WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/61 
15 December 2005 
 (05-6066) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS) 
 
Statement Circulated by Dr Mohamed Ibn Chambas
 
Executive Secretary  
 
(As an Observer) 
  
Permit me to start by thanking the Hong Kong authorities who have made it possible for the 
World Trade Organization to organize its Sixth Minister ial Conference in this territory, a territory that 
has proved very eloquently that trade can be a veritable engine for development. 
I also wish to congratulate the WTO Director-General, Mr Pascal Lamy, and his team, as well 
as the governments of the Member countries for th eir contributions towards the preparation and 
organization of the Conference.  May I also commend the countries for the political will to ensure that 
the Doha Development Agenda is able to satisfy th e yearnings of the greater majority of number of 
countries by effectively addressing their development concerns. 
On behalf of the delegation from the Executiv e Secretariat of the Economic Community of 
West African States, I note with satisfaction that the multilateral trading system has gone through a phase of positive growth in the last few years.  But we cannot remain on our oars.  Indeed, legitimate 
though it may be, our expression of satisfaction cannot blind us to the fact that a disproportionate 
number of Members of our organization continue to  feel helpless and frustrated because issues of 
concern to them, many of which have been on th e negotiation table since the Doha Round began in 
2001 and even earlier, are yet to be addressed satisfactorily. 
This Sixth Conference offers us an excellent opportunity to assess our weaknesses and more 
especially to find solutions to the problems facing  some of our Members, particularly the least 
developed countries, as they strive to liberalize and grow their economies. 
For some years now, trade and poverty reduction have been the main focus of development 
programmes.  However, trade cannot become a real  engine for development where the disciplines we 
institute in our international tradi ng relations are not of much help to the weak countries since they do 
not give such countries greater market access or higher prices for the goods they export to the 
developed countries.  Poverty cannot be reduced to  any significant level where producers from weak 
economies are not paid prices commensurate with their efforts. 
Our Conference has to accept the fact that such an objective cannot be realized with any 
reasonable degree of success until the concerns of the developing countries in general and the African 
countries in particular are addressed  effectively and objectively. 
The paradox for us in Africa is that we have been led to put in place domestic regulations, 
open up our markets almost with limit, most of the time under the framework of  structural adjustment WT/MIN(05)/ST/61 
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 programmes, and to introduce trade regulations base d essentially on the rule of law and strict adhesion 
to commitments made under the WTO, without getting much in return. 
Can the stronger economies continue to erect ba rriers, bringing to naught all the efforts by 
producers from the South and the potential benefits of th e few tariff preferences that still exist?  In the 
absence of equity and fairness, no system can survive fo r long.  It is therefore my firm conviction that 
we must take the bold step to calculate the real  costs of the restrictive domestic policies on our 
countries, on our economies and on our people.  It is only by so doing that we can actually understand 
the helplessness and frustration felt by many Members of the Organization. 
The regional integration organization which I have the privilege to head comprises 
15 countries, 80 per cent of which are classified as least developed countries.  Our region is Africa's 
leading cotton producer and our cotton is both comp etitive and of very high quality.  However, our 
cotton sector is handicapped by the huge export subs idies and domestic support granted to American, 
European and Chinese cotton producers.   I can cite other examples.  The promise by the international 
community, as clearly stated in the July Package, to find a solution to this problem has not been 
followed with necessary action. 
In the search for viable solutions to the c oncerns expressed by the greater majority of 
Members, the WTO certainly needs to go further.  I am therefore of the opinion that, since it is now 
clear that the developing countries understand and ar e ready to accept that developing countries face 
some internal constraints, the developed countries,  on their part, should also understand that it is a 
matter of life and death for millions of  people in the developing world. 
While preparing for this Conference, the W est African Ministers of Trade and Finance 
formulated a number of proposals concerning issues for negotiation under the Doha Agenda. 
The declaration adopted at the end of their meeting held in Cotonou on 21 October was 
forwarded to the WTO Secretariat by their spokesman , the Minister of Trade of Niger Republic.  The 
declaration has also been circulated  to all the WTO Members.  There is no need for me, therefore, to 
go over the positions expressed in the document. 
However, it is essential to point out that the Ministers insisted on reminding this Conference 
that "the trade interests of the countries in th e West African region are concentrated on a small 
number of products which will become extremely vulner able if the liberalization taking place at the 
international level does not take account of their specific situation". 
They also recalled the crucial role agricultu re plays in the economies of West African 
countries, particularly in their efforts to combat poverty, and that, given the crucial importance of 
agriculture to their economies, West Africa consid ers the outcome of the negotiations on agriculture 
as "topmast priority, if not a sine qua non for a WTO agreement in Hong Kong in December 2005".  It 
is for this reason that we insist strongly that the negotiations on agriculture s hould take account of the 
following three important issues: 
• export subsidies;  
• domestic support; and  
• market access. 
In view of the above considerations and given the other issues on the agenda of the 
Conference, it is essential that proposals concerning the effective establishment of a list of "special 
products" which should attract lower tariffs in devel oping countries, the establishment of a "special 
safeguard mechanism" (SFM) to protect countries from sudden increases in imports, and the designation of "sensitive products", should all be ca refully examined.  The primary objective of this  WT/MIN(05)/ST/61 
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 last proposal, it is worth repeating, is to maintain  access to preferential markets for our products and 
limit the erosion of preferences as much as possible. 
The regional integration organization that I re present is one of those which have been 
engaged in the past two years in negotiations w ith the European Union for the conclusion of an 
Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) which will liberalize trade with out partner. 
The different studies conducted on this matter i ndicate that total reciprocity would be too 
costly for Africa in terms of loss of revenue and adjustment costs related to the de-industrialisation 
process, and that this could impede effective realis ation of the objective of deepening integration in 
our regions. 
In view of the foregoing, the ACP countries and the European Union have agreed on the need 
for asymmetrical liberalization and reciprocity in the Economic Partnership Ag reements in favour of 
the ACP countries.  Consequently, we must make sure  that the outcome of the negotiations related to 
Article XXIV of GATT concerni ng the Regional Economic Communities actually contributes to the 
realisation of the development objectives of the Ec onomic Partnership Agreem ents.  We should also 
ensure that the outcome gives legal backing to the Special and Differential Treatment that the 
Cotonou Agreement confers on the Ec onomic Partnership Agreements. 
Consequently, although the Econom ic Partnership Agreements need to comply with the 
provision of paragraph 8[b] of Ar ticle XXIV of GATT which stipulates that the parties that have 
concluded an agreement on a free-trade area shall elim inate duties and other restrictive regulations of 
commerce "on substantially all the trade" between  them, it is essential to take account of huge 
differences in the level of development of the communities concerned. 
Most of the ACP regions will start working out the details of the Economic Partnership 
Agreements to be concluded with Europe beginning from 2006.  It is therefore our hope that we can 
reach an agreement here in Hong Kong on this provision of WTO rules which would not in any way jeopardise the interests of the ACP countries. 
The ECOWAS delegation expresses the hope that this Ministerial Conference will contribute 
significantly to efforts to improve the situation of the poor countries.  It is only by so doing that we 
can hope to effectively realize the objectives fixed by the WTO.  We fully support any action that will 
be taken to realize these objectives, particularly if such actions can contribute to the development of 
our countries and raise the living standards of our citizens and the citizens of every country in the world. 
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