RESTRICTED  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
11 March 2005 
 
 (05-1037) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Eighth Dedicated Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETIN G OF 3 NOVEMBER 2004 
 
Chairman:  H. E. Mr. C. Trevor Clarke (Barbados) 
 
Subjects discussed : 
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA ........................................................................................................1  
B. DOHA WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES ...................................................................1  
C. OTHER BUSINESS ......................................................................................................................13  
 
A. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. The draft agenda for the meeting as contained in Airgram WTO/AIR/2408 of 
15 October 2004 was adopted . 
B. DOHA WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES  
2. The Chairman  said this item calls for a review of wo rk and proposals submitted to date.  He 
said that under this item, it is also proposed that  Members engage in an exchange of views on the 
decision adopted by the General Council on 1 August 2004.  He reminded Members that this decision 
was also known as the "July Decision" and that it was contained in document WT/L/579.  He said he was very interested to hear how Members view ed the development aspects of the Decision and 
especially how the Decision impacted on the CTD's work  in the Dedicated Session.  He suggested that 
Members review the status of the work programme, examine the impact of the July Decision and 
outline how the CTD in Dedicated Session should conduct its future work given the time line stated in 
the July Decision. 
3. The representative of Barbados
 welcomed participants to the 9th Geneva Week for 
non-resident Members and Observers.  She said Gene va Week provided a useful opportunity for 
non-resident delegations to participate more activel y in the work of the WTO.  She said it was well 
known that many of the WTO non-resident Members we re also small economies and that a successful 
and significant outcome to the Work Programme on Small Economies would greatly enhance the chances for such countries to integrate themselves  into the multilateral trading  system.  She 
emphasized that the present meeting was the first Dedicated Session to be held since the adoption of the "July Decision".  She said the current m eeting was a good occasion to discuss the momentum 
which had been generated by the July Decision and to plan for the next phase of work.  She said the 
mandate required that Members first identify the issues or problems which constrained the trade of small economies, then frame responses for soluti ons to the constraints and then formulate 
recommendations for action to address the trade-re lated issues pertaining to small vulnerable 
economies.  She said that in the two years since the commencement of substantive work in the CTD 
Dedicated Session small economy delega tions had sought to fulfil all three of the components of  the WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
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 paragraph 35 mandate.  In early 2002, a number of delegati ons tabled document 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/1/Rev.1 which identified the trad e-related issues of vital concern to small 
economies and which constrained their ability to trade and to participate effectively in the multilateral 
trading system.  She said it was clear from that document and ensuing discussions that the range of 
characteristics and constraints highlighted in  document WT/COMTD/SE/W/1/Rev.1 afflicted a 
diversity of countries.  The linkages between these c ountries were that they all shared the constraints 
of small economic size and vulnerability.  She said several of the constraints identified by small 
economies could be found in other developing coun tries and that it was the combination of these 
disadvantages and the inability of small and vulnera ble economies to deal with those disadvantages 
which made small economies worthy of special trad e consideration.  Since June 2002 and May 2004, 
documents WT/COMTD/SE/W/3, WT/COMTD/SE/W/10 and WT/COMTD/SE/W/11 had been 
tabled by interested delegations.  These documen ts contained proposals which sought to fulfil the 
paragraph 35 objective of framing responses to trade-re lated issues identified for the fuller integration 
of small and vulnerable economies into the multilate ral trading system.  The proposals had touched on 
a diverse range of  trade issues relating to market  access for small economies,  the flexibility necessary 
for small economies to be able to participate eff ectively in and secure benefits from the multilateral 
trade negotiations and other measures to address the i nherent and structural constraints, disadvantages 
and vulnerabilities of small economies.  She added that the inability of small economies to use WTO 
rules and procedures in the same way as other WTO Members was due to limited administrative, financial and human capacities of  small economies.  Small economies also had difficulty ensuring 
adequate representation in Geneva.  Other concer ns included the graduation of small economies from 
LDC status and the accession of small economies to the WTO.   
4. She said that in connection with a review of the Work Programme on Small Economies, the 
WTO Secretariat research provided an overview of the discussion of the small economy issue in economic literature.  It examined the issues of economic size and economic performance and 
extracted from WTO Agreements the provisions which could potentially be of pa rticular relevance to 
small economies.  Members had engaged in exhaustiv e discussions with a view to elaborating issues, 
clarifying proposals and enhancing understanding.  It was her view that collectively Members had 
managed to obtain a greater level of appreciation of the various positions.  She said, however, that a 
significant amount of time has elapsed since th e inception of the Work Programme for Small 
Economies and despite attempts to  transform some of the proposal s into concrete recommendations 
for action, Members had not yet managed to receive any results.  It was her view that the time for 
action had come.   
5. She said that on 1 August 2004, the General Council adopted document WT/L/579 which 
contained paragraphs of specific relevance to sm all economies.  Paragraph 1(h) of the Decision 
affirmed the high priority given to the non-negotia ting elements of the Doha Work Programme such 
as paragraph 35.  She said the same paragraph 1(h) also set the time frame for the Sixth Ministerial 
Conference or the submission by the General Counc il of recommendations for action by Ministers in 
the context of the Small Economies' Work Programme .  She explained that the Ministerial Conference 
from 14 to 18 December 2005 is the Dedicated S ession's timeline for achieving a substantive, 
concrete and conclusive outcome to the Work Pr ogramme on Small Economies.  She explained that 
document WT/L/579 also contained an element in sub-paragraph 1(d) entitled "Other Development 
Issues".  This paragraph affirmed the need for Memb ers to give special attention to the specific trade 
and development needs of developing countries dur ing the course of the market access negotiations.  
