. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/25 
17 December 2011 
 (11-6620) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   English 
 
  
G-33
1 MINISTERIAL COMMUNIQUE 
Geneva, 14 December 2011 
 
 
 The following communication, dated 17 December 2011, is being circulated at the request of 
the Delegation of Indonesia.  
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 1. We, Ministers and Representatives of the G-33 Member Countries, met in Geneva, 
Switzerland, on 14 December 2011, on the occasion of the 8th WTO Ministerial Conference to take stock of the current state of play of the Doha  Development Agenda (DDA) and to discuss future 
courses of action with regard to agri cultural trade in the DDA negotiations. 
2. We welcome the 8th WTO Ministerial Conferen ce as an important opportunity to renew the 
collective commitments of all WTO Members to a robust rules-based and predictable multilateral 
trading system, to development as a core element of the WTO’s work, and to a successful multilateral 
conclusion of the DDA.  
3. Noting the current global economic difficulties a nd challenges, we express our deep concern 
over the impasse in the DDA negotiations for which a me re stop and restart is not a viable option. We 
reaffirm our commitment to a successful conclusion of the DDA negotiations.  
4. We strongly support respect for the principle of the single undertaking in achieving the Doha 
development mandate. We stress that any early harv est in areas where consensus arises, as provided 
by Paragraph 47 of the Doha minist erial Declaration, must give priority to agricultural issues, and 
building on the progress already made in multilateral c onsensus-based decisions taken in a transparent 
and inclusive manner.  
5. We emphasize that the ongoing reform program in agriculture must lead, in the nearest 
possible future, to the elimination of distortions that have worked against the livelihood of hundreds 
of millions of poor farmers and the attainment of  food security and rural development goals in the 
developing world. The G-33 believes that this issu e must be part of the future work in 2012.  
6. We recall that Paragraph 13 of the Doha Mini sterial Declaration requires that special and 
differential (S&D) treatment for developing count ries in the agriculture negotiations must be 
                                                      
1 Members of the G-33 are Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Benin, Botswana, Plurinational 
State of Bolivia, China, Cote d’Ivoire, Congo, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Grenada, 
Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesi a, Jamaica, Kenya, Korea, Madagascar, Mauritius, 
Mongolia, Mozambique, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Pa nama, the Philippines, Peru, Saint Kitts & Nevis, Saint 
Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Senegal, Sr i Lanka, Suriname, Tanzania, Trinidad and Tobago, 
Turkey, Uganda, Bolivarian Republic of  Venezuela, Zambia and Zimbabwe. WT/MIN(11)/25 
Page 2  
 
  "operationally effective to enable developing countries to effectively take account of their 
development needs, including food  security, livelihood security and ru ral development." In this light, 
we underscore the importance of the Special Produc ts and Special Safeguard Mechanism as essential 
elements of this S&D treatment. 
7. We remain committed to engaging actively and constructively in the negotiations with the 
aim of early conclusion of the DDA that results in a balanced and development-centered outcome. 
 
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