WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/L/624 
21 October 2005 
 (05-4865) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
ARAB TRADE MINISTERS CONFERENCE 
Amman, Jordan 
28 September 2005 
  
 The following communication, dated 18 Octobe r 2005, has been received from the Delegation 
of Jordan.  
_______________ 
  
AMMAN DECLARATION 
  
We, the Ministers of Trade of the Arab States meeting in Amman, Jordan, on 28 September 
2005 with a view to adopting a common position on  the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference in the 
context of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs); 
 Welcoming  the high-level plenary of the United Nati ons General Assembly on the five-year 
review of the Millennium Declaration, and reite rating our commitment to achieving internationally 
agreed development goals, particularly the MDGs , through, inter alia, the concrete and timely 
implementation of the global partnership for de velopment on ending poverty in our countries; 
 Welcoming  the adoption of the WTO General Council Decision on 1 August 2004, which put 
the Doha Work Programme (DWP) back on track;  
Concerned  with the slow pace in the negotiations, esp ecially in respect of core elements of 
development content and the modalities for ag riculture and nonagricultural market access; 
 
Reaffirming  our commitment to engage constructivel y in the preparatory process and at the 
6th WTO Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, Ch ina, with a view to ensuring the successful 
completion of the Doha Work Programme with am bitious development-enha ncing results under the 
single undertaking, at the latest by 2006, so as to contribute to a more viable, equitable and durable 
multilateral trading system and to the timely implementation of the MDGs;  
Reiterating  the fundamental commitment of the Doha Declaration to placing the needs and 
interests of developing countries, and in particular least developed countries, at the heart of the WTO 
Doha work programme, and that this commitment should be realized at the 6th WTO Ministerial 
Conference; 
 Recalling  the commitments made at the Millennium Summit, the WTO Ministerial 
Conferences and the Third UN Conference on LDCs, held in Brussels in 2001, to assist LDCs to secure beneficial and meaningful integration in to the multilateral trading system and the global 
economy; 
 WT/L/624 
Page 2  
 
 Reaffirming  the need for the Doha negotiations to be inclusive and transparent to ensure 
political ownership of the process and of  the outcome of the negotiations; 
 
Reiterating  the urgency of expeditious amendment of the TRIPS Agreement to incorporate 
the 30 August 2003 Decision on the Implementation of Paragraph 6 of the Declaration on TRIPS and 
Public Health as a permanent solution to the problem s of developing countries with insufficient or no 
manufacturing capacity;  
Urging  that the trade-related aspects of the cotton initiative be addressed expeditiously, 
ambitiously and with specificity in the WTO S ub-Committee on Cotton, as specified in the July 
Package; 
 
Calling  on WTO Members to demonstrate the requi site political will and leadership to 
achieve progress on the DWP that would lay the basis for a successful Hong Kong WTO Ministerial Conference; 
 
Reiterating  Arab States' request that Arabic should become an official language of the WTO, 
as it is in the United Nations;  
Highlighting  the importance of reactivation of the Ar ab Expert Group Meetings in Geneva; 
Underscoring that the League of Arab States and other Arab regional and subregional organizations 
should be expeditiously granted the status of observers in the WTO, including at the 6th WTO 
Ministerial Conference;  
Concerned  with the excessive demands imposed on the acceding Arab States which go 
beyond the WTO Members' obligations; 
 
Stressing  the importance of integration of Arab States into the multilateral trading system 
through, inter alia, accession to the WTO;  
Welcoming  the African Union's Cairo Declaratio n and Road Map on the Doha Work 
Programme and the LDCs' Livingstone Declaration; 
 
Agreeing  to ensure follow-up to the decisions and priorities adopted by the first and second 
Arab Consultative Meetings for the Ministers of Tr ade, Finance and Economy of Arab States (Cairo, 
18 July 2001, and Kuwait, 12-13 March 2002) and this Ministerial Conference;  
Hereby adopt  the Arab Ministerial Declaration and the Roadmap for the 6th WTO Ministerial 
Conference and express our thanks to the Govern ment and the people of Jordan for the warm 
hospitality extended to us and for all the excellent facilities put at our disposal; 
 
Also express our appreciation  to UNCTAD, the League of Arab States and other cooperating 
organizations for their support. 
  WT/L/624 
 Page 3 
 
