WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/700 
1 October 2007 
 (07-4139) 
 Original: English 
  
ULAANBAATAR DECLARATION 
ADOPTED AT THE MEETING OF TRADE MINISTERS OF LLDC'S, 
HELD IN ULAANBAATAR, 28-29 AUGUST 2007 
  
 The following communication, dated 19 September 2007, is being circulated at the request of the delegation of Paraguay. 
 
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We, the Ministers and officials responsible fo r trade of the Landlocked Developing Countries 
(LLDCs), meeting in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, on 28 and 29 of August 2007:  Noting that despite the welfare that the international tr ading system has brought to many nations in the 
world, the LLDCs continue to be marginalized in th e international trade of goods, and hence they are 
unable to fully benefit from globalization, mainly due to the geographical disadvantages related to 
landlockedness,  
 Reaffirming  our belief in the liberalization of trade a nd in the potential benefits of the multilateral 
trading system for achieving a non-discriminatory,  rules-based and predictable trade environment  
which provides every country, regardless of its te rritorial size, number of population, or level of 
development, with the opportunity to effectivel y and beneficially participate in global trade, 
 Emphasizing  the importance of the development dimens ion of the Doha Work Programme and the 
commitment of World Trade Organization (WTO) Memb ers to reach a final outcome consistent with 
the trade-related necessities of developing countries and, especially, of those that are particularly 
vulnerable, 
 
Recognizing  that addressing the challenges of landlockedness requires undertaking domestic actions 
to create a business-enabling environment,  Urging the adoption of general as well as specific m easures taking into account the particular needs 
and special problems of landlocked developing countries in the context of the WTO, as well as in 
other relevant trade fora,   Recognizing the challenges faced by LLDCs acceding to th e WTO - namely Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, 
Bhutan, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Lao PDR, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan - within the context of their 
accession processes,  
 Believing that LLDCs’ effective participation in the WTO negotiations is key to expanding their trade 
and development opportunities, including throug h securing special and differential treatment, 
 Recalling the Asunción Platform for the Doha Development Round, adopted at the Meeting of the 
LLDC Ministers responsible for trade , on August 10
th, 2005, in Asunción,  
 WT/L/700 
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  Recalling and emphasizing the importance of the Almaty Programme of Action: Addressing the 
Special Needs of Landlocked Developing Countr ies within a New Global Framework for Transit 
Transport Cooperation for Landlocked and Transit Developing Countries,  
 
Agree  as follows 
 
1. To call on all WTO Members, particularly th e major trading partners, to engage in 
constructive, results-oriented negotiations for a successful conclusion of the Doha Round. For 
this purpose, LLDCs shall urge said Member s to make significant contributions in market 
access, including tariff escalation  and domestic support , in the negotiations on agriculture, 
aimed at reaching full modalities as soon as possible, and commensurate progress in other 
areas of work, in line with the Doha manda te, the July 2004 Framework and the Hong Kong 
Ministerial Declaration. 
 2. LLDCs shall encourage WTO Members to address the issue of cotton  ambitiously, 
expeditiously and specifically in its trade -related and development aspects. For that 
purpose, Members shall adopt the proposal made  by the members of the Sectorial Initiative in 
favour of Cotton, C4, related to the reduction of the Domestic Support which distorts the 
international cotton market. Members shall also  adopt measures that would vastly improve 
market access conditions for cotton and cotton-derived products. The outcome of the agricultural negotiations shall ensure that WT O Members can take joint actions to set up a 
mechanism to address the loss of revenue th at cotton producing developing countries are 
facing as a result of declining cotton prices in in ternational markets due to highly distorting 
subsidies. 
 3. Because of the heavy dependence of LLDCs on a few commodities, the modalities to be 
adopted in the WTO shall not only refer to th e future liberalization of trade in tropical 
products for diversification from illicit crops, but shall also include products which will help 
LLDCs to diversify their exports.     
 4. LLDCs shall encourage WTO-Members to ag ree to provide them with substantial 
improvement in market access for non-agricultural products  as well as flexibilities, with 
the view to helping them diversify their exports.  Such improvements shall be reflected in the 
modalities to be adopted in the WTO. 
 