It also called for the trade-related issues relevant to small and vulnerable ec onomies to be addressed in 
order to achieve the fuller integration of these count ries into the multilateral trading system.  She said 
it was the view of small economy delegations that  the time had come for the concerns of small 
economies to be examined and addressed in the cont ext of the Doha negotia tions, including the new 
negotiations on trade facilitation and that this must  be done in a manner which preserves the integrity 
of the work programme under paragraph 35 of th e Doha Declaration.  She recalled that small 
economy delegations make contributions in the D oha market access negotiations according to their  WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
 Page 3 
 
 
 capacity and that, overall, delegations accord great importance to the July Decision.  She said they 
remained eager to engage in cons tructive and results-oriented discussions  with their trading partners.  
6. The representative of Paraguay  said that in looking beyond the explicit acknowledgement 
formulated in paragraph 35 of the Doha Declara tion and July's General Council Decision, the issues 
currently affecting small economies constitute a real  and tangible problem.  He explained that there 
were many developing countries in the world, yet some found it particularly hard to integrate into the 
globalized world economy, mainly because of structur al and economic reasons:  e.g. the absence of a 
coastline, the dependency on limite d export commodities and small ma rkets.  He added that the 
problems affecting small and vulne rable economies had existed for a long time, but had grown worse 
lately due to a number of factors including the pace of trade and communication and the growing 
importance of the role of foreign direct investment  in an economy's development.  Consequently, the 
gap that separated these countries from all other developing and developed countries had widened.  
Such countries would be unable to bridge this ga p unless special measures were adopted to provide 
assistance.  He said it was important to acknowledge this reality. 
7. He wanted to thank the Agency for Interna tional Trade Information and Cooperation (AITIC) 
for making a valuable contribution to the debate in  the form of their recent study entitled "Small and 
Vulnerable Economies:  The Specific Problems of Landlocked Developing Countries", which has 
been distributed to all WTO Members.  He said th e study provided a clear description of his country's 
situation and the various elements that had to be taken into account if it was to be addressed properly. 
8. He explained that various de legations which thought of th emselves as "small and vulnerable 
economies," had already formulated   proposals within the framework  of the  Committee on Trade and 
Development with a view to addressing the particular  difficulties faced by these countries.  They  had 
done so, however, without attempting to create a sub category of countries within this organization.  
Among them was Paraguay, which, in conjunc tion with Bolivia and Mongolia, has submitted 
document WT/COMTD/SE/W/10 for discussion. 
9. The representative of Paraguay continued by saying that Members had at their disposal a 
number of working papers designed to help reflect on the problem and to find valid solutions capable 
of commanding consensus.  The existing proposals might not, however, be enough, and he said his 
delegation felt that several more should be put forw ard, especially by the developed countries which 
had so far only commented and asked questions on the proposals submitted. 
10. In his opinion, the work car ried out by the Committee on Trade and Development on devising 
the Programme for Small Economies must have a fixe d deadline, a date by which the task must be 
completed.  The Decision adopted by the General Council on 31 July appeared to indicate that the 
work should be finished in time for the Sixth Minist erial Conference.  Nevertheless, to ensure that 
work was completed within the set time frame, he pr oposed that the Chair set a specific date close to 
the Ministerial Conference in order to finalize th e Programme for Small Economies.  He wanted such 
a programme to be adopted by the Ministers at their meeting in Hong Kong, China in December 2005. 
11. He stressed that the delegation of Paraguay appreci ated the Chair's concern and effort to fulfil 
the mandate conferred on the Committee.  He suggest ed that the Chair convene a number of informal 
meetings and consultations, not onl y between the delegations of sma ll economies, but also with other 
interested delegations, so that the problems i nvolved in creating the Work Programme, along with 
possible solutions, could be addressed in an informal atmosphere. 
12. He said he wanted to emphasize his delegation's satisfaction with the start of the work of the 
Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation.  He felt that small economies, and particularly the 
landlocked developing countries, were aware that a significant number of their concerns could be 
addressed within the framework of these negotiations, above all those relating to the transit of goods WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
Page 4  
 
 through foreign territories, an essential factor in increasing exports and expanding the investment that 
was needed in order to develop. 
13. The representative of Bolivia
 said he shared the views expressed by some delegations in the 
room, particularly the statement made by the delega tion of Barbados.  He said he was anxious to make 
progress on the Work Programme for Small Economies.  
14. He explained that all WTO Members endorsed paragraph 35 of the Declaration and the new 
negotiating phase that began in July 2004.  He sai d small economy issues were wisely included in the 
development section of the July Decision and that  the section required "the need to pay special 
attention to the specific trade – and development– related needs and concerns - of the developing 
countries".  He said that in order to put guidelines in practice by the time of the Hong Kong 
Ministerial, past proposals would have to be re-e xamined.  He mentioned a recent document by the 
AITIC which had been circulated to Members.  He said the paper referred to the specific problems of 
land-locked developing countries and that it might be useful in the Dedicated Session's discussions.  