 
 THE ROADMAP TO HONG KONG 
  
AGRICULTURE 
 1. We emphasize that the modalities to be agreed upon should take into account the need for 
appropriate policy space allowing Arab States to pur sue agricultural policies that are supportive of 
their development goals, poverty reduction, food security and li velihood, while ensuring improved 
market access for 'agricultura l' products, in both primary and processed forms. The Hong Kong 
Ministerial Conference must deliver modalities wh ich directly contribute to the sustainable 
development of agriculture in Arab States. To this end, the modalities should address as a matter of 
priority the following issues under each of the three pillars of the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA): 
I. MARKET ACCESS 
(a) Negotiations on the formula should take into account the particular pattern of trade of 
Arab States and their different tariff structures; 
(b) G20 proposals could form a good basis for the work on tariff reduction with 
appropriate and effective special and differential treatment; 
(c) The number of sensitive products in deve loped countries should be limited, and 
substantial tariff reduction and tariff quota commitments should apply to the sensitive 
products of developed countries; 
(d) Tariff escalation must be addressed fully in developed countries in accordance with 
paragraph 36 of the Framework Agreement; 
(e) The full operationalization of the principle of proportionality in the reduction of 
tariffs is essential, as well as the devel opment of meaningful modalities on special 
products (SPs) and the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM). The SSM constitutes a 
unique instrument that would respond to th e concerns of developing countries and 
least developed countries related to f ood security, livelihood security and rural 
development. Modalities with respect to the designation of special products and treatment must be devised in a way that provides maximum flexibility to Arab States 
to reflect their particular domestic circumstances and development needs; 
(f) The SSG should be eliminated for deve loped countries by the first year of 
implementation; 
(g) The treatment of S&D provisions in market access constitutes a sine qua non 
condition for the Arab States; 
(h) Developed countries, and other developing countries in a position to do so, must 
provide bound duty- and quota-free market access to agricultural products originating in LDCs; 
(i) Flexibilities should be provided for LDCs to determine the levels of binding 
commitments for their tariff lines consiste nt with their trade, development and 
financial needs. WT/L/624 
Page 4  
 
 II. EXPORT COMPETITION 
(a) Expeditious elimination of all forms of export subsidies on agricultural products, 
while engaging in gradual reduction starting from the first year of implementation. 
This elimination shall be without prejud ice to S&D treatment of net food-importing 
developing countries (NFIDCs) and LDCs, recognising the need for adjustment 
measures that will offset the negative, shor t-term effects of removal of subsidies; 
(b) Urgent implementation of the Marrakech Decision on NFIDCs and LDCs and a clear 
reflection of the special and differential tr eatment component of any disciplines to be 
developed on export credits in accordance with paragraph 4 of that Decision; 
(c) Fully reflecting the interests of food aid recipients in developing disciplines on this 
issue. Modalities must include commitments by  donors in the context of the Food Aid 
Convention and improved monitoring of food aid transactions, while at the same time 
encouraging local and regional purchase, where possible, to limit to a minimum the impact of food aid on the local production of recipient countries; 
(d) Arab state trading enterprises which enjoy special privileges to preserve domestic 
consumer price stability and to ensure food security should receive special 
consideration with regard to  maintaining monopoly status; 
(e) Developing countries will continue to benef it from special and differential treatment 
under the provisions of Article 9.4 of the Agreement on Agriculture for a reasonable period to be agreed after the phasing out of all forms of export subsidies and 
implementation of all related disciplines. 
III. DOMESTIC SUPPORT 
(a) The formula to be agreed must result in meaningful and effective reductions in the 
subsidies granted by the major trading partners to their farming communities. Most crucially, disciplines on domestic support s hould not lead to "box-shifting" the 
trade-distorting subsidies; 
(b) Policy space must be maintained for the development of Arab States' farming 
communities based on fair and equitable targets for poverty reduction, food and livelihood security, and rural development. This should provide Arab States with 
adequate and timely resources to fulfil their essential developmental objectives, including through S&D provisions under th e domestic support pillar, Annex 2, 
Article 6.2 and de minimis; 
(c) Developed countries must engage in the re view and clarification of the green box 
criteria in a manner that will ensure that the green-box measures have no or at most minimal trade-distorting effects or effects on production; 
(d) De minimis for Arab States shall be exempted from reduction commitments. 
IV. RECENTLY ACCEDED MEMBERS 
2. The particular concerns of recently acceded Arab Members should be addressed effectively 
through specific flexibility provisions.  WT/L/624 
 Page 5 
 
 
 NON-AGRICULTURAL MARKET ACCESS (NAMA) 
 
