WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  RESTRICTED 
WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
29 February 2012 
 (12-1165) 
Sub-Committee on Least-Developed Countries 
Sixty-First Session  
 
 
 
NOTE ON THE MEETING OF 19 OCTOBER 2011 
 
Chairperson:  Ambassador Steffen Smidt (Denmark) 
  
A.  A
DOPTION OF THE AGENDA  ........................................................................................................ 1  
B.  MARKET ACCESS FOR LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  ................................................................ 1  
-  Market Access for Products and Services of Export Interest to Least-Developed 
Countries (WT/COMTD/LDC/W/51) .......................................................................................... 1  
C.  EXCHANGE OF VIEWS ON THE POSSIBLE UPDATE OF THE WTO WORK PROGRAMME FOR 
THE LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (WT/COMTD /LDC/11) ......................................................... 9  
D.  PREPARATIONS FOR THE EIGHTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE OF THE WTO TO BE HELD 
FROM 15 TO 17 DECEMBER 2011 ............................................................................................... 11  
-  Arrangements to Facilitate the Participati on of Least-Developed Countries:  Briefing 
by the Secretariat ............................................................................................................ .......... 11 
E.  OTHER BUSINESS  ....................................................................................................................... 12  
 
 A. A
DOPTION OF THE AGENDA  
1. Opening the meeting, the Chairman informed  Members that the delegation of China had 
requested to make a statement under item B of the ag enda.  He also proposed that item D of the draft 
agenda be taken up prior to th e consideration of item C. 
2. The Sub-Committee adopted the agenda, cont ained in WTO/AIR/3818, as amended.   
B. MARKET ACCESS FOR LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES  
- Market Access for Products and Services of Expor t Interest to Least-Developed Countries 
(WT/COMTD/LDC/W/51) 
3. The Chairman recalled that according to th e Work Programme for the Least-Developed 
Countries (LDCs), the Secretariat had been prepari ng a document every year to facilitate the annual 
review of market access for products originating fro m LDCs.  The latest mark et access review by the 
Secretariat was contained in WT/COMTD/LDC/W/51.   
4. The representative of the Secretariat (Director, Development Division) made some 
introductory remarks on the Note.  He said that th e document contained information on trends in LDC 
trade, as well as LDC market access conditions.  He added that information on tariff treatment faced 
by LDC exports in developed and developing country  markets had also become a regular feature of 
the Note.   WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
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  5. He went on to say that one of the salient f eatures of the 2011 market access study was the 
inclusion of detailed information, to the extent possible, on preferen ces enjoyed by the LDCs in their 
export markets, including duty-free treatment given to LDC products.  Tables 11 and 12 of the Note 
provided data on tariff treatment faced by LDCs in developed and developing countries, respectively, 
both in terms of tariff line coverage  as well as in terms of import valu e.  He noted that information on 
preferential trade of developing countries with LD Cs was limited.  Tables 13 and 14 of the Note 
provided a summary of duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) market access in selected developed and developing countries;  these tables provided a brief ove rview of overall duty-free coverage as well as 
products that were currently excluded from such  coverage, especially in  developed markets. 
6. He said that a chapter on recent market access initiatives undertaken in favour of LDCs had 
been included in the Note.  Some major steps ta ken by Members to improve market access for LDC 
products had been highlighted.  For instance, the EU's revised rules of origin which had become 
operational as of January 2011 was expected to furthe r enhance exports of LDCs to the EU market.  
Japan had extended the duration of its Generali zed System of Preferences (GSP) until 2021, 
enhancing predictability of its preferences to the LDCs and other developing countries.  He hoped that 
the Transparency Mechanism for Pr eferential Trade Arrangements would fill the data gaps concerning 
developing countries' preferential trade with LDCs .  In this regard, progress had already been 
registered.  The Indian notification on its Duty-F ree Tariff Preference (DFTP) scheme for LDCs made 
under the Transparency Mechanism had been reflected in the Note .  Under the sa me Mechanism, 
China had recently submitted a notification on its DF QF scheme for the LDCs.  In conclusion, he said 
that the Note represented a working document.  He  looked forward to the comments and suggestions 
of Members with a view to enriching the content of the Note.   
7. The representative of the Secretariat (Economic Re search and Statistics Division) said that the 
previous Note had dealt with structural aspects of  LDCs' trade and had contained a detailed analysis 
on the economic crisis and its impact on the LDCs.  The current Note had returned to its standard 
format.  It included information on LDC trade balan ces as well as preferences granted by developing 
countries to the LDCs.  He noted that despite some  progress in statistical coverage, information on 
LDC trade was still limited.  In this regard, th e Secretariat had been trying to complement mirror 
statistics with national statistics whenever possible. 