15. The representative of Honduras  said he endorsed the statement made by the delegation of 
Barbados.  He said Honduras attached great importan ce to the meeting because it was the first to take 
place since the arduous task of completing the "July Decision".  He said his country attached 
considerable importance to the Work Programme on Small Economies and that his delegation had 
co-sponsored a number of proposals which aimed at  contributing to a constructive discussion and 
achieving concrete results in this area.  He explai ned that international trade played a key role in 
promoting economic development.  It could create j obs and help alleviate poverty.  He recalled that 
most of the Members of the WTO were developing countries and that a great many of them were 
small economies that faced serious difficulties inte grating into the world's trading system.  The 
programme agreed in Doha aimed at framing responses to trade-related issues for the fuller integration of small economies into  the multilateral trading system.  He said that the objective of 
paragraph 35 of the Ministerial Declaration was to find solutions to the problems experienced by 
small economies. 
16. He explained that under the framework and pr ocedures for the implementation of the Work 
Programme on Small Economies of 1 March 2002, Members were urged to provide inputs to the 
Committee on Trade and Development.  A number of Members had submitted proposals.  The framework and procedures also ask the WTO Secretar iat to provide information and relevant factual 
analyses of a number of issues.  He wished to express his appreciation for the work done by the WTO Secretariat in three notes, each of which reflected  outstanding research.  However, he said the task 
was not yet complete, especially since the mandate  of the General Council clearly identified other 
themes that called for additional work, more informa tion on and further factual analysis of the impact 
of the WTO rules on small economies, the constraints facing them and the consequences of trade liberalization for those economies.  He asked what needed to be done to give full effect to the 
instructions given by the Ministers in Doha and th e July Work Programme so that concrete results 
could be achieved by the Ministerial Conference at the end of 2005. 
17. He said the WTO cannot make progress solely in areas of interest to a specific group of WTO 
Members and that there would not be a balanced  work programme unless its outcome took into 
account the interests of small economies.  
18. The representative of the Dominican Republic
 said she endorsed the statement made by 
Barbados.  She referred to paragraph (d) of th is reference document of the July Decision which 
reaffirmed the commitment by Ministers, in paragr aph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, to 
establish a work programme to examine issues relati ng to the trade of small economies and to achieve 
the fuller integration of these economies into the multila teral trading system.  She said that in this 
connection, the Dominican Republic wished to hi ghlight the unique problems small economies  faced  WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
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 and the barriers that were difficult for them to overcom e.  The latter included:  low, if not insignificant 
participation in world trade, a considerable de pendency on exports and im ports, concentration of 
exports on a few products, dependency on just a few markets and frequent natural disasters. 
19. She said these difficulties were compounded by ex ternal factors such as the recent financial 
crisis, which further increased the vulnerability of  the Dominican Republic and led to a decline in 
GDP and high inflation rates.  She said that desp ite the efforts made by small economies to comply 
with the rules and standards of the multilateral trad ing system, many of these very rules and standards 
were a threat to economic, political and social stab ility since they imposed obligations without taking 
into account the specificities and constraints of small economies.  She a dded that the WTO Work 
Programme on Small Economies should serve as a ba sis for recognizing the unique situation of small 
economies and should prompt the adoption of specifi c measures aimed at resolving specific problems 
and contributing to their integration into the multilateral trading system. 
20. The representative of Guatemala  said his delegation wished to support the statement made by 
Barbados, particularly the comments made on the ap proach that should be adopted in advancing and 
structuring the issues of concern to  small economies within the WTO. 
21. He said Guatemala attached great importanc e to the problems of small, developing 
economies.  In the context of the Doha Declarati on, he said Guatemala, like many other countries in 
the WTO, encouraged the need  for WTO Members to respond to  the difficulties facing small, 
developing economies.  He added that the July D ecision, which was the result of arduous negotiation 
among the WTO Members, built on the work carried out  in Doha and promoted, in a new negotiating 
context, the issue of small developing economies.  He said it was an issue that had to be addressed 
during the negotiations to ensure that these ec onomies benefit and become more integrated. 
22. The representative of Antigua and Barbuda  said he supported the statement made by 
Barbados.  He said he was especially pleased that the meeting of the Dedicated Session coincided with Geneva Week which provided non-resident  Members with a better understanding of how 
multilateral trade rules are negotiated.  He said ever y country faced limitations  in the availability of 
resources, but asked Members to im agine the dilemma of being small.  In the world economy, he said 
small economies were price takers.  He explained that the markets of small economies were subjected 
to international standards that did not take into c onsideration the constraints of small economies.  In 
addition, he said, Members only had to look at th e devastating effect of natural disasters on small 
countries like Grenada to understand the vulnerabiliti es of being small.  He  commended the General 
Council Decision of 1 August 2004 for reaffirming th e high priority placed on the small economies in 
the "July Decision" and for reiterating the important work to be done on paragraph 35 of the Doha 
Ministerial Declaration.  He said the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December 2005 should achieve a concrete outcome of the Work Programme  on Small Economies.  In any case, the integrity 
of the Work Programme as mandated in paragraph 35 should be preserved.  He concluded by saying 
that his hope was for trade to contribute to th e development of his government's citizens in a 
meaningful way.  He said this could be achieved through greater levels of flexibilities that would 
allow small economies to integrate into the multilatera l trading system.  He said he looked forward to 
a discussion on how to move the Work Programme for Small Economies forward in a universally 
progressive way. 