3. We are concerned that some of the propo sals on the formula submitted by WTO Members 
would result in deep tariff reductions by some Ar ab States in comparison to developed countries, 
contrary to the principle of less-than-full recipr ocity and S&D treatment enshrined in the Doha 
mandate and in the July Package. This would deep en the crisis of de-industrialization and accentuate 
the unemployment and poverty crisis confronting Arab States. In this regard, it is imperative that the 
modalities: 
(a) Identify an appropriate formula or tariff a pproach that would allow Arab States to 
undertake industrial policy and diversifi cation objectives in accordance with the 
negotiating mandate and give priority to the principles of less-than-full reciprocity 
and S&D; 
(b) Provide policy space and flexibility that fully take account of Arab States' trade, 
developmental, financia l and industrial needs and remove the risk of 
de-industrialization, with its attendant ne gative consequences for poverty reduction; 
(c) Provide flexibilities for Arab States to determine their binding coverage 
commensurate with their development objectives; 
(d) Ensure that participation in the sectoral in itiatives is on a voluntary basis, and that due 
consideration is given to the sectoral initiative on raw materials submitted by the 
United Arab Emirates; 
(e) Fully respect LDCs' exemption from tariff reduction commitments; 
(f) Improve preferential schemes and incorporat e provisions in the modalities to address 
the erosion of preferences and attendant adjustment requirements; 
(g) Ensure that concrete action is taken to allow newly acceded Members to have 
recourse to special provisions for tariff reduc tions in order to take into account their 
extensive market access commitments unde rtaken as part of their accession; 
(h) Provide adequate consideration to the adop tion of the proposal submitted by Qatar on 
natural gas and gas derivatives in the co ntext of environmental goods negotiations. 
4. We underscore that negotiations on non-tari ff barriers should be conducted in tandem with 
those on tariff reductions and lead to clear identific ation of the non-tariff barriers, establishment of 
modalities for their removal, and provision of ad equate support to overcome these barriers. 
5. We call for the urgent conduct of studies and as sessment of the possible effects of formulas, 
binding coverage and other aspects of the NAMA negotiations, as mandated by paragraph 15 of 
Annex B. 
SERVICES 
 
6. We note that some Arab States have submitted in itial and revised offers in the current round 
of services negotiations. We also note that othe r Arab States are facing difficulties in submitting 
requests and offers. Consequently the following must be achieved:  
 WT/L/624 
Page 6  
 
 (a) A substantial improvement in market access in modes and sectors of export interest to 
Arab States. Under Mode 4, Members should make commitments aimed at ensuring a commercially meaningful outcome for Arab States, particularly on sectors of importance in terms of export interest su ch as tourism, business and professional, 
construction, health and environment services; 
(b) The urgent conclusion of the evaluation and assessment exercise, with specific 
outcomes that would ensure appropriate adjustments in the negotiations; 
(c) A substantial advance in work on domestic regulation by the Hong Kong Ministerial 
Conference to ensure that disciplines in  domestic regulation enhance commitments 
undertaken by Members, particularly in t hose areas of interest  to Arab States, 
including Mode 4; 
(d) Expeditious establishment of an emergenc y safeguard mechanism with appropriate 
SDT for developing countries; 
(e) Developed countries should notify all their subsidies with a view to identifying their 
trade-distorting subsidies and eliminating them. For this purpose, a clear and practical 
definition of subsidies should be agreed upon; 
(f) Ensure that government procurement nego tiations in accordance with GATS should 
not encompass market access components; 
(g) Provision of increased and targeted technical assistance on all technical issues, as 
well as impact studies, to enable Arab St ates to participate effectively in the 
negotiations, including the request/offer phase; 
(h) Effective implementation of Article IV of the GATS in order to ensure the increased 
participation of Arab States in services trade; 
(i) Provision of special provisions and flex ibilities to recently acced ed members in the 
services negotiations. 
7. We stress the need for the full implementation of the LDC special modalities. 
8. We further stress that the Guidelines and Pro cedures for the negotiations in services adopted 
by the Council for Trade in Services on 28 Ma rch 2001 and Articles IV and XIX and the LDC 
modalities remain the benchmark for the negotiations . Recent proposals on new approaches and "base 
lines" for liberalization impact negatively on th e architecture of the GATS and its development 
provisions and thus should be discarded. 
DEVELOPMENT ISSUES 
 