5. LLDCs recognise that services  offer promising growth opportunities for their economies, due 
to the important role they play in sectors such  as business, finance, transport, logistics, and 
tourism, in the successful implementation of di versification policies, and in terms of the 
export of services where landlockedness becomes le ss of an issue. Therefore, LLDCs shall 
actively participate in services negotiations and present their case appropriately.  They shall 
also assess the possibility of sponsoring and promoting initiatives intended to provide LLDCs with technical assistance targeted at improving  the competitiveness of their services sectors.  
 
6. LLDCs shall continue to encourage and support the work of the Trade Facilitation  
Negotiating Group, with a view to attaining, as a final outcome, an instrument containing globally binding commitments to ensure the fre edom of transit, the removal of transit 
transport impediments that undermine the landlocked developing countries’ trade 
competitiveness, and the improvement of overa ll trade conditions, so as to expedite the 
movement, release and clearance of goods, especia lly those in transit. The outcome of the 
negotiations on Trade Facilitation shall also a ddress the issues of special and differential 
treatment (S&DT), technical assistance and capacity building pursuant to the mandates of Annex D of the Decision of the General Council of August 1, 2004, and consistent with the 
level of development of all WTO Members.   WT/L/700 
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7. LLDCs shall encourage WTO Members to adopt a trade facilitation  S&DT architecture that 
enables developing Members, and particularly th ose who are transit partners to the LLDCs, to 
implement trade facilitation measures to be agr eed. Special attention shall be paid to the 
implementation and monitoring of existi ng and future transit agreements.   
 
8. Bilateral and multilateral donors, international financial and ot her relevant international 
organizations, shall, upon request, provide LLDCs  and their transit partners with technical 
assistance to identify their trade facilitation  needs and priorities, including the cost 
implications of proposed measures, so as to enab le their full and effective participation in the 
ongoing trade facilitation negotiations and their preparations for the effective and speedy 
implementation of the adopted measures, especially in LLDCs’ transit countries. 
 9. Technical assistance and capacity building sha ll also be provided to LLDCs during the trade 
facilitation negotiations, as well as during th e implementation and post implementation 
periods, as these shall seek not only to achieve compliance with the measures to be adopted, 
but also to help LLDCs enhance their overall trade competitiveness.  Regional projects, as 
well as projects involving private business partners relating to trade infrastructure, should receive special attention. 
 10. In cooperation with the private sector, LLDCs sh all promote the creation of national fora, in 
which involved parties could engage in a cons tructive dialogue on trade facilitation needs, 
priorities and problems. 
 11. Members shall continue to work on the rela tionship between the TRIPS Agreement and the 
Convention on Biological Diversity. Within this  framework, patent applicants shall be 
required to disclose the source and/or the count ry of origin of the genetic resources and 
associated traditional knowledge used in their inve ntion; to obtain prio r informed consent; to 
share the benefits of these inventions; and to pr ovide evidence that the patent applicants have 
adhered to these requirements. 
 12. WTO-LLDC Members shall continue to assist LLDCs who are in the process of accession to 
the WTO.  To this end, WTO-LLDC Members sh all participate in the working parties of 
acceding LLDCs and advocate fair treatment regard ing commitments to be made by the latter. 
These commitments should be commensurate with  their level of development. Acceding 
LLDCs should notably not be expected to provide WTO-plus commitments, including in 
TRIPS protection. They should enjoy additional flexibilities that may be necessary to 
implementing policies directed towards human capital formation and to developing national 
capacities for technological learning and innovation. All provisions on S&DT reflected in the GATT and all WTO Agreements shall be  granted to all acceding LLDCs.   
 13. WTO-LLDC Members shall seek to develop partners hips with relevant organizations such as 
AITIC, UNCTAD, UNDP, WTO, ITC, Regional Commissions and others, as well as with 
donor countries, with the objective of providi ng LLDCs acceding to the WTO with targeted 
technical assistance to guide a nd support them through the entire accession process until its 
successful completion. 
 14. In order to enable LLDCs to play an active role  in the global trading system and to use trade 
as an instrument for growth and poverty alle viation, WTO-LLDC Members  shall vigorously 
seek to ensure that their trade problems ar e effectively understood by other WTO Members 
and are prominently reflected in the Aid for Trade  agenda. To this end, LLDCs shall 
participate in the forthcoming debate in the General Council on Aid for Trade, scheduled for WT/L/700 
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  autumn 2007, and in other events , requesting special consideration of their specific problems 
within this new initiative.  
 15. LLDCs shall encourage Members to initiate the provision of assistance in the context of the 
Aid for Trade  agenda as soon as possible, and independently from the final result of the 
ongoing round of negotiations. 
 16. In the context of the Aid for Trade architecture, LLDCs shall pursue the goal of obtaining 
targeted assistance in areas such as capacity building for the formulation of trade policies, 
participation in trade negotiations, implemen tation of international agreements and, 
particularly, in strengthening of productive capacities with a view to increasing the 
competitiveness of LLDCs’ products in export markets. Taking into account that many 
LLDCs are dependent on the export of a few a nd often low-value commodities, Aid for Trade 
shall support LLDCs’ efforts to enhance bus iness conditions and develop sustainable 
diversification strategies. With a view to improving LLDCs’ productive capacities, including 
for quality and knowledge-intensive  goods, and overcoming supply- side constraints, national 
policies should focus on human capital formation, the development of technological learning and innovation, and on the promotion of busin ess linkages between national enterprises, in 
particular SMEs, and transnational firms. 
 17. LLDCs shall explore areas where S&DT in different negotiating gr oups and other relevant 
WTO fora would be appropriate to address specific problems faced by LLDCs, including 
economic distance from major markets, market ac cess and other issues. In order to strengthen 
LLDCs’ case in every group and/or forum, they shall work constructively with international 
organizations, whose knowledge c ould contribute to identify courses of action to attain this 
goal. 
 