23. The representative of Mauritius
 said he also supported the statement made by Barbados.  He 
said paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declarat ion conferred a crucial mandate to the WTO to 
facilitate the integration of sma ll vulnerable economies into the global trading system.  He said this 
political imperative was further emphasized in the Monterrey Consensus and at the World Summit on 
Sustainable Development held in South Africa.  He said it was not necessary to elaborate on the 
specific problems faced by small and vulnerable econom ies since these had been fully explored in the 
context of the Work Programme on Small Economies over the past two years.  He said it was now WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
Page 6  
 
 time to change gear and work towards the construc tion of an operational set of recommendations that 
would effectively assist countries facing such constraints.  He explained that the July Decision had infused a new dynamism into the WTO system an d that the WTO had demonstrated that it could 
deliver.  He believed one such deliverable woul d be a workable package on small economies that 
would address the development and trade-related n eeds of small economies.  The July Decision had 
fixed a time-line and required Members to subm it recommendations to the Sixth Ministerial 
Conference. He stressed that Members must theref ore not miss this deadline.  He said he had 
emphasized that it was important that a real  sense of ownership was built around the Work 
Programme on Small Economies.  This did not have to  be viewed as being divisive or discriminatory. 
It only meant addressing specific situations faced by specific countries by adapting the concept of 
special and differential treatment so that it would a ddress a diversity of development needs.  He added 
that the participation of devel oped and developing countries a like would be most appropriate. 
24. He added that as a small island developing state, Mauritius lived with a permanent 
vulnerability and struggle to develop its economy.  He  said his delegation was eager to engage in this 
new phase of work on small economies in the run-up  to the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting and that 
he believed this could be done by  calling a number of informal meetings to address the specifics and 
to propose a set of acceptable recommendations. 
25. The representative of Trinidad and Tobago
 said her delegation supported the intervention 
made by Barbados.  She said it was important that  the work conducted in the Dedicated Session now 
become action oriented so that Members could fulfil the mandate under paragraph 35.  She said 
substantial work had already been done by several delegations and that Members now had to build on 
this work to ensure that the needs of small and vulnerable econom ies were adequately addressed by 
the WTO. 
26. The representative of Jamaica  said she welcomed the Decision adopted by the General 
Council on 1 August 2004 as it related to  small economies.  She added th at the relevant paragraph of 
the Decision – 1(d) did not only refer to the Sma ll Economies Work Programme in paragraph 35 of 
the Doha Ministerial Declaration, but also placed the issue of small economies within the context of 
the ongoing market access negotiations.  She expect ed Members to show a requisite level of 
receptivity to proposals related to the interests of small economies in these negotiations.  She added 
that it was her understanding that in keeping with pa ragraph 1(h) of the July Decision and the Doha 
mandate, the work on small economies should be  reported to the Sixth Session of the WTO's 
Ministerial Conference.  She said her government wi shed to see an acceleration of the work on the 
Small Economies Work Programme.   
27. The representative of Cuba  said she supported the statements  made by Barbados and other 
delegations.  She explained that pa ragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration and the relevant paragraphs of 
the July Decision were a recognition by the multilate ral trading system of the difficulties faced by a 
group of countries due to a combination of internal  and external factors.  She said Members should 
not miss the opportunity to formulate action oriented recommendations so they can be  agreed by the 
Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China in D ecember 2005.  She added that several studies 
recognized vulnerability as an important limitatio n for the commercial performance of small 
economies so it was incumbent on the WTO to addr ess those issues related to trade and multilateral 
rules that contribute to exacerbate these limitatio ns.  She explained that the reliance of these 
economies on foreign trade and investment was wide ly known, as well as the limitations to develop 
import substitution and export divers ification policies.  Exports from small economies  were generally 
based on a reduced range of goods and services and we re concentrated towards the markets of a few 
countries which generated a great dependency in th eir economic stability.  She said that given their 
insignificant trade volume in comparison with the dimension of the world market, small economies 
had no control over the prices of their principal exports.  These were mainly commodities.  Small 
economies could not influence their terms of trade.  She thought that some disadvantages related to  WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
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 geographical situations. She said this affected the competitiveness of these economies and, 
notwithstanding the efforts made, their integration in  world trade.  She added that the vulnerability 
factor also limited foreign investment as small vulnerable countries were considered as high risk countries by investors.  In this sense, the work that Members could do to improve the rules and 
regulations that hamper the efforts of small economi es, was important.  She explained that this should 
also be reflected in an improvement of market access to revert the lack of commercial opportunities.  
With this goal in mind, she said her delegation considered it critical to lift policies that distort trade including unilateral trade measures that constitute  serious limitations for the good trade performance 
of some of these economies.  She stressed that small economies should find an express recognition, 
greater flexibility and treatment adjust ed to their particular situation, that responded to their specific 
developments needs.  She said that these particular ities were identified and brought to the attention of 
Members in document WT/COMTD/SE/W/1/Rev.1 and that her delegation considered that it was 
time to focus work on concrete actions and recommendations contained in documents 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/3, WT//COMTD/SE/W/10 and WT/COMTD/SE/W/11.  She said she supported Paraguay's proposal for informal meetings to be convened, as required, to move forward the Work 
Programme on Small Economies.  
