WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/533
15 August 2003
(03-4265)
Original:  English
MAPUTO DECLARATION ON THE FIFTH
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE OF THE WTO
Communication from Mozambique
The following communication, dated 11 August 2003, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Mozambique.
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We have the honour to send you herewith the Maputo Declaration on the 5th WTO Ministerial
Conference, adopted by the Heads of State and Go vernment of the African Union, at their recent
meeting held in Maputo, Mozambique.
We should be grateful if, as instructed by the African Union, the Declaration could be
circulated as an official document.
We strongly hope that, in addition to its circulation, the Maputo Declaration, through your
good services, will receive due consideration in the WTO deliberations in the process up to and during
the Cancun Ministerial.
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MAPUTO DECLARATION ON THE FIFTH
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE OF THE WTO
We, the Heads of State and Government of the African Union meeting in our Second
Ordinary Session in Maputo, Mozambique,
Having  considered the Report of the Conference of Ministers of Trade of AU Member
States in Mauritius, June 2003 the Mauritius Ministerial Declaration on the Fifth Ministerial
Conference of the WTO; and its Annex the "African Common Position" on the Fifth WTO
Ministerial Conference, Cancun, Mexico, 10 to 14 September 2003; as well as the Report of theThird Ordinary Session of the Executive Council on this issue,
Recalling  the high expectations raised by the adoption of the Doha Development Agenda
(DDA) and its subsequent work programme,
Recognizing  the efforts deployed by the Negotiators of our Member States in the various
bodies of the WTO,WT/L/533
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Noting  that the Fifth Ministerial Conference of the WTO is scheduled to take place in
Cancun, Mexico, from 10 to 14 September 2003,
Deeply concerned  about the general lack of progress in the ongoing Round of multilateral
trade negotiations, as evidenced by the missed deadlines in respect of key issues of importance to
African countries in the negotiations,
1. ENDORSE the Mauritius Declaration on the Fifth Ministerial Conference of WTO and its
annex: the African Common Position on the WTO issues;
2. DEPLORE the lack of substantial progress registered in the negotiations on Agriculture,
TRIPS and Public Health, Special and Differenti al Treatment, and Implementation-Related issues;
3. STRONGLY URGE WTO members to fulfil the commitments undertaken in Doha, as
contained in the mandate for the agricultural negotiations, including through less than full reciprocity
in tariff reduction commitments, having due regard to the principle of special and differential
treatment;
4. EXPRESS our full solidarity with our Member States that are affected by subsidies on cotton
provided by developed countries and strongly support actions initiated by some of them in the WTO
to urgently remedy the negative consequences of those subsidies that affect millions of Africa's
farmers;
5. STRONGLY WELCOME proposals on preferences as  contained in the Harbinson text and
CALL UPON the WTO Members to address the issue of erosion of preferences;
6. AFFIRM that the objectives of the negotiations on non-agricultural market access are to
facilitate the development and industrialization processes in our countries; to that end, the modalities
for the actual negotiations must reflect these goals appropriately by addressing tariff peaks and tariff
escalation, taking fully into account the special needs and interests of developing and least-developed
countries;
7. REITERATE that our sub-regional and regional integration organizations are pillars of the
African Economic Community (AEC), and are essent ial for the promotion of Africa's socioeconomic
development and serve as the dynamic building blocks of our effective integration into the
Multilateral Trading System (MTS) ;
8. CALL for development-friendly WTO disciplines, arising from the Doha work programme
pertaining to the clarification and improvement of the WTO disciplines applied to regional trade
agreements;
9. EXPRESS GRAVE CONCERN about the lack of tr ansparency and inclusiveness in the WTO
negotiations and decision-making processes. To that end, CALL for measures to ensure the effective
participation of our countries in the processes leading to the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in
Cancun and beyond;
10. REGRET the deadlock over the issue of granting observer status to the African Union in the
WTO and, in this regard, CALL UPON all other WTO Member States to support us in effort to secure
Observer Status for the African Union;
11. MANDATE the Chairperson of the Assembly in consultation with the Commission to set up a
negotiating team, having due regard to regional representation and headed by an experienced person;WT/L/533
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to negotiate on behalf of all Member States the fundamental issues that are being negotiated in the
WTO;
12. CALL ON the relevant International Civil Society Organisations to provide all necessary
support to advocate and promote Africa's concerns to ensure a just and fair global trading system.
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