RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/COMTD/LLDC/M/8
26September 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-3999)
Sub-Committee onLeast-Developed Countries
NOTE ONTHE MEETING OF16SEPTEMBER 1997
Chairperson: Ambassador Eveline L.Herfkens (TheNetherlands)
1. TheSub-Committee adopted theagenda ascontained inWTO/AIR/661.
(a) Review ofProgress Made inthePreparation oftheHigh-Level Meeting onIntegrated
Initiatives forLeast-Developed Countries
2. TheChairperson referred tothenon-paper prepared bytheSecretariat containing anupdate
ofthepreparations fortheHigh-Level Meeting (attached). Asregards thecountry-specific roundtables
shesaidthatduetothelimited duration oftheHigh-Level Meeting, notallcountries whohadsubmitted
completedneedsassessmentscouldbeincludedintheroundtablepresentationsattheHigh-LevelMeeting
itself. Ataninter-agency meeting scheduled for8-10October, thesixorganizing intergovernmental
agencies intended tofinalise theirassessment ofthecompleted questionnaires andtoformulate their
integrated response totheneeds fortrade related technical assistance identified intheonesconsidered
ofasatisfactory standard. Theresulting documents would becirculated totheMembers. Thedates
of8-10October werechosen toallow sufficient timeaftertheannual meeting oftheBretton Woods
Institutions andtoallow some timeforfurther work ontheIntegrated Framework forTechnical
Assistance (draft document LDC/HL/2). Mr.A.Hoda oftheWTO Secretariat would continue to
holdinformal consultations withaviewtofinalizing theIntegrated Framework byearly October. As
regardsthethematicroundtablediscussions,UNCTADhadacceptedresponsibilityfortheirorganization
andwould holdfurther consultations. Sheencouraged delegations toattend theNGO Symposium,
which would takeplace on25and26September.1Inregards tomarket-access issues, shereferred
totheDirector General ’sletter andencouraged delegations totaketheopportunity attheMeeting to
provide greater market access concessions. Asregards thefinancial situation, shenoted thatfinancial
contributions made thusfartotheTrust Fund which hadbeensetupfortheHigh-Level Meeting were
below thelevelhoped for.
3. Shedrew delegations 'attention tothecommitment toestablish follow-up mechanisms after
theMeeting. With respect totheproblem oforganizing combined consultations between WTO and
UNCTAD, shenoted thatitwasnotuptothisSub-Committee toresolve thisproblem. Following
consultations which theChairman oftheGeneral Council hadheldonthematter ofthechairmanship
oftheHigh-Level Meeting, aletter inviting Development Minister JanPronk oftheNetherlands to
assume thisrolehadbeensent.
4. Therepresentative ofBangladesh saidthattheCommittee wasaware thatmuch work hadbeen
doneinthepreparation oftheHigh-Level Meeting andthanked theSecretariat andChairperson for
theirefforts. TheMeeting hadgenerated much interest andoptimism intheLDC capitals, including
hisown. Many oftheleast-developed countries hadmeanwhile given theirresponses tothecheck-list
questionnaire ontrade-related technical assistance needs. BoththeWTO andUNCTAD hadprovided
1WT/COMTD/LLDC/W/9, dated 15September 1997.WT/COMTD/LLDC/M/8
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support tosome least-developed countries intheirefforts tofullyrespond tothequestions raised in
thecheck-list. Hiscountry hadbeenassisted inthisregard bothbyWTO andUNCTAD andthanked
them fortheirgenerous support. Herequested further information ontheprogress ofconsultations
heldbetween WTO andUNCTAD onthe“Integrated Framework forTechnical Assistance. ”Heasked
which ofthesixagencies hadassisted which least-developed countries inpreparing their needs
assessments. Howmany needassessment responses hadbeenreviewed bytheagencies atinter-agency
meetings? Could anupdate beprovided oftheinventory oftrade-related technical assistance ofthe
sixintergovernmental agencies withrespect toleast-developed countries? Howmany least-developed
countries hadexpressed adesire toorganize acountry-specific roundtable? Heunderstood thatthe
least-developed country concerned would beresponsible forselecting thoseinaddition tothesixagencies
itwished toinvite toparticipate initsroundtable. Could more concrete information beprovided on
whotheother guests could beandhowtheycould bebrought in?Howmany country-specific round-
tables would beorganized andwhich were thecountries? Itwashisunderstanding thateachofthe
sixintergovernmental agencies wasexpected todiscuss withitscounterpart least-developed country
government theprecise modalities forthose technical assistance activities oftheintegrated package
forwhich itisresponsible. Inthiscontext, could theHigh-Level Meeting setadefinite time-table
forthese discussions tobecompleted? Could interested delegations sitinasobservers intheNGO
Symposium? Hisdelegation would beinterested insuchparticipation. Finally, withregard tothe
twothematic roundtables, heasked ifthetwoMinisters from twoleast-developed countries tobe
participants intheroundtables hadbeendecided upon andapproached. Foritspart,hisdelegation
wished toparticipate intheroundtable under theme “B”withitsMinister ofCommerce andIndustries
asaparticipant.
