute stewardship of the General Council and MC8 preparations process which has culminated 
with this momentous Conference.  
Allow me to associate my delegation with the stat ements delivered by Kenya on behalf of the 
Africa Group, Mauritius on behalf of ACP, Banglades h on behalf of LDCs, I ndia on behalf of G90, 
Brazil, India and China and last, but not least, by the Dominican Republic on behalf of the Informal 
Group of Developing Countries. 
 
Since the last Ministerial Conference two years ago, Members are meeting in Geneva this 
week with a better sense and clarity on what may have halted progress in the DDA negotiations.  
The report of the Director-General of the WTO and the statements of some delegations up to this 
point are instructive in this regard.  DDA negotiatio ns have been under the sh adow of global financial 
and economic crisis and hesitant  recovery, persistently high une mployment rates, and all that 
accompanied by energy and food price volatility as well as by the menace of climate change.  These combine to render the current times the most trying.  
Member States have been providing varied perspectives on how the negotiations should 
proceed post MC8.  Lesotho delegation notes with gra tification that consolidation of the regular work 
of WTO has been, and is being, addressed.  The ap petite for realignment and recalibration is happily 
strong.  Fine-tuning and not total overhaul is preferre d.  In this connection, allow me to highlight the 
perspectives of the Lesotho delegation:  
On Trade and Development, centrality of deve lopment must be preserved in the subsequent 
resumption of the negotiations in whose advent all ar e.  In this vein, Lesotho expects that there be WT/MIN(11)/ST/85 
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  adequate and targeted sector-specific financial and trade-related technical assistance as well as 
sustainable capacity-building deliverables aimed at addressing productive capacities and supply-side 
constraints among other challenges.  
On the Doha Development Round, let me join  those Members who have cautioned against 
eroding the principle of "Single Undertaking".  In moving forward special attention to increasingly 
mushrooming RTAs, and to those that have LDCs in the midst of their membership, is entirely 
warranted.  The century-old Southe rn African Customs Union is a case in point.  The current impasse 
in DDA may well be the partial cause of the spr ead of RTAs, which may have been seen as an 
alternative avenue in the meantime.  Conclusion of the DDA remains an imperative in the face of 
ever-increasing obsolescence of the old framework of rules given the new landscape and dynamics in 
the world.  
On the importance of the rule-based multilatera l trading system and its processes, it is 
imperative to preserve the current character of th e system which is based on the principles of 
bottom-up, impartiality, transparency, predicta bility, and inclusiveness.   These are essential 
ingredients for confidence building, trust and help elicit greater flexibility.  The regular work of the 
WTO and approaches toward completing the DDA, wh ich one hopes and prays resumes very soon, 
must be calibrated to ensure that maximum benefits  are flowing to developing countries.  They should 
also highlight the importance of policy space for devel oping countries so that they can resort to those 
policy measures at their disposal for their trade and development strategies. 
 
Turning to the LDCs, Lesotho delegation fully s ubscribes to the prioritization of LDCs' needs 
post MC8.  The reality is that LDCs are heterogene ous.  Realistically there can be no one-size-fits-all 
measures in addressing their needs for effective in tegration into the rule-based multilateral trading 
system and development.  A credible LDCs package is  the one that is designed to factor in the reality 
of peculiarities among the LDCs if they all are to ga in from it.  What is described as an LDC package 
so far in the "Geneva Chorus" is too narrow, in flexible and will benefit only some and may harm 
other LDCs as well as small, vulnerable economies if utmost care is not taken.  LDCs package should 
not in any way result is some LDCs being caused to  slip back, away from the graduation threshold, 
while others stride steadily forward.  Neither  should small, vulnerable economies be adversely 
affected as a consequence of such measures, to th e extent of some risking slippage back and down 
into the LDCs like abyss.  A comprehensive p ackage based on thorough pr ofessional analysis and 
interpretation, capturing reality on the ground, is called for.  
On another note, my delegation commends Members of the WTO for gracing the MC8 by 
paving the way towards delivery of some outcomes on LDC-related priorities, namely smoother and 
faster accession, extension of TRIPs Article 66.1 transitional period and the services waiver.  The last 
element will have to await fulfilment of conditions preceding which are imbedded in the 
Single Undertaking part of the DDA before it can be meaningfully operationalized.  May these 
materialize.  There is need for systematic and f aster pace in addressing the cotton issue in a profound 
way.  
Let me once again reiterate that in the thick of  the financial and economic  crisis, which is not 
responding to what is considered to be sta ndard remedies, thus resulting in unusually high 
unemployment rates and exacerbated poverty, and s ubdued trade, the plight of Net Food Importing 
Developing Countries (NIDCs), especially LDCs  among them, should be heeded and addressed 
expeditiously and effectively in these times which are marked by vigorous food price volatility.  
This is aggravated by concurrent fuel price volatility which hits hard the net fuel importing 
developing countries, most of which are LDCs.  Ad verse effects of climate change have begun to add 
strains to the already dire situation.   WT/MIN(11)/ST/85 
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  On Trade Facilitation (TF), the unfavourable predicament of land-locked developing 
countries (LLDCs), particularly LDCs among them, is well known.  Addressing it should be accorded 
priority as well.  In this vein, quick, secure, relia ble and user-friendly transit is one aspect of Trade 
Facilitation that LLDCs aspire to.  Progress on th is front would enhance their competitiveness which 
is key to increasing trade and attracting more FDI.  Almaty programme of action provides details in 
this regard. 
 
Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF), which is bearing tangible results in participating 
LDCs, should be earnestly nurture d and consolidated.  Testimonies by LDC Ministers from Lao PDR, 
the Gambia, and the Central African Republic, talking on behalf of others, in a breakfast meeting of 
15 December, are tell-tale.  On Aid for Trade, the recommendations on the way forward by the 
Third Global Aid for Trade Review exercise of July 2011 should be implemented faithfully and 
meticulously to ensure proper and timely fine-tuning  of this pertinent initiative in addressing supply 
side constraints to trade.  
Lesotho joins others in striving to forge updated rule-based multilateral trading system (MTS) 
within the framework of DDA, that befits cha nged, and still transforming landscape and the new 
dynamics and that firmly has development at its co re and which responds to the needs and aspirations 
of the majority of its members that are still developing.  
In closing, the Lesotho delegation welcomes to the WTO family the acceding countries of 
Vanuatu, Samoa, Montenegro and the Russian Fe deration and looks forward to constructively 
engaging with them in 2012 and beyond.  This mov es WTO ever closer to being a truly universal 
body.  
Lesotho takes this opportunity to congratulate China on this occasion of her tenth anniversary 
of acceding to the WTO.  China has been, and cont inues to be, an actively engaged member of the 
WTO.  Her membership has been value adding to the rules-based multilateral trading system. 
 
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