28. The representative of Japan
 said paragraph 35 was highlighted in the July Decision and the 
importance of small economies restated.  He said Japan was ready to continue its work on this issue.  He added that Japan had requested more clarifica tion on some of the specific proposals at the last 
Dedicated Session in May 2004 and that he wished to emphasize that if the Dedicated Session was now to discuss the proposals, Members should take in to account the mandate given in paragraph 35 of 
the Doha Declaration, namely to identify the sp ecific difficulties for small economies and to discuss 
the appropriate responses.  He said Members shoul d always keep in mind that no sub-category of 
WTO Members should be created.  A question raised  in the past concerned whether the proposals 
applied exclusively to small economies or whether they would also apply to other countries.  He said Members should concentrate on how they can respo nd within the mandate of the WTO.  He said 
proposals tabled at the meeting in May 2004 raised  many points which were beyond the capacity of 
the WTO.  He said it was difficult for his delegati on to accept that different and permanent treatment 
should be granted to countries because it was geogra phic constraints.  Finally, he said some of the 
proposals raised so far have also been taken up in other forums in the WTO but in a broader context.  
His delegation wished to avoid duplicating the work  unless there is a specific agreement on a problem 
being related to small economies.  He added that his delegation looked forward to hearing more from 
the proponents on their proposals. 
29. The representative of Rwanda
 said she agreed with the statement made by Barbados and 
Paraguay.  She said it was essential that Members advance work in this area and concentrate on finding solutions.  She was glad that the July Deci sion had set the deadline of the Sixth Ministerial 
Conference.  She said she agreed with the proposals to  move ahead with work in informal sessions as 
had been proposed.  Finally, she wanted to also  mention the category of small economies which are 
also landlocked.  Of the 31 landlocked countries in the world, 50 per cent of them  were LDCs.  This is 
not just because of chance but because of structur al difficulties which work against these countries 
and keep them from being competitive.  She added that these specific problems were also linked to 
market access questions.  She explained that he r delegation was ready to work on the specific 
proposals and achieve results before the Ministerial Conference.   
30. The representative of Chad
 asked whether or not the Work Programme for Small Economies 
and especially the July Decision included issues concerning trade and cotton and whether work on 
cotton in the Dedicated Session would be conducted in  parallel with work to be carried out on the 
recently established Sub-Committee on Cotton.   
31. The representative of the Solomon Islands  said he supported the intervention made by 
Barbados.  He said the July Decision offered the opportunity for small economies to take their WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
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 proposals directly to the negotiating bodies, especially in regard to preferences and market access.  He 
also said he was pleased that the focus on paragraph 35 was to be maintained.  
32. The representative of El Salvador
 said his delegation greatly valued the Work Programme for 
Small Economies.  He said it should be a concrete pr ogramme of work in conformity with the Doha 
mandate and the July Decision adopted by the General Council.  His delegation welcomed the 
intervention made by Barbados.  He said Minist ers had confided in the Members to establish a 
programme of work to examine questions of releva nce for the trade of small economies and in this 
way to achieve a better integration into the inte rnational trading system.  He said his country 
supported trade liberalization.  However, it was also necessary to address concerns and limitations.  
He said it was very important to use the mandate and work programme to achieve the objectives and 
to arrive at concrete results in tim e for the next Ministerial Conference. 
33. The representative of Peru  said his delegation supported the interventions by Barbados and 
Paraguay.  He said his delegation would like to re iterate a past request for concrete and specific 
proposals to advance the work progr amme in a practical way.  He said the mandate provided by 
paragraph 35 of the Doha Declaration was also addr essed in the July Decision adopted by the General 
Council.   
34. The representative of Saint Lucia  said he supported the intervention made by Barbados.  He 
said the challenge now was to move the debate away from just a discussion amongst small economies 
to seriously engaging the wider membership and to do so in a more tangible way than had been done before.  He said there was a tremendous amount of  work to do before th e deadline or the next 
Ministerial in Hong Kong, China.  He said other Members needed to be convinced about what the 
proponents were doing.  Based on the report of the l ast meeting in May, it appeared there was not a 
great understanding of the task of the Dedicated Session.   He said that at the last meeting there were 
several references to the fact that paragraph 35 stat ed that there was to be no new sub-categories of 
countries.  But, this is not what the Work Programme  is about.  He said that Ministers realized that 
economic smallness imposed serious constraints on th e development possibilities of countries and that 
these related to the countries' inability to benefit from economies of scale.  Both are known as being 
essential to economic development and to a successful integration into the global economy.  He said 
the wider membership of the WTO needed to be convinced to examine the real problems.  A sub-
category was not the issue.  He explained that Me mbers needed to find some means of addressing the 
constraints which small economies face.  Unless th e interests of small ec onomies were taken into 
account in Hong Kong, China a balanced outcome w ould not be possible.  He said the responsibility 
also lies with small economies themselves.  They we re to be the beneficiaries and have to present a 
clear case to the Members.  He said there we re many, genuine developing country issues which 
needed to be addressed during the round.  Howe ver, the Small Economies Work Programme should 
not be used as a convenient shopping list where ever y thing is added.  He said there are certain 
structural issues which developing countries faced su ch as issues of remoteness, issues of insularity 
and issues related to lack of access to the sea. He sa id these issues are not issues of smallness.  He 
emphasized that smallness is a distinct concept a nd said that if the elements are confused, Members 
would not be able to present proposals to the wide r Membership which were sufficiently clear.  He 
added that action needed to be taken, but that such  action needed to be accompanied by a change of 
direction.  He called for pragmatism a nd a focus on the concrete proposals.  
