. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/SE/5 
3 October 2006 
 
 (06-4719) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Dedicated Session  
 
 
 
COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT IN DEDICATED SESSION 
 
Report to the General Council on Measures to Assist Small Economies in Meeting  
their Obligations under the Agreem ents on SPS Measures, TBT and TRIPS  
 
 1. In paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration,
1 Ministers established a work 
programme under the auspices of the General Council to examine issues relating to the trade of small 
economies with the objective of framing responses to the trade-related issues identified for the fuller 
integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system, without creating a 
sub-category of WTO Members.   
2. On 1 March 2002, the General Council took not e of a framework and procedures for the 
conduct of the Work Programme on Small Economies2 and instructed the Committee on Trade and 
Development (CTD) to conduct this programme of wo rk in Dedicated Sessions and to report regularly 
on the progress of its work to the General Co uncil.  This mandate was reaffirmed by the 
1 August 2004 Decision of the General Council.3  At the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference, 
Ministers reaffirmed their commitment to this Wo rk Programme and urged Members to adopt specific 
measures that would facilitate the fuller integrati on of small economies into the multilateral trading 
system.4 
3. In discussions in the CTD in Dedicated Session, the proponents of small economies 
identified, as one of the trade-related issues affecti ng the fuller integration of their economies into the 
multilateral trading system, their limited administrative capacities to implement complex rules and procedures and, in particular, to fulfil their oblig ations under the Agreements on Technical Barriers to 
Trade (TBT), on Sanitary and Phytosanitary M easures (SPS) and on Trade-Related Aspects of 
Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).  
4. In documents WT/COMTD/SE/W/15, WT /COMTD/SE/W/16 and WT/COMTD/SE/W/18, 
the proponents suggested that they be allowed to  designate regional bodies to assist them in the 
implementation of their obligations in the SPS, TBT and TRIPS Agreements and sought explicit 
approval from Members to do so.  The proposals underwent two revisions
5 to take into account the 
concerns raised by other Members in the Dedicated Session and at informal and/or formal meetings of 
the SPS and TBT Committees and the TRIPS Council. 
 
5. Reports from the Chairpersons of these bodies were sent to the Chairperson of the CTD in 
Dedicated Session.  The proponents of small economies al so clarified that it was not their intention to 
modify, amend or alter the balance of rights and obligations contained in the SPS, TBT or TRIPS 
                                                      
1 WT/MIN(01)/DEC/1. 
2 WT/L/447. 
3 WT/L/579. 
4 WT/MIN(05)/DEC, paragraph 41. 
5 The latest versions have been ci rculated as WT/COMTD/SE/W/15/Rev.2; 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/16/Rev.2 and WT/COMTD/SE/W/18/Rev.2. WT/COMTD/SE/5 
Page 2  
 
  Agreements and that they, as Member s, remain ultimately responsible  for adhering to the obligations 
they contain.   6. On the basis of the discussions that have b een held on this matter, the CTD in Dedicated 
Session considers that the use by small, vulnerabl e economies of regional bodies to provide technical 
support and assistance as necessary could help them implement their obligations in the areas of SPS, 
TBT and TRIPS, and thereby facilitate their fuller integration into the multilateral trading system.  
Accordingly, and in pursuance of the provisions  of paragraph 41 of the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration, the CTD in Dedicated Session recomm ends that the General Council agrees that small 
economies are allowed to use such regional bodies to assist them in the implementation of their 
obligations under the SPS, TBT and TRIPS Agreements.  It also recommends that Members and the 
WTO, within its competence, when providing tec hnical and financial assistance to support small, 
vulnerable economies in fulfilling their rights and oblig ations under the agreements concerned, shall 
consider the advantages of providing that assistance  to the regional body where such exists.  It is 
understood that individual Members benefiting fro m these recommendations will continue to be 
legally responsible and accountable for their individu al notifications and othe r obligations under these 
Agreements.  This recommendation is without prej udice both to the identification of other specific 
measures in due course to facilitate the fuller in tegration of small econom ies into the multilateral 
trading system and to the use of regional bodies as described in this report by other developing 
country Members.  
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