. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/127 
17 December 2005 
 (05-6147) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
DOMINICA 
 
Statement by the Honourable Charles Savarin
 
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Trade, Labour and Public Services  
   I am honoured to be here today for the Sixth Meeting of the WTO Ministerial Conference.  
On behalf of the Government and people of the Commonwealth of Dominica, I would like to 
congratulate the Government and people of Hong Ko ng on hosting this Conference and to express my 
thanks to them for the excellent arrangements and wa rm hospitality that they have extended to me and 
my delegation in that regard.   Addressing the development deficit that was left at the end of the Uruguay Round of 
Multilateral Trade Negotiations, remains for Dominica,  the single most important objective of this 
Ministerial Meeting and the aptly named Doha De velopment Agenda.  At the conclusion of this 
Meeting we should be able to say without any r eservations that the development aspirations of 
developing countries and more particularly the small, vulnerable economies, the least developed 
countries and landlocked countries have been advanced.  
 Like all countries, the economic future of  small vulnerable economies such as Dominica, 
depend on their ability to produce goods and servic es competitively and to conduct trade in those 
goods and services on the regional and international ma rkets.  Unlike many countries however, small 
vulnerable economies face many constraints and di sadvantages which make this very difficult and 
sometimes almost impossible if not meaningfully addr essed.  For this reason it is imperative that if the 
development dimension is to have any real meani ng in this round of negotia tions, specific, concrete, 
workable responses must be developed and implem ented to address the special vulnerabilities and 
disadvantages of those countries to ensure that they  are fully integrated into the multilateral trading 
system.   Among the tools which have been used from the very beginning of the multilateral trading 
system to contribute to enabling the integration of developing countries into the global trading system 
are preferences.  The granting of preferences to de veloping countries has been given legitimacy in the 
rules and architecture of international agreements.  They are not illegal.  They may not be enough by 
themselves to transform vulnerable economies.  But they have made significant contributions to the 
economic growth and development of many developing countries, including Dominica.  We are 
therefore deeply concerned by attempts, whether co vert or overt, to have these preferences severely 
eroded and even completely eliminated from the world trading system.   I say covert because it appears that developing countries are being drawn into a situation where they will be subtly asked to trade away pr eferences in favour of the promise of development 
aid.  Dominica as one of the very small and vulne rable Members of this Organization welcomes all 
offers of development assistance whether technical or financial.  In that regard the "aid for trade" 
initiative is a step in the right direction.  The impor tance of trade-related capa city-building, financial 
assistance to develop vital infrastructure and key inst itutions to addressing the supply side constraints WT/MIN(05)/ST/127 
Page 2  
 
 of developing countries cannot be overstated.  Howeve r, we are concerned that this initiative may be 
cast in a conceptual framework that  suggests that the aid to be give n is in exchange for accepting the 
elimination of preferences.  We are also concerned about its initial top-down approach, lack of clarity 
on the modalities for its effective functioning and th e so far insufficient guarantees of new financial 
resources, as well as the conditionalities that may be attached. 
 
 Another means of ensuring the integration of  small vulnerable developing countries into the 
trading system is through special and differential trea tment.  In that regard we wish to call upon and 
urge Members to exert more effort and determina tion to fulfilling the mandate to strengthen and make 
more precise, effective and operational all special and differential treatment provisions in the WTO 
agreements.  Dominica is concerned that after four  years, very little progress has been made on this 
issue in the negotiations.  Dominica fully supports e fforts to ensure progress at this Ministerial on the 
five, LDC specific, special and differential pro posals and other proposals that seek to address the 
concerns of the LDC Members of this Organizati on.  However beyond granting S&D treatment to the 
LDCs, this Round must grant special  dispensation to the small and vulnerable economies.  In addition 
all special and differential treatment proposals, as well as the implementation -related issues, should be 
given full attention beginning at this Ministerial Conference and continuing in earnest next year. 
  In the various negotiating areas in this D oha Development Agenda, Dominica has some 
particular interests that we would like to highli ght.  In the area of Non-Agricultural Market Access 
(NAMA) Dominica is particularly concerned about  the application of a reduction formula which 
would result in steep cuts in tariffs with grave implications for the fiscal stability of Dominica's 
economy and its fragile and fledgling industrial sector .  We therefore fully support the proposal put 
forward by the group on small economies, on the tariff reduction formula.   In the area of agriculture, Dominica calls for ad equate flexibility and less than full reciprocity 
in the tariff reduction formula and supports the pr oposals made on special products and the special 
safeguard mechanism.   In the services negotiations, Dominica is con cerned at proposals being made which could 
have the effect of removing the flexibilities craf ted into the GATS for developing countries, thereby 
making it more difficult for a small resource strapped country like Dominica to participate effectively 
in the negotiations.  Services, in particular tour ism and information and financial services, play a 
critical role in the economic development pros pects for Dominica as we seek to diversify our 
economy.   Finally I wish to point to a major threat to Dominica's economic future.  I refer to the new 
banana regime which is expected to come into effect on 1 January 2006.  Having addressed this body 
on this issue two days ago I wish only to say here that the WTO must not be blinkered when considering matters brought before it.  All Members have rights and the WTO must not seek to advance the right of some Members at the expense of other Members.   The fundamental responsibility of this Organization is to balance those rights so that its 
prescriptions are fair, reasonable and equitable.  Damaging the right of Caribbean and ACP countries 
to trade in bananas or any other commodity cannot be  fair, reasonable or equitable.  If the Mandate of 
the WTO does not require it to take these factor s into account then the very Mandate of the 
Organization needs to be revisited.  We, therefore seek an amicable resoluti on that will allow for all 
producers to have continued access to their trad itional markets and for this Development Round to 
achieve its full and ambitious development objectives. 
 
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