WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/330
29 October 1999
(99-4663)
Original:  English/
French
ACP TRADE MINISTERS MEETING
Brussels, 21-22 October 1999
Communication from Jamaica
The following communication, dated 25 October 1999, has been received by the Chairman of
the General Council from the Permanent Mission of Jamaica.
_______________
I have been asked to convey in my capac ity as co-coordinator of the ACP/WTO Group,
Geneva, the attached Declaration1 which was adopted by the ACP Ministers of Trade at their meeting
held in Brussels on 21 and 22 October 1999.
The Declaration contains elements which the ACP Ministers of Trade seek to have
incorporated into the Ministerial Declaration to be adopted at the WTO's Ministerial Conference in
Seattle.
I should be grateful for your cooperation in having the Declaration circulated formally to
Member countries.
As requested by the ACP Secretariat, I have also conveyed to the Director-General of the
WTO, the Declaration and a covering letter from th e President of the ACP Council of Ministers, the
Hon. Sevenier Adjovi, Mini ster of Trade of Benin.
                                                     
1 Reproduced in the Annex.WT/L/330
Page 2
ANNEX
Declaration on the Third WTO Ministerial Conference
Adopted by ACP Ministers of Trade
Brussels, 22 October 1999
1. In accordance with their Decision adopted on 15 May 1998, the ACP Ministers of Trade held
their second meeting in Brussels on 21-22 October 1999 and addressed, inter alia , issues relating to
the 3rd WTO Ministerial Conference.
The Third WTO Ministerial Conference
2. Ministers noted the intensive preparatory activities carried out and the proposals made by
ACP countries at national and regional levels in preparation for the 3rd WTO Ministerial Conference
scheduled to take place in Seattle from 30 November to 3 December 1999.  They reiterated their
support for the proposed changes to the Draft Ministerial text to be considered in Seattle submitted bythe African Group and jointly by other members of the ACP Group on matters of specific interest for
the ACP Group as a whole.
3. Considering the importance and urgency of integrating the ACP countries into the multilateral
trading system and the imminent launching of future negotiations at the forthcoming WTO Ministerial
Conference, Ministers re-emphasized that developmental issues should be at the core of futurenegotiations.  In this regard, the ACP countries identify the following crucial and urgent objectives:
(a) the need to give priority to the issues of  implementation especially those relating to
imbalances and deficiencies in the existing Agreements and to the commitments
made by developed countries in favour of developing countries, in particular the least
developed countries;
(b) the necessity to maintain existing trade preferences between developed and
developing countries to facilitate the phased and smooth integration of developing
countries into the multilateral trading system;
(c) a strengthened rules - based trading system which functions in a manner that achieves
the greater participation of developing countries, particularly least developed and
small and vulnerable economies, in global trade and thereby ensuring a more
equitable distribution of gains from trade;
(d) developing and strengthening supply-side capacities of ACP countries, especially
those of least developed and small economies;
(e) the necessity to take fully on board financial and trade needs of developing countries;
(f) the need to take full account of the trade and socio-economic circumstances of
developing country Members, specifically by giving concrete operational content tothe commitments on special and differential treatment;
(g) the need to ensure easier and less onerous conditions of accession and notification for
ACP countries especially the LDCs and the small economies; and
(h) the need to address the arbitrary imposition of trade practices such as sanitary and
phytosanitary measures and anti-dumping and countervailing duties against theWT/L/330
Page 3
products of developing countries and measures which in effect constitute effective
barriers to the trade of these countries.
(i) address the concern of developing countries regarding the increasing tendency by
developed countries to link compliance to non-trade issues such as labour and
environmental standards to the granting of market access to the products from thedeveloping countries.
4. Ministers expressed concern that these and other issues of importance to ACP countries have
not been satisfactorily addressed within the WTO.  They therefore call, inter alia, for the following
immediate Decisions to be taken at the Third WTO Ministerial Conference:
(i) A "standstill clause", requiring all Members not to take any measures that
would reduce the current market access opportunities of ACP countries,
including preferential access with the European Union for a further period often years.