9. We reiterate that development is a priority fo r Arab States in the negotiations and should thus 
be appropriately and explicitly mainstreamed into all aspects of the negotiations and the outcome of 
the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference. In this regard, the following must be achieved: 
(a) Ensure that all S&D proposals are a ddressed by the Committee on Trade and 
Development, which remains the main body dealing with development issues; 
(b) Complete the review of all outstanding S&D Agreement specific proposals and agree 
on a significant package of proposals with commercially meaningful provisions and those which enhance the flexibility availabl e to developing countries by the Sixth 
WTO Ministerial Conference;  WT/L/624 
 Page 7 
 
 
 (c) Complete the work on all outstanding impl ementation-related is sues and concerns; 
and agree on a package of provisions that would improve implementation of WTO obligations and rights by members and strengthen the development perspective; 
(d) Other key elements that address Arab St ates' development needs and concerns 
relating to enhanced technical assistance, food security, rural development, livelihood 
concerns, commodities and net food imports mu st be fully taken into account in the 
negotiations; 
(e) Arab liberalization efforts, including in th e context of regional integration efforts, 
should be fully recognized and factored into  the negotiations, and adequate flexibility 
provided to address the Arab States' development and trade needs. 
10. We stress the need for new, concrete and s ubstantive adjustment support to be provided to 
Arab States to meet adjustment costs arising from tr ade reform and liberalization, as well as to build 
competition supply capacity, including trade infrastructure. 
COMMODITIES 
 11. We urge WTO Members to address the crisis  of the instability and secular decline in 
commodity prices with the aim of attaining stab le, equitable and remunerative prices on these 
products, as well as an increase in the participation of developing countries and LDCs in the value 
chain of production; 
12. We call on the international community to provi de support for the effective operationalization 
of the International Task Force on Commodities launched at UNCTAD XI. 
TRADE FACILITATION 
 
13. We recognize the potential benefits that would accrue to Arab States from undertaking trade 
facilitation measures, including enhancing the co mpetitiveness of Arab economies, promoting 
intra-Arab trade and harnessing the benefits; 
14. However, there are costs associated with the pursuit of trad e facilitation. In this regard, we 
welcome the recognition in Annex D of the July Package where it stresses the need for synergy 
between the level of commitments, the cost of an d the availability of resources to implement any 
possible outcome, and the provision of financial a nd technical resources for the capacity building of 
developing and least developed countries. These commitments must be met in letter and spirit. 
15. We emphasize the need for closer collabora tion and enhanced coordination among relevant 
international, regional and subregi onal organizations in the delivery of  targeted and efficient technical 
assistance and capacity building support to Arab States on trade facilitation. 
16. In the context of the current negotiations on trade facilitation, the following should be fully 
taken into account: 
(a) Adherence to the mandate and scope of Annex D of the July Package; 
(b) Defining the needs and priorities of each of th e Arab States by inter alia expeditiously 
making a self-assessment which could be based on the secretariat notification (TN/TF/W/59); 
(c) Provision of S&D that is precise, effective and operational; WT/L/624 
Page 8  
 
 (d) Provision of policy space and flexibility for Arab States; 
(e) Support for regional efforts on trade facilitation among Arab States. 
RULES 
 
17. In the negotiations on WTO Rules, the fo llowing issues are key for achieving progress: 
(a) The need to avoid the introduction of complex rules and disciplines under the 
Anti-Dumping Agreement and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, in accordance with the Doha mandate that called for improvement and clarification of those two agreements; 
(b) The provision of adequate technical assistance to Arab States in order to enable them 
to effectively enforce their rights under the Anti-Dumping Agreement as well as the 
Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures; 
(c) The need to address sufficiently the development dimension of these negotiations by 
ensuring that, when elaborating proposals, the needs and concerns of Arab States are 
reflected therein; 
(d) Taking fully into account the developmen t aspects in the negotiations aimed at 
clarifying and improving disciplines and procedures relating to regional trade agreements. 
LDCs 
 
18. We recognize the special difficulties faced by LD Cs in integrating into the multilateral trading 
system, and in this respect we support the Livingsto ne Declaration adopted by the Fourth LDC Trade 
Ministers' Meeting and urge WT O developed countries, and devel oping countries in a position to do 
so, to grant bound duty free, quota-free treatment for all exports of LDCs and liberalize Mode 4 in all 
skill levels for LDCs. 
TECHNICAL COOPERATION AND CAPACITY BUILDING 
 