8. He said that in 2010, world exports of goods  and commercial services were estimated at about 
US$18,570 billion - to which the LDCs had co ntributed US$183 billion, representing nearly 
1 per cent of that trade.  This share was around 0.5 per cent in 2000, which was also the figure of 
LDCs in world services exports.  The share of LD Cs in world trade had accelerated since 2002 as 
LDCs started to benefit from the boom in commodity prices.  He highlighted that between 2002 and 2008, commodity prices, on average, had increased by 21 per cent per year;  as a result, exports of 
primary commodities had expanded by 33 per cent per year  in the same period.  He further noted that 
exports of commercial services from LDCs had been increasing at an annual average growth rate of 
12 per cent over the 2000-2010 period.  The share of  LDCs in world exports of commercial services, 
however, had only increased marginally from 0.4 per cen t in 2000 to 0.5 per cent in 2010.  Travel, the 
proxy for measuring tourism, had been the major sec tor in LDC exports of services, representing 54 
per cent of LDCs' total commerc ial services exports in 2010. 
9. He noted that the price of energy and other minerals had experienced  rapid growth since 
2003, and had peaked in 2007 (min erals) and 2008 (energy).  Between 2002 and 2008, prices of fuels 
and mining products had increased on an average by 25  per cent per year.  As a result, most of the 
increase in the share of LDC exports in world trade was attributable to a large extent to the increase in 
the exports of fuels and mining products.  The ener gy prices which dropped sharply in 2009 had seen 
some recovery in 2010, although th e prices were below the historic p eak recorded in 2008.  In 2010, 
exports of fuels and mining produc ts from LDCs represented some 3 pe r cent of world exports.  The 
increased exports of fuels and mining products had also made an impact on the composition of LDC  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
 Page 3 
 
 
  exports, with fuels and mining making up around 60  per cent of total LDC merchandise exports - up 
from 40 per cent in 2000.  The share of manufact ured goods in total LD C merchandise exports 
dropped from 36 per cent in 2000 to 21 per cent in 2010, while the share of agricultural products during the same period fell from 18 per cent to 13 per cent. 
10. He went on to highlight that the ongoing economic  crisis had affected LDC trade, more in 
terms of prices than in quantities.  As a result of stagnating exports and rising imports, the LDCs as a 
group had registered a huge trade deficit in 2009 (US$27 billion), but narrowing down in 2010 to a 
certain extent (US$9.4 billion).  He further said th at with the exception of three years (2006, 2007 and 
2008), the merchandise trade balance of the LDCs as a group had always been negative, owing largely 
to deficit in manufactured products.  The deficit in manufactures was due to a low level of domestic 
industrialization in the LDCs, as well as to the c ontinuous high need of capital goods in the LDCs.  
The agricultural coverage rate, which had been  close to 100 per cent in 2000, had dropped to 
65 per cent in 2010, reflecting the fact that hou sehold consumption had been rising faster than 
domestic production. 
11. He said that developing countries had become th e major destinations for LDC exports.  LDCs' 
South-South trade which accounted for 37 per cent in 2000 now represented 51 per cent.  He added 
that this figure could even be higher since inform al cross-border trade was not necessarily reported all 
the time.  In 2010, among the top five destinations, three were developing countries, namely: China, 
India and Thailand.  China had maintained its po sition as the top destination of LDC exports since 
2009. 
12. He continued by saying that market access cond itions for LDCs were determined by a number 
of factors, which included, inter alia , non-reciprocal preferences, e ligibility conditions and non-tariff 
measures.  He noted that the total duty-free acces s of LDC exports into developed country markets 
had fluctuated around 80 per cent in the last few years.  At the same time, duty-free access of other developing countries into developed country mark ets had continually improved, nearly converging 
with that of the LDCs in 2008.  The LDCs, how ever, had been increasingly benefiting from "true" 
preferential access - the percentage of exports offered duty-free treatment under the GSP-LDC and 
other preferential schemes, as compared to products offered duty-free entry under the MFN treatment.  
"True" preferential duty-free exports of LDCs amount ed to 32 per cent for agriculture, six percentage 
points higher than for other developing countries in 2009.  The share of "true" preferential duty-free exports of LDCs was particularly high for tex tile and clothing products in 2009 (63 per cent and 
67 per cent, respectively) as compared to developing countries (27 per cent and 22 per cent, 
respectively).   
13. In conclusion, he said that preferential regi mes undertaken in favour of LDCs were not 
necessarily being fully utilized in certain markets due to a variety of factors, including rules of origin 
and other non-tariff measures.  He noted that the aggregate results that had been obtained for four 
developed economies in 2009 indicated that the utiliza tion of preferences by the LDCs varied between 
82 per cent to 94 per cent.   
14. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDCs, thanked the Secretariat for an 
informative presentation on the Note.  He noted th at LDCs' total trade in goods and commercial 
services stood at US$409 billion in 2010, which represented 1.11 per cent of world trade.  He was encouraged to note that LDCs' shar e in world trade had doubled compared to the situation in 2005.  It 
was a relief that LDCs' share of trade had somewhat  recovered lost ground in the immediate aftermath 
of the global financial and economic  crisis in 2008-2009.  However, the shadow of the crisis still 
loomed over LDC trade in 2010 as was evident from the fact that the total volume of trade remained 
below the pre-crisis level.  He regretted the fact  that LDCs' balance of trade, as a group, remained 
negative in 2010 at the amount of US$9 billion. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
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  15. He went on to say that the share of LDC exports in world merchandise trade in 2010 had 
registered a marginal growth of 1.8 per cent (yea r-on-year).  However, the contribution from exports 
of commercial services had remained static at 0.5 per cent in 2010.  This was an area where the 
supply-side situation remained particularly challe nging.  At the same time, he underlined the 
importance of enhanced market access opportunities for LDC services and service suppliers, including 
in areas where they had competitive advantage. 