35. The representative of Fiji
 said that Fiji was a non-resident Member and lacked capacity to 
follow all the work in Geneva.  She supported the intervention made by Barbados and by Saint Lucia 
and by the delegations of the Solo mon Islands and the Pacific Islands Forum.  She said it seemed that 
there had not been much progress.  Nevertheless, her delegation welcomed the developments of the 
July Decision and hoped for some kind of resolu tion before the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.  WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
 Page 9 
 
 
 36. The representative of the European Communities  said he would try to answer the three 
questions raised by the Chair.  He agreed with  Fiji that work in the Dedicated Session was not 
progressing very quickly but said that that was because  delegations had been wo rking on other matters 
since the last meeting in May.  He said his delega tion continued to fully support the objectives of the 
work programme in terms of supporting the integra tion of small and vulnerable economies into the 
trading system and doing so within the constraints of paragraph 35.  He said the EC had taken part 
both in formal and informal discussions on th e proposals – particularly those in document 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/3.  He said the time may be right to re-visit some of these proposals.  He said the 
July Decision keeps the Doha Development Agenda firmly on track and that the Work Programme for 
Small Economies remained an important part.  He sai d he agreed with what some had already stated 
in so far as in the WTO, an Organization with near ly 150 Members, the balance of interests had to be 
in equilibrium for the Organization as a whole to move forward.  The July Decision provided momentum for the WTO and the Doha Agenda and the Dedicated Session to use that momentum.  
Even if the reference to the work programme was short, it was a positive one and reiterated the 
importance that was attached to the achievement of  the specific mandate given in Doha.  He said the 
EC was ready to work with small economies and a ll other Members to move things forward.  His 
delegation was prepared to again look at the proposals that have been tabled so far.  He added that 
previous discussions had focussed on re-visiting some of  the proposals in terms of some of the details.  
He said his delegation had expressed an interest in looking more closely at proposals that dealt with 
the development of regional capacity  and institutional capacity in are as such as the rules concerning 
trade defence instruments and rules for technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary 
measures.  He agreed with many other delegations  that the idea to hold meetings in informal sessions 
could help move the work forward.  He also ag reed with Saint Lucia that Members should move 
ahead with specific proposals in the context of specific constraints faced by small and vulnerable economies in the hope of finding appropriate responses.  He shared the view of others that some of the 
issues in the proposals were not just limited to small economies and might concern other developing 
countries as well.  In those area s concerning specific WTO obligations and rights, his delegation 
thought those issues should be addressed in the appropr iate negotiating context whether that be in the 
Agriculture group or the NAMA group or the new group on trade facilitation or in the area of rules.  
In conclusion, he said the EC wished to reiterate its support for the work pr ogramme and its readiness 
to work towards moving things forward.  
37. The representative of Costa Rica
 said that because of Members' efforts, the July Decision was 
a success and represented a balanced package of results.  He said that a way to work would be to 
examine the special and differential treatment for small economies in the context of the multilateral 
trading system.  In this context, something which is often forgotten concerns the case of exporters.  
He referred to interventions by Japan and Peru  about how to conduct the work for small economies 
but to do so in the context of the Doha mandate a nd without creating a sub-category of Members.  He 
said his delegation was ready to contribute  in a practical and constructive way. 
38. The representative of St. Vincent and the Grenadines  said he was concerned about the slow 
pace of work on small economies to date.  He said  he supported the comments made by the delegation 
of Barbados and explained that the Ministers in D oha recognized the difficulties of small economies.  
He said the work to be done in Geneva involved putting together a work plan which moved towards a 
balanced outcome.  He called for greater political w ill to be shown by Members.  He said countries 
such as his did not have a presence in Geneva. He said it is occasions such as meetings of the 
Dedicated Session that his voice had to be heard to relate the uniqueness of small economies.  He referred to Grenada and the recent devastating hurri cane which ruined the island's infrastructure.  He 
hoped that in the run up to December 2005, work in Geneva would truly address the issues and result 
in a roadmap that addresses the uniqu e characteristics of small economies. 
39. The representative of the United States
 said she wished to thank Barbados for an overview of 
the steps taken to identify some of the problems a nd challenges.  She referred to certain Secretariat WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
Page 10  
 
 papers drafted in 2002 and said they could prove usef ul in furthering the Dedicated Session's work.  
She said they contained useful analysis and backgr ound materials and explained that progress in the 
working group was more likely in areas where propo nents could articulate the unique characteristics 
associated with small economies.  Sh e said she shared views expressed so far and those of Japan that 
some of the proposals put forward to date did not reflect the unique characteristics of small 
economies.  These were still challenges in the worki ng group.  She said her de legation had found that 
work in small groups was very useful in moving the process forward.  The proposal from the US, both 
in the Dedicated Session and in the subsidies workin g group, showed that her delegation was trying to 
be pragmatic.  She said Members had to keep pragma tism in mind.  She said she was prepared to re-
visit some of the proposals which were on the tabl e and that it was also important to engage the 
broader Membership in finding solutions.  She sai d there was a new momentum coming from the July 
Decision and that it should be used.  She added that  the efforts by the various negotiating groups last 
July had produced results.  However, it was necessar y to avoid duplicating work being undertaken in 
other areas, in particular the work underway in the CTD Special Session.  She al so agreed with others 
that work in the Dedicated S ession in informal mode could help move the process forward.  
