. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/COMTD/SE/7 
17 October 2011 
 (11-5136) 
Committee on Trade and Development 
Dedicated Session  
 
 
 
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT  
IN DEDICATED SESSION TO THE GENERAL COUNCIL 
 
 I. INTRODUCTION 
1. In paragraph 35 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration Members agreed to a work programme 
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.  Members were instructed not to 
create a sub-category of WTO Members and to report to the General Council which, in turn, was to 
review the work programme and make recommenda tions for action.  Since then, Members have 
issued three such reports:  WT/COMTD/SE/ 1, WT/COMTD/SE/4 and WT/COMTD/SE/6 in 
July 2003, November 2005 and October 2009, respectively. 
2. In 2009, the General Council took note of th e most recent report of the Committee on Trade 
and Development (CTD) in Dedicated Sess ion's activities (WT/COMTD/SE/6) since the 
6
th Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong and forwarded it to the 7th Ministerial Conference.  Since 
that report, Dedicated Sessions of the CTD ha ve been held on 8 December 2010 and on 10 and 
13 October 2011.  The reports of these meetings  are contained in documents WT/COMTD/SE/M/21 
and WT/COMTD/SE/M/221. 
3. In the framework and procedures for the conduct of the Work Programme on Small 
Economies, the General Council had agreed that th e Work Programme would be "a standing item on 
its agenda and that the CTD would report regularly  to the General Council on the progress of work in 
the dedicated sessions".  Since the 7th Ministerial Conference, oral progress reports by the CTD 
Chairmen were made at each of the General C ouncil meetings, specifically on 22 February, 4 May, 
29 July, 21 October and 14 December 2010 and 22 February, 3 May and 27 July 2011.2   
II. SUBMISSIONS AND PROCEEDINGS 
4. There have been two meetings of the CTD in Dedicated Sessions since the 7th Ministerial 
Conference.  At the 21st Dedicated Session on 8 December 2010,  Members discussed a revised paper 
(WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.5) which compiles all th e proposals made by the proponents of small 
and vulnerable economies in the negotiating grou ps and other WTO bodies since the launch of the 
Doha Development Agenda (DDA).  They also discussed a submission by Barbados in WT/COMTD/SE/W/24 titled "Communication from Barb ados on Behalf of Small and Vulnerable 
Economies (SVEs) on SVE Assessment of the Doha Round".  At the 22
nd Dedicated Session on 10 
and 13 October 2011, Members discussed a fu rther revision to the compilation paper in 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.6 and a draft repo rt to the General Council in document 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/25.  On 13 October, Members reconvened and adopted the draft Dedicated 
                                                      
1 To be issued. 
2 The reports of these meetings are contained in documents WT/GC/M/125, WT/GC/M/126, 
WT/GC/M/127, WT/GC/M/128, WT/GC/M/129, WT/GC/M/130, WT/GC/M/131 and WT/GC/M/132. WT/COMTD/SE/7 
Page 2  
 
  Session's report to the General Council in doc ument WT/COMTD/SE/W/25/Rev.1, subsequently 
circulated as WT/COMTD/SE/7. 
III. FUTURE WORK 
5. Pursuant to the mandate contained in the Doha  Ministerial Declaration, the General Council 
Decision of 1 August 2004, the WTO's 6
th Ministerial Declaration in Hong Kong and the Framework 
and Procedures for the Work Programme on Small Ec onomies, issues relating to the trade of small 
economies have been examined in the Dedicated Sessions of the CTD and proposals for responses 
have been made.  However, there is a need for furt her work in order to fully achieve the mandate of 
the Doha Ministerial Declaration. 
6. The Dedicated Session of the CTD therefore proposes that the General Council recommend to 
the 8th Ministerial Conference that Ministers reaffirm  their commitment to the Work Programme on 
Small Economies and take note of all the work c onducted to date and duly reflected in document 
WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.6 and its previous revi sions.  The CTD will continue its work in 
Dedicated Sessions under the overall responsibility of the General Council and shall consider in 
further detail the proposals contained in the various submissions that have b een received to date, 
examine any additional proposals that Members might wish to submit and, where possible, and within 
its mandate, make recommendations to the General Council, on any of these proposals.  Also, the 
CTD in Dedicated Session proposes that the Genera l Council direct relevant subsidiary bodies to 
frame responses to the trade-related issues id entified by the CTD with a view to making 
recommendations for action.  It also proposes to in struct the WTO Secretariat to provide relevant 
information and factual analysis for discussion among Members in the CTD Dedicated Session, 
inter alia , in the areas identified in item k) of pa ragraph 2 of the Work Programme on Small 
Economies, and on the identification and eff ects of non-tariff measures on Small Economies. 
7. The CTD in Dedicated Session will continue mon itoring the progress of the SVE proposals in 
WTO bodies and negotiating groups with the aim of providing responses, as soon as possible, to the trade-related issues identified for the fuller inte gration of small, vulnerable economies in an 
appropriate manner in the multilateral trading system. 
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