5. TheChairperson replied thattheInformal Note distributed bytheSecretariat ontheUpdate
onthePreparations fortheHigh-Level Meeting should answer several ofthequestions. Asregard
participation intheroundtables, oncethose countries which would berepresented intheroundtables
hadbeenidentified, other issues would fallintoplace. Matters suchastheselection ofchairpersons
fortheroundtables, andwhich otherparticipants toinvite -whether international organizations, bilateral
donors, development partners, ortheprivate sector -would beresolved. Sherecalled thatitwould
betheresponsibility oftheleast-developed countries tochair(orselect anappropriate Chair) fortheir
country-specific roundtables andtoselect participants whowould beinvited.
6. Therepresentative oftheSecretariat saidthatmore suggestions tothedraftofthe“Integrated
Framework forTechnical Assistance ”hadbeenreceived. Thecurrent draft wasbeing revised to
accommodate these comments. Ameeting would beconvened byMr.A.Hoda andMr.C.Fortin
from UNCTAD toallow forfurther consultations. Asfortechnical assistance provided totheleast-
developed countries incompleting theirneeds assessments, henoted thatUNCTAD, WTO andITC
hadassisted twelve countries, theWorld Bank hasassisted fiveothers, while UNDP hadbeeninvolved
intworequests. Currently, fifteen countries hadsubmitted needs assessments, either infinalordraft
form. About fivemore needs assessments were expected inthenextfewdays. TheSecretariat was
stillreceiving inventories oftechnical assistance provided bythesixagencies, andplanned toissue
thedocument containing acompilation ofthembytheendofthismonth. There willbeoneinventory
oftrade-related technical assistance provided toleast-developed countries bythesixagencies, organized
onacountry-by-country basis. Asregards thecountry-specific roundtables theagencies would try
toaccommodate asmany countries aspossible attheHigh-Level Meeting itself, timepermitting, and
would continue thisprocess aftertheHigh-Level Meeting. Themodalities ofproviding technical
assistance would beworked outaftertheHigh-Level Meeting witheachagency individually onthe
basis oftheintegrated plan. Inregards toMinisterial attendance, sofarseven Ministers from least-
developed countries hadconfirmed theirattendance andreplies werebeing received onadaily basis.
7. Therepresentative oftheEuropean Communities washeartened bythestatus ofpreparations,
especially inrelation tocountry-specific roundtables. Heemphasized thatmarket access remainedWT/COMTD/LLDC/M/8
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animportant issue. Inthebeginning ofJune, theECCouncil ofMinisters haddecided toimprove
marketaccesstoleast-developedcountriesbyextendingpreferentialtreatmentundertheLoméConvention
toallleast-developed countries from thebeginning of1998. Thiswould result induty-free access
forallleast-developed countries. Heurged other delegations tousetheoccasion oftheHigh-Level
Meeting toconsider improved market-access concessions. Hewaspleased thattheneeds assessments
would bemade available toMembers. Henoted thatsince theselection process ofcountries tobe
featured inroundtables attheHigh-Level Meeting would beadelicate issue, hewanted further clarity
regarding thecriteria. Moreover, asthetimeavailable forroundtable discussions wasclearly limited,
itwould benecessary tostrike abalance between thegoals ofcomprehensiveness andefficiency. In
regards tothebudget, hecould notmake anypromises onbehalf ofhisdelegation onthismatter.
However, aclearer statement ofthebudget could perhaps beuseful togenerate further contributions.
8. TheChairperson hoped thatthecriteria forselection ofcountries involved intheroundtable
discussions attheHigh-Level Meeting would notbepoliticized. Sherecalled thattheagreed criteria
were based onthree factors, inparticular thequality oftheneeds assessments, commitment ofthe
country totheobjective oftheexercise andtheselection should berepresentative ofthewhole group
ofleast-developed countries. Sheshared theconcern oftimeavailability, andcautioned against having
toomany countries featured asthatwould defeat thequality oftheprocess. Shesuggested considering
having twoparallel country specific roundtables atthesame time. Sherequested theSecretariat to
prepare anupdated budget. Theissue ofthe13percentoverhead which wasnormally required on
allTrust Funds hadalready beenraised atthemeeting oftheSub-Committee inJune. Shewould pursue
theissue further withtheChairman oftheBudget Committee.