40. The representative of Colombia
 said her delegation welcomed and recognized the efforts to 
address the specific concerns of small economies.  Her delegation appreciated the past proposals and 
believed that the debate which ha d been conducted over the last year s had demonstrated the diversity 
of the issues.  She added that her delegation fe lt that the July Decision provided an appropriate 
decision to continue examining the issues which were related to trade in order to better integrate small 
economies into the multilateral trading system.  She said her delegation wished to join others which 
believed that some of the specific issues would ha ve to be addressed in other negotiating fora where 
solutions to specific concerns could be found w ithout duplicating work.  She thought it was important 
that all the discussions and debates remain within  the framework that was set up under paragraph 35 
of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.  She added th at she agreed with Japan  on the need for tangible 
responses to the numerous questions which had been posed so far.   
41. The representative of Belize  said the 8th Dedicated Session was important since it was the first 
meeting on small economies since the agreement on th e July Decision.  She said she endorsed the 
comments made by Barbados and others on the Wo rk Programme on Small Economies and that she 
looked forward to future proposals.  She added that  her government wished to associate itself with the 
statements made by St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines. 
42. The representative of Thailand  said her delegation was interested in continuing work and that 
she sympathised with the small economies.  She sa id it was appropriate to  discuss this issue and 
paragraph 35 of the Doha Decl aration in the context of the July Deci sion.  She also said that at the last 
meeting of the Dedicated Session in May 2004, ther e had been an understanding that there would be a 
revised proposal outlining the problems faced by the proponents.  She agreed with St. Lucia's 
suggestion about providing clear examples of the difficulties faced by small economies but also with 
Japan and others that some of the difficulties cite d by the proponents were also common to other 
developing countries.   
43. The representative of Mongolia  said his country's annual volume of trade was small and 
explained that his country was landlocked and wa s surrounded by two big commercial and economic 
powers.  He said Mongolia wanted to become more integrated in the world's trading system and to benefit from the advantages of such an integration.   He supported the statement made by Barbados 
and other delegations which mentioned the very sl ow pace of work on the Work Programme for Small 
Economies and said he agreed with those who wished  to ensure that the Ministerial Conference in 
2005 achieved tangible results for small economies.  He also supported the idea of holding more 
informal meetings and consultations for not only th e delegations of small economies, but for all those 
who were interested in addressing issues of  concern to small and vulnerable economies.  WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
 Page 11 
 
 
 44. The representative of St. Kitts and Nevis  said he supported the comments made by Barbados, 
St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.  He  said he came from a group of countries that was 
non-resident in Geneva and that his country was sma ll by definition.  He explained that his country 
had a population of 47,000 persons and a land mass  of 108 square miles.  Meanwhile, he said his 
country's percentage of world trade was minimal.  He added that the WTO should recognise such 
facts and address such differences in the levels of development.  He said the WTO should make 
provisions so that countries like St. Kitts and Nevis could participate in the work of the WTO.  He explained that if it was not for the technical assi stance received by the WTO for the various training 
courses and the attendance at Geneva Weeks, it woul d not be possible for his government to follow 
WTO issues.  He said small, vulnerable states mu st be allowed some flexibilities if they are to 
participate in the international trading system. 
45. The representative of Australia
 said a lot of good work had taken place in the Dedicated 
Session and in those areas of the WTO where there were specific negotiating mandates.  He said the 
outcome of that work can clearly be found mo st recently in the July Decision which provided 
Members with a forward looking work programme.  He thought work in the Dedicated Session should 
be further refined to identify what was specific to the Dedicated Session and to clarify the existing 
proposals on the table.   
46. The representative of Cuba  asked whether delegations wished to move forward within the 
framework of the Doha mandate and the July Decisi on.  She said she had taken note of the different 
qualifications and the different positions of Members and that her delegation wished to move forward 
on the basis of specific proposals which could be submitted in a timely fashion in the different 
negotiations.  She asked how the Dedicated  Session was going to organize its work.  
47. The representative of Mexico  said he wished to make three points:  the first was that he 
agreed with Saint Lucia's suggestion for the De dicated Session to focus on clear examples of 
specificities of small economies.  He also agreed w ith Thailand that some of the situations addressed 
so far also pertain to other developing countries.   He added that it was very important to frame 
discussions within paragraph 35 of the Doha Declar ation and that any creation of a sub-category be 
avoided.  His third point was to avoid any overla p of work between work in the Dedicated Session 
with work being carried out in other negotiating bodies. 
48. The Chairman  said he wished to make a brief summary of the points raised.  He was 
heartened by the fact that so many delegations wi shed to move forward with the work programme, 
especially given the importance of the Sixth Minist erial Conference in December 2005.  He said it 
was true that some questions and comments were made with respect to the lack of progress in the last 
few months.  He agreed with the EC that Member s were very focused on trying to achieve something 
not just for small economies but for the entire Doha work programme.  However, he said it was now time to move ahead.  He had taken note that some  Members were still expecting responses from the 
proponents.  He also noted the passionate contribution from St. Lucia and others that the Dedicated 
Session needed to address the issue of smallne ss as a distinct concept and address the issues 
associated with the challenges that small economies f ace.  He said he agreed with some delegations 
that Members needed "to bring the political will to resolve some of these problems".  He also referred 
to Paraguay's remarks on the need for inputs from major trading partners. 