16. He said that commodities, particularly fuels and minerals, constituted the major share of 
LDCs' exports amounting to 60 per cent in 2010.  This  had benefited only a handful of LDCs.  At the 
same time, he noted the price volatility in the intern ational market for commodities, including the fact 
that international prices of fuels and minerals had remained significantly below the peak registered in 
2008.  These factors once again underlined the vulnera bility of LDC exports to external shocks, in 
particular due to international price fluctuations.  He expressed concern that the share of food and 
agriculture as well as manufactured goods had cont inued to fall in LDCs' merchandise trade.  He 
emphasized the need for increased market access opport unities to generate income and employment in 
the LDCs, and thereby to reverse the curren t low share of LDCs in world trade.  
17. He recognized the potentials of the growing South-South trade in LDCs' exports.  The 
products currently being exported to developing coun tries had witnessed an impressive growth in their 
international prices, which had also benefitted the LDCs.  Nevertheless, the LDC export basket to the 
developing countries remained concentrated in a few products, comprising agricultural goods, fuels 
and minerals.  He believed that South-South trade could be more beneficial, if the LDCs were able to 
diversify their exports into de veloping country markets.   
18. He was encouraged to note the incrementa l progress made by emerging countries like China 
and India to provide preferential market access, in cluding duty-free access to LDC products.  In this 
regard, he welcomed the recent notifications by  India on its LDC preference scheme.  He also 
welcomed the latest notification made by China.  Both these notifications would serve as an important 
building block in assessing the depth and scope of the preferential market access opportunities granted 
to the LDCs.  He hoped that other developing countr ies, at similar levels of development, would 
follow suit and add impetus to the positive momentum generated by the recent notifications by India and China.  
19. He went on to say that the developed market s had continued to remain one of the major 
destinations for LDC exports, particularly for ma nufactured goods.  He reitera ted the appreciation of 
the LDC Group to those developed Members which had granted 100 per cent or close to 100 per cent 
DFQF access to LDC products.  This was particul arly significant since these countries had extended 
such preferential schemes irrespective of any outcome of the DDA negotiations.  He urged those developed Members that were yet to grant DFQF acces s to LDCs to do so on an urgent basis, in line 
with the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration.  He noted from the document that duty-free coverage by 
the US to all LDCs had been 82.4 per cent in 2009 , and that it had fallen short of the commitment 
made by Members in 2005.  In order to grant co mmercially meaningful market access to LDCs, he 
argued that products of critical importance for LDCs  should not be excluded from the list of dutiable 
tariff lines.  His delegation would examine the dutia ble tariff lines for imports from LDCs into the US 
market.  He urged the US, which was one of the im portant markets for LDC exports, to consider the 
facts presented in the Note and take the necessary steps to conform to the market access commitments 
undertaken by Members. 
20. He underlined the importance of transparent and simplified rules of origin to further 
deepening the market access opportunities for LDCs.  He  made a suggestion that future reports by the 
Secretariat should give greater attention to both the current practices involved with preferential rules 
of origin, as well as the impact of such rules of orig in on LDC exports.  In this  context, he thanked the 
EU for further improving rules of origin criteria associated with its GSP scheme.  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
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  21. In conclusion, he said that the report provide d important reference materials for LDCs to 
further build their cases in favour of preferential market access.  A comprehe nsive, transparent and 
timely notification of preference schemes would allow LDCs to benefit from those schemes.  The facts and figures in the report would validate the im portance of providing clarity in market access 
notifications, with a view to havi ng an evidence-based and in-depth understanding of the impact of 
preferences to the LDCs.   
22. The representative of the United States said that the Note provided valuable insights into the 
export performance of the LDCs.  He noted that  similar to preceding reports, the document 
highlighted the importance of South-South trade for LDCs, particularly the role played by emerging 
market countries as major LDC export destinatio ns, as grantors of LDC preferences and as an 
increasing source of trade dynamism.  The Note provi ded important details on trends in South-South 
trade that could assist LDCs in assessing the benefits  of ambitious trade liberalization in the advanced 
developing economies.  He, however, regretted the fact  that much of the data in the report continued 
to focus on developed country statistics relying h eavily on mirror statistics.  He welcomed the 
Secretariat's acknowledgement of the limitations of using mirror data for the statistical coverage of 
LDCs.  He hoped that these data constraints would be r ectified in a future reiteration of this report.  
He also hoped that the new transp arency mechanism for preferential trade agreements would help 
rectify this situation.   