9. Therepresentative oftheSecretariat saidthattheSecretariat wasobliged bytheGeneral Council
tolevyanoverhead of13percent. Itwould require aGeneral Council action towaive thisdecision.
Inregards tofinancial issues, there were enough funds tohandle thecosts oftheNGO Symposium
andtoprovide technical assistance forthecompletion oftheneeds assessments. Theitemthatremained
wastoassist, onrequest, asmall number ofparticipants from eachleast-developed country asfaras
possible tocover thecostsoftheirparticipation intheHigh-Level Meeting. Thebudget estimate, which
hadbeenendorsed attheJuneSub-Committee meeting, envisioned funding theparticipation ofthree
delegates perleast-developed country, including thecostofairfare andthree daysofsubsistence at
UNrates. Sofarthirty-four least-developed countries hadindicated theywould attend. Theleast-
developed countries themselves hadrequested funding ofuptothree delegates. Itwashoped thatthe
Trust Fund could make acontribution totheirparticipation whether ornotitwould bepossible tocover
thecosts completely. Inorder tomeetthisneed, another 500,000 Swiss francs wasrequired. Thus
far,onlySweden hadcontributed money totheTrust Fund.
10. TheChairperson suggested thatiftheallocation ofthree representatives from eachcountry
wastoomuch, perhaps alower estimate might befeasible. Given thedegree ofownership ofthe
Meeting, theleast-developed countries themselves should consider making asmall contribution beyond
thecostofsending twodelegates.
11. Therepresentative ofKorea referred totheletter oftheDirector-General onmarket access
issues, andsaidthathiscapital wasdiscussing aninitiative toenhance market access. Heencouraged
other delegations totakeadvantage oftheHigh-Level Meeting tomake suchstatements. Heasked
whether there wereanyindicative deadlines countries should beaware ofinthisrespect. Inregards
tothelevelofrepresentation attheHigh-Level Meeting, heasked atwhatlevelcountries other than
theleast-developed countries would berepresented. Hiscountry wasconsidering thisissueandnoted
conflicting opinions among hiscountry 'sministries onthismatter. Asregards theissueofparticipation
byChinese Taipei, henoted thatatthelastconsultation, several options hadarisen andwondered what
thecurrent status ofthisissue was. Heappealed todelegations toconsider voluntary contributions
totheTrust Fund andremarked thattheappeal wasnotextensive, norcomprehensive enough. HeWT/COMTD/LLDC/M/8
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would convey thisappeal tohiscapital, andsuggested thattheSecretariat present theappeal inwritten
form toallMembers.
12. TheChairperson saidthatanewbudget would beprepared andcirculated todelegations. Any
announcement onnewmarket access concessions should notbehindered byanytimelimitattheHigh-
Level Meeting. Although advance warning forspeaking timewould bedesirable, thisshould not
discourage delegations from bearing good news. Sheunderstood that,since thepolitical processes
within countries would require timetoconsider suchanissue, forewarning ofgood news sufficiently
ahead oftheMeeting might notalways bepossible. Shewasnotaware ofMinisterial attendance planned
bydonor countries. Itwasherunderstanding that,overall, representation would involve high-level
civilservants, suchasdirectors-general, andtheirdeputies. Regarding theparticipation ofChinese
Taipei, there hadbeennomajor developments. TheSub-Committee didnotseem theappropriate
place toconsider thisissue; itwasagreed thattheChairman oftheGeneral Council would dealwith
thisissue.
13. Therepresentative ofTanzania saidthatthere appeared tobedifferent interpretations ofthe
levelofrepresentation toattend totheHigh-Level Meeting. Heappealed todelegations topersuade
Ministers toattend asitwould serve asanindication oftheimportance theworld attached totheHigh-
Level Meeting. Since theMeeting was“High-Level ”,hewasofviewthatitwould beappropriate
topersuade Ministers toattend fromthedeveloped partoftheworld asitwould provide agreatboost
toleast-developed country participants. TheChairperson replied thatsince least-developed countries
were thesubject oftheconference, itwould benatural tohaveministerial attendance from these
countries. Alackofministerial attendance from donor countries should notbeinterpreted asasign
ofdisinterest.