49. The representative from Barbados
 said she wished to address some of the issues raised by 
delegations during the course of the meeting.  On e of those concerned the paragraph 35 mandate 
which explicitly says that there should be no creati on of sub-categories.  She said given the mandate, 
it would be necessary to work constructively to ach ieve a concrete outcome of the work programme 
on the basis of characteristics and needs of small economies.  She explained that small economies' delegations have often explained that the parameters of paragrap h 35 relate to sm all economic size 
and to vulnerability.  These parameters reflect the diversity of characteristic s mentioned or listed in WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
Page 12  
 
 document WT/COMTD/SE/W/1/Rev.1 and which have  been referred to by many delegations 
including the Dominican Republic and St. Lucia.  She said the problems had been presented and, in 
some instances also refined, in document s WT/COMTD/SE/W/3, WT/COMTD/SE/W/10 and 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/11.  She welcomed the opportunity to engage in consultations and to commence 
on drafting responses and solutions.  She said a second issue raised by many delegations was that 
some of the issues raised by small economies in  the various proposals were not unique to small 
economies.  She explained that during the course of  discussions over the years it had become evident 
that some of the constraints identified by sm all economies could be f ound in other developing 
countries.  She added that it was a combination of the disadvantages and the inability of small, 
vulnerable economies to deal with these disadva ntages which made small economies worthy of 
special consideration.  She further explained that it was this inability and lack of capacity to deal with 
crises and shocks of all types wh ich was a constant and underlying reality.  She said the inability to be 
resilient was due uniquely to the constraints of small size.  This affected the ability of small 
economies to trade and to participate in the multilatera l trading system.  She  said she wished to draw 
attention to the importance of the July Decision a nd to its importance to the next phase of the Work 
Programme on Small Economies.  She welcomed the willingness expressed by delegations to work 
towards the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference as  the agreed time frame for the adoption of a 
substantive, concrete and tangible outcome to the Work Programme on Small Economies. 
50. The representative of Paraguay
 said several delegations had raised the question of how work 
on small economies was going to relate to work be ing conducted by the specific negotiating groups.  
He said his delegation was concerned because work  on small economies should have its own focus 
and that was why the work programme should not lose sight of finding specific proposals for small 
economies.  He explained that in his opinion, the issues of concern to small economies would not be treated in an adequate fashion in the negotiati ng groups and would not receive the attention they 
deserve. 
51. The Chairman
 said Members certainly had a challenge before them.  He said if a Member 
raised a matter of interest to small economies but that the matter did not receive enough attention, 
then the responsibility was for the Dedicated Session to  address the matter.  He explained that if the 
CTD in Dedicated Session agreed on one or two or any number of proposals, then the CTD could arrange for those proposals to be taken to the Genera l Council.  He explained that the mandate of the 
Dedicated Session allowed the CTD to report to the General Council and that it was the responsibility 
of the proponents to ensure that their concerns  were addressed.  He reminded Members that the 
Committee was asked to address fuller integration or to frame responses for the fuller integration of 
small, vulnerable economies and was asked to do so  without forming any new category of Members.  
He explained that it was important for the CTD to  understand how it could move forward but within 
the confines of paragraph 35.  He suggested holding an informal session.  He also wished to respond 
to Cuba's concern of how the CTD would monito r work related to small economies if the CTD 
decided to spread the work out into negotiating bodies.  He added that this question arose in the CTD 
Regular Session in regard to a discussion on comm odities. He recalled that even though commodity 
issues are also discussed in the NAMA and Agriculture negotiating groups, the CTD Regular Session 
remained the central point for discussion on commodit y issues.  So, the CTD in Regular Session will 
not be relinquishing any responsibility for the monitori ng of progress of the commodity matters.  He 
said the CTD in Special Session recently called on Me mbers to carefully monitor what special and 
differential treatment matters were being addressed in the negotiating bodies.  The call was for the 
CTD in Special Session to establish a monitoring m echanism that could serve as a contact point for 
Chairpersons and provide feedback from the Secretar iat.  This way the CTD in Special Session could 
monitor the special and differential tr eatment work in other bodies.   
52. The representative of Cuba
 said her delegation thought it was very important to create a 
mechanism which was coherent.  Special and diffe rential treatment was supposed to help Members  WT/COMTD/SE/M/8 
 Page 13 
 
 
 address some of the specific problems.  She thought the CTD could play a more important role in 
backing the different proposals which had b een submitted in the negotiating bodies. 
53. The representative of the Pacific Island Forum  said she supported the intervention made by 
Barbados.  She said a window of opportunity was open to table proposals to the negotiating bodies under paragraph 1(d) of the July Decision.  She said it was the intention of the Forum to continue to 
pursue the work programme under paragraph 35 of the Doha mandate and that it was committed to 
achieving tangible results by the mid-term review in 2005 in preparation for the Sixth Ministerial 
meeting in Hong Kong, China.  
54. The Chairman
 said a challenge in the WTO was to achie ve elegant solutions.  He said that if 
there was a consensus on how to fo rward work in the CTD, then the CTD could make the necessary 
recommendations to the General Council.  He calle d for more informal meetings to meet that 
objective. 
C. OTHER BUSINESS  
55. No issue was raised under "Oth er Business".  The Chairman  adjourned the meeting. 
 
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