23. He went on to make some technical comments on the Note.  First, he said that paragraph 32 
of the Note stated that the aver age results for LDCs, as a group, might mask large heterogeneities at 
the individual country level.  He wondered as to how  large these heterogeneities might be.  He also 
enquired as to why data was not collected, if unavailab ility of data was an issue of concern.  Second, 
he requested that footnote 15 be placed in the main  body of the Note which would better highlight the 
beneficial gains that the Asian LDCs had with the US GSP scheme.  Third, he noted that in 
paragraph 51 references had been made to a number of studies showing the effects of full 
implementation of the Hong Kong Decision on DFQF market access for LDC products.  He requested 
that the references that had been consulted to make  that statement be made known in the report.   
24. The representative of China associated himself with the statement by the representative of 
Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDCs.  That statement had highlighted the concerns of the LDCs as well 
as their aspirations from develope d and developing countries in helping them to secure a reasonable 
market share in the international market.   
25. He went on to say that the Note reaffirmed the fact that the overall situation of LDCs in the 
international market had not changed much.  The share of LDCs in world trade had continued to 
remain at low level, accounting for 1 per cent of world merchandise trade and 0.5 per cent of world 
trade in commercial services.  The economic crisis  had had an adverse impact on the LDCs.  The 
exports of LDCs in 2009 had declined by 29 pe r cent, reversing the positive trend experienced in 
earlier years and had contributed to a sizable tr ade deficit in 2010.  The LDCs, as a group, had 
registered a deficit of US$9 billion in 2010.  He re gretted the fact that the exports of LDCs had not 
been able to reach the pre-crisis level, despite s howing some recovery in recent times.  He was also 
concerned that the exports of LDCs were still c oncentrated on a few prim ary products and mostly 
tourism in case of services exports.  This situati on of the LDCs had posed a question to the very 
objective of the Marrakesh Agreement establishing the WTO which in its Preamble had aimed to help 
LDCs secure a share in the growth in internati onal trade commensurate w ith the needs of their 
economic development.  He, therefore, underlined the need for the interna tional community to do 
more for the LDCs, especially in giving them  better market access opportunities and targeted 
technical assistance.   
26. He continued by saying that Table 13 of the No te demonstrated that most developed Members 
had honoured their commitments, with regard to providing DFQF market access to the LDCs.  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
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  Table14 also revealed that some developing countri es had come forward to help LDCs improve their 
trade.  China provided DFQF market access for 60 pe r cent of its total tariff lines.  The DFQF scheme 
of China, as per the statistics available to his aut horities, accounted for 98.7 per cent of China's total 
imports from the LDCs.  He reiterated that his Gove rnment would further open its market to the LDCs 
by extending the duty-free treatment to 95 per cent of its total tariff lines in the next few years.  His 
Government had doubled its contribution to the WT O, and had contributed US$400,000 to establish a 
specific LDC accession programme.  The accession programme had been welcomed by the LDC Group. 
27. He said that some figures provided in the Note reaffirmed the importance of South-South 
trade.  He noted that developing countries had b ecome major destinations of LDC exports, currently 
accounting for 51 per cent of LDC exports, which re presented a substantial increase from 37 per cent 
in 2000.  He also noted from Chart 5 of the docum ent that 15 of the top 20 markets of LDC exports 
were developing countries.  He, however, stressed the fact that developing countries should not be asked to take the major responsibility to help th e LDCs.  He called upon the international community, 
in particular the developed countries, to honour th eir commitments to assist LDCs' better integration 
into the global economy.   
28. The representative of the European Union sai d that although exports of agricultural and 
manufactured goods from the LDCs had performed be tter during the crisis, the Note showed that 
LDCs continued to suffer from vulnerabilities associat ed with a high export concentration, notably in 
commodities, and large deficits in merchandise trade,  especially those LDCs that were agricultural or 
diversified exporters.  She underlined the need for th e international community to attach high priority 
to reinforcing trade capacity in the LDCs, as well as promoting genuine market access for LDC 
products.  She commended the effort made by the Se cretariat to include information on market access 
opportunities for LDCs in selected developing country  markets.  She noted that developing countries 
today accounted for over half of LDC exports.   
29. She welcomed the recent initiatives taken by so me advanced developing countries to extend 
preferential access to the LDCs.  She believed that  there was still scope for large improvements in 
market access for LDCs in developing country markets as preference ma rgins remained low along 
with high tariffs being faced by the LDCs, as was evident from Table 10 of the Note.  She welcomed the recent notifications made by China and India on their preferential schemes, and the intention to 
expand their coverage in the course of time.  Sh e noted from Table 12 of the Note that in 2009 only 
around 6 per cent of imports from LDCs entered duty-fr ee in India in value terms.  She hoped that 
with the implementation of the duty-free tariff pref erence scheme for LDCs which intended to cover 
85 per cent of tariff lines duty-free by next year, ex ports of LDCs to India would receive a further 
boost.  She also hoped that LDC exports to China wo uld further grow and woul d get more diversified, 
since in 2009 non-raw materials imports from LDCs by China were relatively low.  She noted the 
intention of the Chinese Government to expand the dut y-free coverage to 95 per cent of its tariff lines 
in a few years.  In this regard, she requested the delegation of China to provide a clarification on the 
timeline by which 95 per cent of its tariff lines would be duty free.   
