   
  
WT/COMTD /SE/W/46/Rev.1  
 
23 November 2023  
(23-7925) Page: 1/2 
Committee on Trade and Development  
Dedicated Session  Original: English  
 
WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES – 
PROPOSAL FOR MINISTERIAL DECISION  
Revision  
The following communication, dated 2 3 November 2023, is being circulated at the request of the 
delegation of Guatemala, on behalf of the Group of Small, Vulnerable Economies.  
 
_______________  
 
 
Ministerial Conference  
Thirteenth Session  
 
WORK PROGRAMME ON SMALL ECONOMIES  
MINISTERIAL DECISION  OF ___________  
The Ministerial Conference decides as follows:  
 
We reaffirm our commitment to the Work Programme on Small Economies and take note of all the 
work conducted to date. In particular, we note that document WT/COMTD/SE/W/22/Rev.11  and its 
previous revisions reflect the work of the Ded icated Session up to the Thirteenth Ministerial 
Conference.  
 
We take note of the work carried out since 2022, including the analysis of the document presented 
by the Secretariat in March 2023 in document WT/COMTD/SE/W/45 , titled "Integrating small  
economies into the post COVID -19 economy: effects of the pandemic, challenges and opportunities."  
 
Furthermore, we instruct the Dedicated Session on Small Economies to consider in further detail the 
various submissions that have been received to date, exa mine any additional proposals that 
Members might wish to submit and, where possible, and within its mandate, make recommendations 
to the General Council on any of these proposals. The General Council shall direct relevant subsidiary 
bodies to frame respons es to the trade -related issues identified by the CTD with a view to making 
recommendations for action.  
 
We instruct the WTO Secretariat to provide relevant information and factual analysis for discussion 
among Members in the CTD's Dedicated Session on Smal l Economies, including through cooperating 
with relevant international organizations, inter alia, in the areas identified in item k of paragraph 2 
of the Work Programme on Small Economies and, in particular, on:  
 
1. Challenges and opportunities for small e conomies in using e -commerce and digital 
ecosystem to drive competitiveness;  
2. Addressing the importance of resilient, accessible, open, reliable and transparent supply 
chains for small economies given food security issues, and the impact of non -tariff 
measures on trade costs;  
3. Exploring with other relevant WTO bodies how to integrate trade related climate change 
adaptation and mitigation policies into the trade policies of small economies.  WT/COMTD/SE/W/46/Rev.1  
 
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  The CTD in Dedicated Session shall continue monitoring the progr ess of the small economy proposals 
in WTO bodies and in negotiating groups with the aim of providing responses, as soon as possible, 
to the trade -related issues identified for the fuller integration of SVEs in the multilateral trading 
system as well as ass essing the effectiveness of the responses framed so far to integrate the SVEs 
in the multilateral trading system.  
 
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