. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/L/853 
2 May 2012 
 (12-2345) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
BRICS TRADE MINI STERS STATEMENT 
 
PUERTO VALLARTA, MEXICO 
 
19 APRIL 2012 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 1 May 2012, is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of India.  
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 1. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa welcome the initiative taken by Mexico in 
hosting the first G20 Trade Ministers' Meeting and e xpect it to achieve positive results, contributing to 
strengthening the multilateral trading system and en suring strong, sustainable and balanced growth 
and development. 
2. The BRICS countries take note of the increasing role  of global value chains in trade.  They 
note that many sectors, industries and even countries  are not participating in global value chains as 
fully as some others.  In order for global value chains to serve as instruments of growth and 
development, it would be important to develop a d eeper understanding of their developmental impact 
and the conditions under which they can be used to achieve long-term socio-economic gains.  In 
addition, attention should be paid to not im pose obstacles for the development and effective 
functioning of global value chains, for protectionist r easons.  In this context, it would be useful to 
have a member-driven process, in the WTO, UNC TAD and other intergovernmental agencies, to 
examine this issue, including the identification of more accurate statistical methods to assess value 
addition. 
3. The services sector plays an important role in economic growth and development.  
Nevertheless, experiences of many countries have shown that in order to benefit from liberalization of 
services and avoid unintended consequences of pr emature liberalization, opening services markets 
should be correctly sequenced, progressive and commens urate with a country's level of development, 
strength in particular sectors and regulatory capacity .  All countries, particularly developing ones, 
should be able to benefit from ba lanced and equitable services liber alization, by gaining additional 
market access opportunities in sectors and modes of supply where they have a competitive edge. 
4. Trade Facilitation can have a dynamic effect on competitiveness and economic integration.  
However, the costs of implementing trade facilita tion measures can be a significant challenge for 
many developing countries, which have  to be met through adequate fina ncial and technical assistance.  
Due attention has also to be paid simultaneously to  the development of export-related infrastructure, 
especially in LDCs, to obtain a win-win result. 
5. Trade finance has an important role in promo ting trade through access to affordable credit 
facilities.  Trade cannot flourish without a stable international financial environment, on account of WT/L/853 
Page 2  
 
  the interconnectedness of the financial markets.  Th is calls for better and more  effective regulation of 
financial markets and supervision of the banking sy stem.  Regulatory failures in financial markets can 
lead to financial crises and in turn adversely a ffect the availability of trade finance.  Excessive 
liquidity in some countries impacts others as well. 
6. Trade can create growth opportunities and tr ade reforms can reinforce an effective 
development strategy, but trade openness by itself is not sufficient to ensure growth, development and 
social inclusiveness.  Other co mplementary policies are needed for this purpose such as sound 
macroeconomic management, efficient trade in stitutions, investments in human capital and 
infrastructure, adjustment support, and the rule of  law.  A level playing field, that addresses the 
current inequities in global trade,  is also essential.  In particular, trade rules and market opening 
should apply to all economic sectors, including ag riculture, while incorpor ating special flexibilities 
and "policy space" for developing countries. 
7. The net employment effects of increased trad e may be positive if other country specific 
factors such as functioning of the labour and prod uct markets, competitiven ess of specific sectors and 
general macroeconomic framework,  act in a favourable manner. 
8. Bearing in mind the positive role that trade can play in boosting and sustaining global 
demand, fostering job creation and increasing th e potential for growth and development, we 
emphasize the need to resist protectionism in all its forms and to promote international trade, while 
respecting the WTO consistent policy space availa ble to developing countries to pursue their 
legitimate objectives of growth, development and stability. We encourage the WTO, UNCTAD and 
other international agencies to complement thei r on-going monitoring of trade and trade related 
measures with a deeper analysis of the impacts of these measures on trade flows. 
9. We urge our fellow G20 Trade Ministers to st rengthen coordination in promoting a concerted 
response to current economic uncertainties.  "Win -win" trade policies will be central to global 
recovery.  We, therefore, call upon our fellow G-20 Tr ade Ministers to identif y ways to improve the 
multilateral trading system so that all economies may pursue a sustainable and "development-
friendly" integration in global trade, including adjustment strategies for their industries and 
workforce, as well as the appropriate social and sect oral policies to respond to existing structural 
vulnerabilities.  The conclusion of the Doha Devel opment Round would be a significant step in this 
direction.  The BRICS WTO members will continue their efforts for the successful conclusion of the 
Doha Round, based on the progress made and in keeping with its mandate, while upholding the 
principles of transparency, incl usiveness and multilateralism.  We  encourage all G20 economies to 
work constructively toward this end in pursu ance of the collective decision taken at the 8
th WTO 
Ministerial Conference. 
10. In this context, we also look forward to a successful conclusion of the UNCTAD XIII in Doha 
which will provide a useful opportunity to highlight the central role of UNCTAD in the area of trade, 
development and interrelated issues.  We reaffi rm the need to strengthen UNCTAD's traditional 
activities of consensus building, policy dialo gue, research, technical cooperation and capacity 
building, so that it can continue to contribute effectively to its development mandate. 
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