All trade and development issues
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All Members of
the WTO are also Members of the regular WTO bodies. The membership
of the Committee on Trade and Development therefore comprises all
countries which are Members of the WTO.
Developing country concerns with respect to a particular provision
of a particular agreement are normally dealt with in the committee
responsible for that agreement.
Technical assistance programmes back
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The Committee on Trade and Development serves as a focal point for
consideration and coordination of technical
assistance work on development in the WTO and its
relationship to development-related activities in other multilateral
agencies.
Work
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At
the Doha Ministerial Conference, in November 2001, Trade Ministers
mandated the Committee on Trade and Development to identify which special
and differential treatment provisions are mandatory, and to
consider the implications of making mandatory those which are
currently non-binding.
At the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference Members adopted
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decisions in favour of the LDCs, including a decision to grant
duty-free and quota–free market access for at least 97 per cent of LDC
exports.
> Work on special and differential treatment provisions
Work
Programme on Small Economies back
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Small economies face specific challenges in their participation in
world trade, for example lack of economy of scale or limited natural
resources.
The Doha Declaration mandates the General Council to examine these
problems and to make recommendations as to what trade-related measures
could improve the integration of small economies
into the multilateral trading system. This is to be done, however,
without creating a separate category of WTO members.
On 1 March 2002, the General Council agreed that:
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The question of small economies would be a standing agenda item of the
General Council;
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The Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) would hold
Dedicated
Sessions on this question and report regurlaly
to the General Council.
The Hong Kong Ministerial
Declaration also includes paragraph 41 on small economies.
On 29 September 2006, the CTD in
Dedicated Session adopted a report to the General Council on Measures to
Assist Small Economies in Meeting their Obligations under the Agreements
on SPS Measures, TBT and TRIPS
WT/COMTD/SE/5.
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Work programme on small
economies
Work in the Trade and Development
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Notifications under the
Enabling Clause
The CTD has traditionally served as the forum for notification and
review of regional trade agreements (RTAs) between developing
countries and preference schemes favouring developing countries
authorized under the Enabling Clause.
On 14 December 2006 the General Council adopted a decision on a
Transparency Mechanism for Regional Trade Arrangements
WT/L/671. This
decision instructs the CTD to implement the RTA Transparency Mechanism
for RTAs falling under paragraph 2(c) of the Enabling Clause The
decision also provides that for purposes of performing the functions
established under the Transparency Mechanism, the CTD shall convene in
dedicated session.
Transparency for Preferential Trade Arrangements
On 14 December 2006 the General Council also adopted a decision on
Transparency for Preferential Trade Arrangements
WT/L/672. This
decision invites the CTD to consider transparency for preferential
arrangements under paragraph 2 of the Enabling Clause (other than RTAs),
and to report back within six months for appropriate action by the
General Council.
Declining terms of trade for primary commodities, and its implication
to trade and development of primary commodity exporting countries
Paragraph 55 of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration instructs the
CTD to intensify its work on commodity issues in cooperation with
other relevant international organizations and to report to the
General Council with possible recommendations. To this end, the CTD
has organized a series of presentations to look at the trade-related
concerns of commodity exporting developing and least-developed
countries. In this context, the CTD has heard presentations from: the
Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), the
Food and Agriculture
Organization (FAO), the
International Cocoa Organization (ICCO), the
International Coffee Organization (ICO),
International Trade Centre
(ITC) and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).
A transcript of these discussions can be found in the minutes of the CTD meetings held from 2004 through 2006.
Paragraph 51 of the Doha Declaration on Sustainable Development
Under Paragraph 51 of the Doha Declaration, the CTD is mandated to
identify and debate the developmental aspects of the negotiations, in
order to help achieve the objective of having sustainable development
appropriately reflected.
Recently, discussions on this part of the work of the CTD have
progressed with the help of a background paper prepared by the
Secretariat titled “Developmental Aspects of the Doha Round of
Negotiations”.
WT/COMTD/W/143/Rev.2
Electronic Commerce
On 30 September 1998 the General Council adopted a
Work Programme on
Electronic Commerce
WT/L/274. Under this
work programme the CTD has on occasion invited technical experts from
other international organizations to speak to the Committee on the
development implications of electronic commerce.
Aid for Trade
On 15 December 2006 the General Council, upon recommendation by the
Director General, instructed the CTD to conduct periodic global
reviews to evaluate and monitor progress on the
Aid for Trade initiative.
Duty Free Quota Free implementation review
Following the decision at the Sixth Ministerial Conference on Measures
in Favour of Least-Developed Countries, the CTD is mandated to
annually review the steps taken to provide duty-free and quota-free
market access to the LDCs.
The first review was held on 28 November 2006. The discussion of this
review can be consulted in the minutes of the meeting.
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