In this context, Ministers urged the adoption of an immediate Decision supporting the
continuation of trade preferences as a means of facilitating the phased and smooth
integration of ACP countries into the multilateral trading system through the
application of a peace clause in respect of waivers to enable ACP States to benefitfrom trade preferences in the EU.
(ii) Extend bound, duty-free and quota-free market access by developed countries
for all products originating from the Least Developed countries (LDCs),
small island developing countries and other vulnerable small developing
economies including countries highly dependent on commodities.
(iii) An immediate decision to give a strong impetus to the WTO Integrated
Framework for Trade-related Technical Assistance for the LDCs, in
particular the organization of a high level meeting by the WTO with a view to
taking stock of the status of implementation of the WTO Integrated
Framework and set a reasonable time frame for its full implementation and toconsider its extension to other Developing countries.
(iv) Extend transitional periods of the TRIPS, TRIMS, and Customs Valuation
Agreements for periods that take into account the availability of resources
required to effectively implement these Agreements.
(v) Address the concerns of Developing Countries in particular, the Least
Developed and Net Food Importing Developing Countries by incorporating
concrete, operational and contractual measures, including provisions ofinstitutional and human capacity building, technical and financial assistance,
that are both effective and responsive to the special needs of LDCs and
NFIDCs.
(vi) Ensure that non-trade concerns relating to food security, rural activities and
environmental protection which are of particular importance to DevelopingCountries in particular to LDCs, Landlocked, vulnerable and small Island
countries as well as Net Food Importing Developing Countries are fully taken
into account in the future negotiations in agriculture.
(vii) Review the TRIPS Agreement so as to identify ways and means to
operationalize its objectives and principles in respect of transfer andWT/L/330
Page 4
dissemination of technology to developing countries, and to clarify its
provisions so as to ensure a mutually supportive relationship between the
TRIPS Agreement and instruments for the protection and preservation of
indigenous plants and fauna, knowledge of medicine, and local designs.
(viii) The review of the TRIPS Agreement should also ensure that developing
countries are not prevented from imposing compulsory licensing for drugs
listed as essential by the World Health Organization (WHO) in the interest of
their supply at reasonable prices.
(ix) Provide adequate financing of technical assistance from the regular budget of
the WTO and other sources in favour of developing countries, in particular
the LDCs.
(x) Facilitate more effective coordination between the WTO, IMF, World Bank,
other multilateral financial institutions, UNCTAD and bilateral development
partners in addressing the problem of competitiveness and supply side
constraints of ACP economies.
(xi) Expand the list of countries in Annex VII of the Agreement on Subsidies and
Countervailing Measures to include low, middle and upper middle incomecountries.
(xii) Expand Article 8 of the Agreement dealing with non-actionable subsidies
when such subsidies are provided by developing countries members.
(xiii) Agree that the mandated negotiations on Services should give highest priority
to the increasing participation of developing country Members as called for inthe GATS Agreement.
(xiv) Require that appropriate assistance is made available to developing countries
seeking accession to the WTO, and to ensure that acceding developing
countries, particularly LDCs, are offered terms and conditions that are neither
excessive nor unrelated to their level of development, and that the countriesin the process of accession are able to effectively participate in the
Multilateral Negotiations.
(xv) Agree that any review of existing Agreements supports regional integration
efforts by developing countries as well as the conclusion of trading
agreements involving developed and developing countries.
(xvi) Review the dispute settlement mechanism in order to protect the rights of
developing countries and third parties involved in disputes.  Such a reviewshould also include the provision of enhanced legal representation for these
countries.
5. Ministers are strongly of the view that immediate Decisions reached on the foregoing issues
in Seattle will address the main concerns and constraints that ACP countries face and will help to
ensure a more balanced, equitable and fair outcome of the future negotiations.
__________