18. LLDCs shall explore the possibility of setting up subject-specific groups to address issues of 
special interest, such as foreign investment and customs matters. 
 19. LLDCs shall continue to work in close coordination  and cooperation in their efforts to draw 
the attention of the international community to  their special problems and needs and to seek 
for the adoption of internationally agreed po licies and measures addressing their particular 
vulnerabilities. 
 20. LLDCs shall continue to participate in a unifi ed, coherent and organized manner in relevant 
events and discussions on trade and development, such as the UNCTAD and WTO 
Ministerial Conferences. They shall also suppor t all efforts aimed at strengthening an open 
and non-discriminatory multilateral trading system that ensures the effective participation and 
full integration of LLDCs. 
 21. LLDCs shall encourage international organizati ons to continue their analytical work on 
international trade and to make the research results available in order to enhance LLDCs’  
analytical capacity and to help them design and implement appropriate trade policies and 
trade-promoting measures, including trade de velopment strategies and formulation of 
common positions in the WTO.  
 22. LLDCs shall consider setting up an internati onal think-tank which could be located in 
Ulaanbaatar. For this purpose, LLDCs urge inte rnational organizations and donor countries to 
assist them in achieving this endeavour. 
 23. LLDCs shall engage fully in the process of preparation of the mid-term review of the Almaty 
Programme of Action and shall participate in the review itself at the highest level possible.   WT/L/700 
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We acknowledge UN – OHRLLS, UNCTAD, UNDP, WTO, Regional Commissions and AITIC for 
their constant support to LLDCs, as well as for the provision of valuable help and timely information 
on trade-related issues and other issues of specific interest.   
We request UN – OHRLLS, UNCTAD, UNDP, WTO, Regional Commissions a nd AITIC to continue 
to assist landlocked developing countries in their effort s to effectively participate in international trade 
discussions and negotiations, including  in the Doha Round of Trade Negotiations and other WTO 
fora.    
We express our profound appreciation to the authorities and the peopl e of Mongolia for hosting this 
event.  
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