14. Therepresentative ofMorocco saidtheHigh-Level Meeting wasintended tobeoneofthe
actsofimplementation oftheAction PlanforLeast-Developed Countries which Ministers hadadopted
attheSingapore Ministerial Conference. Theword “high-level ”waschosen toallow forflexibility,
withtheaimofhaving themostsuccessful conference possible. Hewasoftheviewthatrepresentation
should beatthemostappropriate levelfromdelegations which would ensure maximum result andthe
highest degree ofsuccess.
15. Therepresentative ofNepal expressed hisdelegation 'sappreciation fortheefforts ofthe
Secretariat, especially asregards thetechnical assistance provided tocomplete itsneeds assessment.
Theresponse hadbeenprompt, andhadledtothesubmission oftheNepal 'sneeds assessment. His
government considered theMeeting withtheutmost seriousness andimportance. Theinternational
community should giveitequal importance asitwasdesigned tobring those countries leftoutofthe
globalization process intotheworld trading system. Hesupported therepresentative ofTanzania and
hoped thatrepresentation would beatthehighest possible level. Heasked formore clarification on
theexpected outcome oftheNGO Symposium; could itsparticipants beinvited totheHigh-Level
Meeting? Could other development partners beinvited tothecountry-specific roundtables? Since
theselection ofcountries fortheroundtables would bemade aftertheOctober inter-agency meeting,
planned for8-10October, hewondered ifthere would beenough timeforcountries chosen toinvite
theirdevelopmentpartners.HeappreciatedcontributionstotheTrustFundandhopedthatthegenerosity
would beforthcoming.
16. TheChairperson replied thatthetimebetween 10October andtheHigh-Level Meeting itself
should allow forenough timeforleast-developed countries toinvite theirdevelopment partners, as
many werealready invited totheHigh-Level Meeting anyway. Regarding theNGO Symposium, it
would leadtoareport tobeincluded inthepapers made available toparticipants attheHigh-Level
Meeting. Itwasherunderstanding thattheNGO representatives attheHigh-Level Meeting could also
participate inthethematic roundtables.WT/COMTD/LLDC/M/8
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17. Therepresentative oftheInternational Trade Centre recalled thatitwaspreparing apaper
onprivate sector perspectives toward least-developed countries. Inthisregard, hundreds of
questionnaires hadbeensenttotheprivate sector inleast-developed countries withsome responses
already received. Theanalysis would bemade available attheMeeting. Anumber ofeminent business
persons werebeing invited totheMeeting. Letters ofinvitations tothese persons hadbeensentby
theDirector General ofWTO which hadsofarresulted intheacceptance bythree business persons
fromTanzania, Bangladesh, andSwitzerland. Hehoped thatatleastfiveorsixeminent business persons
would attend. Thecriteria fortheirselection wasbased ontheinvolvement oftheircompanies intrade
andinvestment inleast-developed countries. Theywould beavailable asresource persons inthecountry-
specific andthematic roundtables tobring tobeartheperspectives oftheprivate sector.
(ii) Other Business
Arrears
18. TheChairperson saidthatontheissue ofWTO budget arrears ofleast-developed countries,
theChairman oftheCommittee onBudget, Finance andAdministration hadoutlined intheCommittee
before thesummer theagreement reached between himandtheChairs oftheCommittee onTrade
andDevelopment andtheSub-Committee onLeast-Developed Countries onparameters forsolutions.
First, thereshould benonegative implications fortheWTO budget beyond thescheme forfacilitation
ofpayment ofpre-1988 arrears. Secondly, donor funding should beconsidered forremaining arrears.
Thirdly, theproblem ofarrears should behandled onacase-by-case basis. Fourthly, sanctions so
farhadnotproved veryproductive: inactive countries werebarred fromparticipating intrade policy
courses, while atthesame timecountries which were notmembers oftheWTO were allowed to
participate inthese courses. Itwasagreed topropose totheGeneral Council through theCommittee
onBudget, Finance andAdministration thatleast-developed countries should notbeprevented from
attendingtradepolicycourses.Further,discussionsbetweenthethreeChairssupportedbytheSecretariat
hadledtoapaper withthree components. Thefirstwould move least-developed countries outof
Category IVwithdonor funding sought. Todothisinhalfayearwould cost2million Swiss francs.
Secondly,itadvisedtocontinuethepre-1988arrearsapproachtofacilitatethenormalizationofpayments.
