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DEVELOPMENT: SMALL ECONOMIES

Work programme on small economies

The General Council, on 1 March 2002, agreed on a framework and procedures for the work programme on small economies — framework and procedures (WT/L/447), (download in MS Word format, 2 pages, 30KB).

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Following the agreement by Ministers at the Doha Ministerial to establish a work programme “to frame responses to the trade-related issues identified for the fuller integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system”, the General Council agreed that:

• The question of small economies would be a standing agenda item of the General Council;
• The Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) will hold Dedicated Sessions on this question and report to the General Council; and
• In the light of the outcome of this work, relevant subsidiary bodies will be asked by the General Council to frame responses to the trade-related issues identified in the CTD.

In November 2005, prior to the Sixth Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong, the CTD Dedicated Session on Small Economies adopted its report to the General Council. This report was issued as document WT/COMTD/SE/4.

The Ministerial Declaration adopted in Hong Kong contains several references to small economies and in paragraph 41 instructs the CTD in Dedicated Session to continue its work and monitor progress of the proposals by small economies in the WTO's negotiating groups and other bodies.

Other references in the Declaration concern paragraph 26 of the annex on Agriculture where Ministers take note of a concrete proposal made by small economies and paragraph 21 of the Declaration concerning NAMA where Ministers instruct the NAMA negotiating group to establish ways to provide flexibilities for small, vulnerable economies without creating a sub-category of WTO Members. Finally, in paragraph 8 of Annex C on Services, Ministers agreed that “[d]ue consideration shall be given to proposals on trade-related concerns of 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. This report was circulated as document WT/COMTD/SE/5. At its 10 October 2006 meeting, the General Council took note of the report and agreed to the recommendations made therein.

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