19. We thank the Minister of Commerce and Industry  of Oman for initiating the Arab JITAP. We 
call upon AMF to continue its work in coordinati on with WTO, UNCTAD, ITC and other relevant 
parties to expeditiously finalize the programme. We also urge the international and Arab financial 
institutions and donor countries as well as the privat e sector to contribute and provide the appropriate 
financial resources for the programme. 
20. Recognizing the crucial role of UNCTAD in assis ting Arab States, we stress that development 
partners should provide financial support to UNCT AD and other relevant international, regional and 
subregional organizations in implementing capacity  building projects for Arab States. We also 
reiterate the importance of exped itious organization of seminars re lating to the multilateral trading 
system and development for Arab States. 
21. We recognize the utility of the Business for Development initiative launched by ITC to 
promote and support business-government dialogue on  WTO-related issues. This initiative should be 
extended to the Arab region and adequately financed.  WT/L/624 
 Page 9 
 
 
 TRADE, DEBT AND FINANCE 
 
22. We recognize the Working Group on Trade, Debt and Finance (WGTDF) as one of the 
concrete manifestations of the development focus of the Doha Work Programme. We therefore: 
(a) Reiterate the importance of this Worki ng Group in creating the much needed 
coherence between trade, debt and finance; 
(b) Call upon the Working Group to immediately mainstream coordination with the 
Breton Woods Institutions so as to avoid ove rlaps in the policies recommended by the 
World Bank and IMF on the one hand and WTO rights and obligations on the other; 
(c) Call upon the Working Group to build synergies with the various WTO Committees 
that are dealing with issues that fall with in the general competence of this Working 
Group so as to ensure that tangible results  are delivered on the coherence mandate; 
(d) Welcome the prospects of the Aid for Trad e agenda which should be aimed, inter 
alia, at addressing the supply-side constraints and adjustment costs that developing countries face, as well as meeting of standa rds. However, this agenda should not 
operate on the typical conditionality of the Bretton Woods Institutions, and assistance 
should be provided directly to developing co untries with efficient, streamlined and 
simpler delivery procedures; 
(e) Recall the debt situation of several Arab States and call upon the Working Group to 
resolve the trade-related aspects of debt  by delivering on the coherence mandate. 
TRADE AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY 
 
23. We call for a more focused programme in th e Working Group on Trade and Transfer of 
Technology with a view to finding durable solutions to the problems associat ed with transfer of 
technology to Arab States and increasing the in-flow  of appropriate technology to these countries. 
ACCESSION 
 
24. We call upon all WTO Members to  facilitate and accelerate the accession of Arab States to 
the WTO, and non-trade-based considerations shoul d not be used to delay accessions or hold up 
applications for accession. 
25. We appreciate the technical assistance and capac ity building support extended to Arab States 
in the process of accession by our development partners and UNCTAD. We also call upon UNCTAD 
and our development partners to intensify the provision of techni cal assistance and capacity building 
support to acceding Arab States at all stages of the accession process. 
26. We also encourage the cooperation and the ex change of experiences between acceding Arab 
States and Arab Members of the WTO. 
27. We underscore the urgent need to effectiv ely implement the accession guidelines for LDCs 
adopted by the General Council in December 2002. 
28. We stress that acceding countries must neither be compelled to negotiate concessions going 
beyond multilaterally accepted rules within the in stitution nor subscribe to clauses still under 
discussion within the framework of the Doha Round; WT/L/624 
Page 10  
 
 29. We stress that S&D provisions should be app licable to all acceding developing countries, 
including LDCs, and not be subject to negotiations. 
30. We urge all WTO Members to support Palestine' s request being submitted for observer status 
in the Organization, as well as Palestine's re quest being submitted to attend the Sixth WTO 
Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, China. 
TRADE AND MDGs 
 
31. We recognize that some Arab States have ma de advances towards achieving many of the 
MDGs, including alleviating extreme poverty and re ducing maternal and infant mortality. However, 
significant challenges remain in most Arab States in achieving specific MDG goals and targets fully 
and in a timely fashion. In this context, under the right conditions, trade can make an important 
contribution to Arab States in promoting MDGs, esp ecially through the implementation of Goal 8 and 
the achievement of an open trading and financia l system that is rule-based, predictable and 
non-discriminatory and, above all, equitable. We th us emphasize a comprehensive approach to trade 
liberalization and reform that is developmentori ented and accompanied by the necessary adjustment 
support and building of competitive supply capacities and infrastructural linkages. 
 
__________