30. She thanked the delegation of China for its  submission on LDC duty-free scheme under the 
Transparency Mechanism for Preferential Trade Arrangements (WT/COMTD/N/39).  Her delegation 
had found that the information on the web links pr ovided in that notification to access relevant 
legislation was not provided in one of the thr ee official languages of the WTO.  She wondered 
whether the Government of China would provide the de tails of the notification in one of the official 
languages of the WTO, or whether the WTO Secretar iat had been tasked to do the translation.   
31. She reiterated that the Decision on DFQF mark et access taken at Hong Kong be implemented 
as a matter of priority and without any reciprocity from the LDCs.  She called upon the G-20 members to deliver on the DFQF market access for LDC exports.  In this context, she said that a study  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
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  conducted by the World Bank had shown that full DF QF access by all G-20 members could increase 
LDCs' income, on average, by 0.5 per cent of th eir GDP; which could even be higher if DFQF access 
was accompanied by improved rules of origin criteri a.  At the same time, the study had shown that 
implementation costs for G-20 members would be sm all, as LDCs were small players on the world 
market, and thereby DFQF access could bring major pro-poor benefits to the LDCs.   
32. The representative of India found the Note usef ul, in particular impr oving the understanding 
on LDCs' trade balances and the evolution of their trad e by product.  He regretted the fact that the 
share of LDCs in world merchandise trade remained at a low level of 1 per cent, despite the efforts 
being made by Members.  He expressed concern w ith the high concentration of LDC exports, which 
mainly concentrated on primary products like minera ls and fuels, which had made them vulnerable in 
global trade.  LDCs had also been found to be su sceptible to price shocks.  He urged Members to 
undertake concrete efforts to help increase trade from the LDCs.   
33. He then referred to the Indian notification of the LDC Duty-Free Tariff Preference (DFTP) 
scheme made under the Transparency Mechan ism for Preferential Trade Arrangements 
(WT/COMTD/N/38).  The notification had captured th e broad details of the scheme, which had been 
in operation since August 2008.  He said that the scheme was adopted as a response to the DFQF 
Decision adopted by Members at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in 2005.  He pointed out that India had become the first developing country to notify such a scheme since 2001.  He encouraged other Members to implement the Hong Kong Decision on DFQF market access to LDCs, as well as to 
notify the details of tariff lines being covered in that respect.   
34. The Chairman thanked the Secretariat for its No te, as well as Members for their statements.  
He requested Members to transmit  to the Secretariat any comments or suggestions that they would 
like to be included in a revised version of the Note.  Thereafter, the Secretariat should issue a revision 
for consideration by Members at a future meeti ng of the Sub-Committee.  He suggested that the 
Sub-Committee take note of the document contained in WT/COMTD/LDC/W/51 as well as the statements made by Members.  
35. It was so agreed.   
36. The Chairman invited the delegation of China to take the floor. 
37. The representative of China said that China ha d recently made a notification on its DFQF 
scheme for the LDCs, under the Transparency M echanism for Preferential Trade Arrangements 
(WT/COMTD/N/39).  In addition, his delegation had submitted detailed info rmation on the scheme, 
at tariff line level, which would shor tly be issued by the Secretariat.1    
38. He said that China's market access offers to the LDCs had been improving incrementally.  
The DFQF scheme for LDCs had come into effect on 1 July 2010, and was renewed on 
1 January 2011.  The scheme covered products of  4,788 tariff lines (at 8-digit HS code level), 
accounting for 60 per cent of the total tariff lines,  from the LDCs.  In 2010, China's imports from 
these LDCs under the DFQF scheme reached US$42.2 b illion, accounting for 98.7 per cent of China's 
total imports from the LDCs.  He reiterated that Ch ina would further open its market to the LDCs by 
expanding this treatment to 95 per cent of tariff lines in the next few years.    
39. He explained that the Annex to the document contained three columns, the first of which 
referred to serial numbers.  The second column referred  to tariff lines (HS Codes at 8-digit level), and 
the third column provided MFN rates of correspon ding tariff lines which had been withdrawn for 
LDC imports.  In other words, all the tariff lines i ndicated in the document had become duty free for 
                                                      
1 The document was later issued as WT/COMTD/N/39/Add.1/Rev.1 and G/C/W/656/Rev.1. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
Page 8  
 
  the LDCs.  He pointed out that, in addition to pr imary products, manufactured products had also been 
included in China's DFQF scheme, with a view to helping LDCs move up the value chain.   
40. In conclusion, he said that the latest notifi cation to be issued did not contain product 
descriptions.  The product descriptions were currently  being translated by his authorities and would be 
incorporated into the notification in due course.  In the meantime, interested Members could visit the 
WTO Integrated Database (IDB) where customs tariff s of China were available up to the year 2009, 
containing product descriptions at the tariff line le vel.  Further updates of information on customs 
tariffs would soon become available and would provide  a better picture of products that were offered 
duty free to the LDCs.   
41. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDCs, expressed appreciation to the 
Government of China for granting DFQF access to th e LDCs.  He thanked the representative of China 
for the presentation on the upcoming notification on China's DFQF scheme at tariff line level.  He was pleased to note that the Government of China intend ed to expand duty-free cove rage to 95 per cent of 
LDCs' exports.  He hoped that the efforts by China would set a useful benchmark for other emerging 
countries to follow suit.  Taking inspiration from the commitment shown by China, he urged the 
international community to implement its market  access commitments to LDCs through an "early 
harvest package" under the Doha Round.  He also took the opportunity to thank the representative of 
the EU for calling upon G-20 members to work towards fulfilling their market access commitments 
for LDCs, echoing the appeal made by the EU to  deliver on LDCs without asking any reciprocity 
from them. 
42. The representative of the European Union requ ested the Chinese delegation to provide the 
document in electronic format, as it would facilitate transmitting the information to her capital.  She 
also hoped that the document would soon be availabl e in one of the three official languages of the 
WTO.   
43. The representative of Guinea thanked the delega tion of China for circulating the notification 
in advance of its formal submission.  She expressed  appreciation to the Government of China for its 
DFQF scheme for LDCs, which she noted would be e xpanded to cover 95 per cent of tariff lines.  Her 
delegation was encouraged by this positive step.   
44. The representative of China said that the current  language of the web links provided in its 
notification under the Transparency Mechan ism for Preferential Trade Arrangements 
(WT/COMTD/N/39) was in Mandarin.  He noted that information on those web links had been 
provided in a succinct manner, and hence delegations  would not have much difficulty in translating 
that information.  He added that the information a ppearing on the web links had also been shared with 
Members at a number of meetings held earlier in the WTO.  With regard to the timeline for expanding 
the DFQF treatment from 60 per cent to 95 per cen t of total tariff lines, he said that internal 
procedures were being completed to work towards that goal as soon as possible.   
45. He went on to clarify that the advance copy of the notification had only been received from 
his capital the day before;  that document would be  officially circulated to Members under the 
established procedures of the Committee on Trade and Development and the Council for Trade in 
Goods.  He would make all possible efforts, al ong with his capital colleagues, to provide better 
information to Members, including expediting the wo rk on product descriptions.  In this regard, he 
sought understanding from Members, since translati on of the product descriptions entailed in-depth 
work which needed some time to be completed.   
46. The Chairman congratulated China for its  DFQF scheme for the LDCs.  The recent 
notifications by China would increase the transpar ency of preference schemes provided in favour of  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
 Page 9 
 
 
  LDCs.  He hoped that other Members would follow suit.  He proposed that the Sub-Committee take 
note of the presentation made by China as well as statements made. 
47. It was so agreed. 
C. EXCHANGE OF VIEWS ON THE POSSIBLE UPDATE OF THE WTO WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE 
LEAST -DEVELOPED COUNTRIES (WT/COMTD /LDC/11) 
48. The Chairman recalled that the Sub-Committee, at  its previous meeting, had agreed to have 
an exchange of views on the WTO Work Programme for the LDCs, which had been adopted in 2002.  
The Work Programme was contained in WT/COMTD/L DC/11.  He invited Members to share their 
views and suggestions on the elements that could po ssibly form part of an update of the present Work 
Programme.   
49. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of th e LDCs, thanked the Chairman for providing 
an opportunity to discuss the Work Programme fo r the LDCs, which was a timely initiative.  An 
update of the Work Programme was long overdue.  He said that a number of elements merited 
inclusion into an updated and revised Work Progra mme, which had been adopted way back in early 
2002.   
50. He reiterated that the current Work Programme  remained a useful basis for carrying out 
further work under the aegis of th e Sub-Committee.  At the same ti me, he underlined the need to 
incorporate a few elements which were systemic in nature and would make the Work Programme 
relevant in view of some recent developments.  First, he said that the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Declaration had given the mandate to continue to  implement the Work Programme; this important 
political pronouncement merited an inclusion in a revised Work Programme.  Second, the LDC-IV 
Conference held in Istanbul in May 2011, had a dopted the Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) for 
the LDCs for the decade 2011-2020.  The IPoA calle d upon multilateral organizations and institutions 
to contribute to the implementation of the IPoA by  integrating it into their work programmes, as 
appropriate.  He believed that the IP oA, in particular the trade-relate d elements contained in it, might 
be reflected in the Work Programme, in accordan ce with the mandate of the WTO.  Third, the 
Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF) had become ope rational in 2009.  As a result, the references of 
the IF matters in the current Work Programme requ ired some changes to make it up to date with 
recent developments under the EIF.  Fourth, he  drew the attention of Members to the ongoing 
initiative in the LDC Group to develop a proposal  on LDC accessions for adoption at the Eighth 
Session of the Ministerial Conference (MC8), with a view to further strengthening, streamlining and operationalizing the LDC accession guidelines adopted in 2002.  The revised Work Programme could 
incorporate references to the elements of the accession which would possibly guide LDC accessions 
in future.  Fifth, he emphasized the need for a regul ar review of the Work Programme.  In this regard, 
he felt that periodic reviews of the Work Programme  should be institutionalized by incorporating such 
a provision in the Work Programme.  In conclusion, he said that the LDC Group would continue to examine the current Work Programme.  His delega tion was in the process of collecting and collating 
comments and suggestions that were being receive d from LDC delegations.  Once all proposals were 
gathered, he would submit those to the Secretariat. 
