. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/LDC/W/50 
21 April 2011  
 
(11-2104) 
Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries Original:   English 
 
 
 
PROPOSAL FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A WORK PROGRAMME  
ON POST-ACCESSION FOR RECENTLY ACCEDED LDCS 
 
Submission by the LDC Group  
   The following communication, dated 21 April 2011, has been received from the delegation of 
Bangladesh on behalf of the LDC Group.  
 
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I. BACKGROUND 
1. Since the establishment of the WTO in 1995, only three least-developed countries (LDCs), 
namely Cambodia, Nepal and Cape Verde, acceded to  the organization, after long periods of often 
difficult negotiations.
1  At present, an additional 12 LDCs are in the process of accession to the WTO;  
three of them, namely, Samoa, Vanuatu and Yemen are at final stages of the negotiations.  It is also 
expected that a few more LDCs would be in th e position to accede to the WTO in the next coming 
years.  
2. Recognizing the enormous challenges and difficu lties facing them, the accessions of LDCs to 
the WTO have been facilitated by various decisions  and initiatives following the call by the Ministers 
at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in 2001, who agreed to work to "facilitate and accelerate 
accession negotiations" with acceding LDCs.  These decisions/initiatives include the adoption of the 
WTO Work Programme on LDCs and the Guide lines on LDC Accession by the General Council in 
February and December 2002, respectively, the Dialogue between acceding LDCs and WTO 
Members, organized by the Secretariat in May 2009, and the Round Table on LDCs' accessions 
hosted by Cambodia in September 2009.  
II. RATIONALE 
3. While these decisions/initiatives have provi ded positive impetus for facilitating and 
accelerating LDC accessions, recognition must also be  made to different but equally enormous 
challenges which face those LDCs, up on or immediatel y after accession, in particular, with regard to 
the implementation of commitments which they ha ve undertaken as part of accession negotiations.  
The recent past experiences of th e recently acceded LDCs have show n difficulties, for instance, in 
preparing or revising laws and regulation in lin e with their WTO obligations;  implementing the 
Action Plans of TBT, SPS, Customs Valuation and TR IPS;  and meeting the first sets of notification 
and transparency requirements.  Meeting those challenges would require, first and foremost, the 
institutional arrangements and capacity, which are still lacking in the LDCs.  While the onus of 
meeting those commitments primarily rests with the acceding LDCs themselves, the Working Party 
Reports also indicate the importance of technical assistance, which could be provided by Members, 
the Secretariat and other international organizations.  
                                                      
1 Cape Verde completed its accession negotiations  in December 2007 as an LDC when the 
General Council approved the terms of its accession.  Th ereafter, it graduated from the LDC status, effective 
1 January 2008, and became the 153rd Member of the WTO on 23 July 2008.   WT/COMTD/LDC/W/50 
Page 2  
 
  4. Another important issue for the recently acced ed LDCs involves the question on how to 
participate in the work of the WTO as members, so  as to maximise the benefits of the membership.  
This would require defining their offensive and defe nsive interests;  devising strategies for their 
participation in different areas of the WTO;  a nd identifying technical assistance needs which are 
different from accession negotiations.  In this rega rd, exchanges of experiences with other recently 
acceded members could provide valuable inputs.     
III. PROPOSAL 
5. Taking into account the WTO's objectives to promote economic growth and development in 
LDCs, the LDC Group would like to propose th e establishment of a Work Programme on 
Post-Accession for recently acceded LDCs within the Sub–Committee on LDCs.  The main objective 
of the Work Programme is to assist the recently  acceded LDCs in consolidating their accession to 
membership so as to maximise the benefits of th e multilateral trading system, including by building 
on the implementation of their accession commitments.     
6. While the Work Programme can take up any issues relating to post accession, it could include 
the following elements:  
(a) Technical assistance and training focused  on the implementation of commitments 
contained in the Protocol of Accession and Working Party Reports, including:  
• the Action Plans of TBT, SPS, Customs Valuation, TRIPS and other action 
plans related to specific issues such as trading rights;  
• notifications obligations including ins titutional capacity building and enquiry 
points; 
• transparency obligations;  
• preparation and revision of laws and re gulation in line with WTO obligations;  
• development of appropriate laws an d establishment of institutions with 
trained staff for trade remedies. 
 
(b) Technical assistance to maximise the benefits of the WTO membership, including 
through 
• identification of issues of interest in  trade negotiations as well as in the 
regular work of the WTO;  
• formulation and implementation of trade policy for effective integration into 
the world economy;  
• outreach to the private sector and the civil society;  
• partnership with the Enhanced Integr ated Framework and Aid for Trade. 
 
(c) Platform for discussion on, and exchange of, post-accession experiences with 
Members, and consider possible means of  assisting the recently acceded LDCs if 
certain challenges are identified.  
7. It is proposed that the Sub-Committee on LDCs place this Work Programme as a standing 
item of its meetings, and that it provide annual reports on the implem entation of the Work Programme 
to the General Council, through the Committee on Trade and Development, including for possible 
action.  
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