51. The representative of Nepal associated himsel f with the statement made by Bangladesh, on 
behalf of the LDCs.  He said that LDCs had been characterized by structural constraints, and were 
vulnerable to external factors.  As a result, the LD Cs were unable to achieve the internationally agreed 
development goals, including Millenni um Development Goals (MDGs).  The multiple crises of recent 
years - fuel, food and financial - along with the im pact of climate change, had significantly reduced 
the development potentials in LDCs.  Against th is backdrop, the LDC-IV had adopted the IPoA 
identifying a set of measures to contribute to wards poverty alleviation and accelerate economic 
development in the LDCs.  He urged the intern ational community to implement the commitments WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
Page 10  
 
  made by them at the LDC-IV.  He said that the O fficial Development Assistance (ODA) to the LDCs 
should be enhanced, quality of aid should be improved, improvements should be made on the 
provision of debt relief, transfer of technology to the LDCs should be expedited, financing for 
innovative enterprises in LDCs should be consiste ntly available, and market access opportunities 
should be further improved upon.  He also under lined the importance of governance at all levels. 
52. He went on to stress on the timely implementation of the IPoA.  He urged international 
organizations and development part ners to integrate the IPoA into their respective policies and 
frameworks.  He also urged the WTO to mainstream the trade-related elements of the IPoA into the 
work of the WTO.  He said that the overarching goal of the IPoA was to achieve 50 per cent of the 
number of LDCs, meeting the graduation criteria by 2020.  Therefore, concerted efforts were required 
from the international community to reach that goal.  He appealed for addressing the special 
development needs of LDCs in the larger interest of the international community, which could ensure 
lasting peace and prosperity to all.  In conc lusion, he called for putting a stronger focus on the 
monitoring and evaluation of the IPoA, so that  the targets are achieved in due time.   
53. He welcomed China's notification on DFQF sch eme for the LDCs.  He also thanked the 
delegations of the EU and India for providing info rmation on their respective preference schemes for 
LDCs.   
54. The representative of China thanked the Chair for including the item on the agenda and for 
bringing this important document to the attenti on of Members.  He found that the Work Programme 
had covered the issues of interest to the LDCs in  a comprehensive manner, particularly by covering 
subjects such as market access, accession, technical  assistance and capacity building.  All the 
elements outlined in the Work Programme were per tinent to the LDCs.  The suggestions made by the 
representatives of Bangladesh and Nepal were also re levant to the work of the Sub-Committee.  He 
extended support to the proposal made by the represen tative of Bangladesh for a regular review of the 
Work Programme, including with a view to further integrating the LDCs into the WTO.  In this 
regard, he underlined the need for a background not e from the Secretariat capturing the developments 
that had taken place since the adoption of the Work  Programme in early 2002.  He believed it would 
be useful if the Secretariat could gather inform ation on all the activities undertaken in favour of 
LDCs, and put forward those in a background note which could facilitate a useful discussion on the 
possible update of the Work Programme for the LDCs.   
55. The representative of the European Union sou ght some clarification from the LDC Group, 
especially with respect to the likely and desirabl e timeline for the intended review of the Work 
Programme for the LDCs.  She also enquired from the LDC Group as to whether the Group envisaged 
the review to be completed before MC8.  She noted the limited time available to complete such work 
prior to MC8. 
56. She said that her delegation was aware of some work on accessions being carried out in the 
LDC Group.  However, the EU had not been outreac hed on this work.  She said that the work on 
accessions might be pursued in a separate track in th e run up to MC8.  She distinguished the work on 
accessions from other work relating to the possi ble update of the Work Programme, because the 
former involved political directions, while the latt er to her delegation was more of a technical 
exercise.  At the same time, she added that the re view of the Work Programme might also take place 
after MC8 which could then allow the Sub-Committ ee to incorporate any possible decision taken by 
Ministers at MC8.   
57. She agreed with the representative of Banglad esh that the current Work Programme could 
serve as a useful basis, as well as provide a good framework to work out a possible update.  All the elements of the Work Programme were relevant.  The current Work Programme also provided the 
necessary flexibility to accommodate the needs of LDCs as well as other Members.  However, she  WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
 Page 11 
 
 
  recognized the need for an update and to incorp orate some recent developments that had been 
mentioned, such as references to LDC-IV and the operationalization of the EIF.  She expressed the 
readiness of her delegation to work together with  the LDCs and other Members in advancing this 
work.   
58. The representative of the United States said th at his delegation would welcome reviewing 
specific proposals for updating the Work Programme for the LDCs.  He also wondered as to whether 
Members had sufficient time to review the Work Pr ogramme, given the limited time available before 
the MC8.  He noted that the existing Work Pr ogramme had provided the necessary flexibility to 
address issues of interest to LDCs and other Members.   
59. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDCs, sought guidance from the Chairman 
on the future course of action with regard to the ti meline for the revised Work Programme.  He was of 
the view that the revised Work Programme could be  adopted at MC8.  The suggested elements were 
of systemic nature and would not cause much difficulty for Members to agree upon, and could be suitably incorporated into the current Work Progra mme.  He noted the limited time available prior to 
MC8, and underlined the need to consider the update of the current Work Programme in an 
expeditious manner.  
60. The Chairman thanked Members for their cont ributions.  He invited Members to submit 
suggestions on possible changes, including systemic issues they would like to see reflected in the 
current Work Programme for the LDCs.  Thereafter, the Secretariat would collate all the suggestions 
which would allow him to undertake the necessary cons ultations with delegations on the content of a 
possible update of the Work Programme, as well as to  ascertain the possibility of an outcome on this 
issue prior to MC8.  
D. PREPARATIONS FOR THE EIGHTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE OF THE WTO TO BE HELD FROM 
15 TO 17 DECEMBER 2011 
- Arrangements to Facilitate the Participation of  Least-Developed Countries:  Briefing by the 
Secretariat  
61. The representative of the Secretariat (Technical Assistance Support Unit) briefed the 
Sub-Committee on the arrangements being made to fac ilitate the participation of LDCs at the Eighth 
Ministerial Conference of the WTO.  Both travel  and accommodation arrangements were explained at 
the meeting.  He said that WTO would fina nce travel and accommodation expenses for three 
participants from each LDC, including the Minist er.  He said that invitations had been sent to 
47 LDCs, out of which 33 LDCs had so far res ponded.  Nine LDCs eligible to access the WTO 
funding were yet to communicate to the Secretar iat.  They were: Afghanistan, East Timor, 
Equatorial Guinea Eritrea, Gambia, Haiti, Liberia, Ma lawi and Somalia.  He said that five LDCs were 
in category IV in view of specific situation to be cl arified with regard to financial contributions to the 
WTO.  They were:  Chad, Djibouti, Guin ea-Bissau, Mauritania and Sierra Leone.   
62. He went on to say that tickets to the WTO -funded participants would be issued at the 
beginning of November 2011; once the tickets were issued, it would be difficult to make changes.  
Therefore, he requested the LDCs to inform the Secr etariat of any changes they would like to make to 
the itinerary as soon as possible.  Accommodation had been arranged at the Crown Plaza Hotel for the 
WTO-funded participants.  Transportation to and fro m the Ministerial venue would be free for those 
participants.  He requested the LDCs to desi gnate a Coordinator as per the normal practice of 
Ministerial Conferences, which would facilitate communicating additional information on logistics 
and other arrangements. WT/COMTD/LDC/M/61 
Page 12  
 
  63. The representative of Bangladesh, on behalf of the LDCs, expressed appreciation to the 
Secretariat for the arrangements being made to facili tate the participation of LDC delegations at MC8. 
The LDCs would continue to remain engaged with the Secretariat to work out the details regarding 
the participation of their individual delegations.  He also thanked the Secretariat for its efforts to 
address the outstanding financial issues with certain LDCs.  He informed Members that, as 
Coordinator of the LDCs, his dele gation intended to hold an LDC Mini sterial meeting prior to MC8.  
He recalled the practice within the LDC Group to hold Ministerial meetings ahead of WTO Ministerial Conferences.  However, in view of the evolving nature of discussions around the MC8 
agenda, it had not been considered feasible to or ganize an LDC Ministerial well ahead of MC8.  
Accordingly, a half-day Ministerial meeting prior to  MC8 in Geneva had been planned. He requested 
the Secretariat to make flexible arrangements to allo w LDC Ministers to travel at least a day earlier to 
attend this LDC Ministerial meeting, tentatively scheduled for 14 December 2011.   
64. The representative of Guinea posed a question to  the Secretariat, concerning the visa 
procedures. She wondered whether the Secretariat could facilitate the visa process for official 
delegates who were not funded by the WTO.  She believed that such coopera tion from the Secretariat 
would facilitate the visa application proc ess of officials willing to attend MC8.  
65. The representative of the Secretariat said that  all three delegates to be funded by the WTO 
would be arriving in Geneva on 13 December, and hence would be able to participate in the planned 
LDC Ministerial meeting on 14 December.  Respondi ng to the query made by the representative of 
Guinea, he said that the WTO Secretariat would is sue appropriate communication to facilitate visas 
for the participants that were being funded by the WTO.  This was a general policy which was 
followed by the Secretariat.  He clarified that the LDC delegates who woul d not be funded by the 
WTO would need to make their own visa arrangeme nts.  However, he would contact the Swiss 
authorities regarding the request to facilitate the visa process of officials not receiving WTO funding 
assistance, and would endeavour to help LDCs in this regard. 
66. The Chairman, on behalf of the Sub-Committee, thanked the Secretariat for the update on the 
arrangements being made to facilitate the participation of LDCs at the MC8.   
E. OTHER BUSINESS  
67. In the absence of any other business, the meeting was adjourned. 
 
 
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