Thirdly, theWTO levied aminimum contribution of0.03percentofeachMember 'sshare inworld
tradeorafixed minimum figure. According tothiscriteria, itappeared thatleast-developed countries
werepenalized because ifthecalculation would bemade based ontheirshares ininternational trade
most least-developed countries would beassessed atalower amount. Thethree Chairs suggest the
possibility thattheminimum contribution bedecreased to0.01percent. Intheprocess offinding
acceptable solutions, sheurged thatMembers seetheimportance oftheissueandthatleast-developed
countries gainaclearunderstanding ofthebenefits ofmembership, asthiswould beasteptowards
eliminating theproblem. Shenoted thattheCommittee onBudget, Finance andAdministration would
return tothisissue.WT/COMTD/LLDC/M/8
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UPDATE ONPREPARATIONS FOR THE HIGH-LEVEL MEETING
ONLEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
Informal Note bytheSecretariat
1. Thispaper updates information circulated toWTO Members indocuments WT/COMTD/W/28,
andAdd.1 andAdd.2. Theminutes ofmeeting theSub-Committee onLeast-Developed countries held
on26June1997alsocontain relevant information (document WT/COMTD/LLDC/M/7 plusCorr.1).
I. PREPARATIONOFINTEGRATEDPROGRAMME SOFTECHNICALASSISTANCEFOR
LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES AND OFCOUNTRY-SPECIFIC ROUNDTABLES
2. Asof10September,twenty-nineleast-developedcountrieshaveindicatedthattheyhaveaccepted
theinvitation contained intheDirector-General 'sletterof7Maytoprepare acomprehensive assessment
oftheirneeds fortrade-related technical assistance. They are:Angola, Bangladesh, Benin, Burkina
Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Chad, Comoros, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea,
Ethiopia, Gambia, Guinea, Haiti, Laos, Lesotho, Madagascar, Mauritania, Mozambique, Nepal, Sao
Tome andPrincipe, Solomon Islands, Sudan, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Vanuatu, andZambia.
Arrangements havebeenmade among thesixintergovernmental agencies involved directly inpreparing
theHigh-Level Meeting toprovide technical assistance tothetwenty-five least-developed countries
thathaverequested helpinpreparing theirneeds assessments.
3. Draft needs assessments received arebeing reviewed bythesixagencies through theirregular
inter-agency process (seedocument WT/COMTD/W/28/Add.2 foradescription oftheprocess), and
arrangements havebeenmade tobegin drafting country-by-country responses intheformofintegrated
programmes oftechnical assistance. Theprocess willbecompleted atanextended inter-agency meeting
on8-10October foreachleast-developed country thatwillhostacountry-specific roundtable atthe
High-Level Meeting. Documents containing theneeds assessments ofthesecountries andtheagencies
integrated responses willbedistributed todelegations directly thereafter.
II. INTEGRATED FRAMEWORK FOR TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE
4. Informal consultations onthedraftoftheIntegrated Framework forTechnical Assistance were
heldon30Julyunder thechairmanship ofMr.A.Hoda. Further informal consultations willtake
place withtheaimoffinalizing adraftoftheIntegrated Framework inearly October.
III. PREPARATION OFTHEMATIC ROUNDTABLES
5. Adraftoutline ofthetwothematic roundtables which willtakeplace attheHigh-Level Meeting
inparallel withthecountry-specific roundtables hasbeenprepared, along withaprovisional listof
suggested participants (seeattachment 1todocument WT/COMTD/W/28/Add.2). UNCTAD isin
theprocess ofcarrying forward theorganization ofthethematic roundtables. Aninformal exchange
ofviews onthissubject hasbeenconvened byMr.C.Fortin, Deputy-Secretary General ofUNCTAD
on17September atthePalais desNations, 10.a.m., Room XXVI.WT/COMTD/LLDC/M/8
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IV. NGO SYMPOSIUM
6. AnNGO Symposium willtakeplace on25-26 September attheEFTA Building. Thirty-five
NGOs havebeeninvited toparticipate intheSymposium. Delegations areinvited toattend. The
programme oftheSymposium andother details relating toitarecontained inaseparate document
(WT/COMTD/LLDC/W/9).
V. LETTERFROMMR.RUGGIEROTOSEEKMEMBERS'SUPPORTINENHANCINGTHE
PARTICIPATION OFTHE LEAST-DEVELOPED COUNTRIES ININTERNATIONAL
TRADE AND INTHE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM.
7. TheDirector-General wrote toTrade Ministers ofmostWTO Members on24July1997 to
seektheirsupport inenhancing theparticipation oftheleast-developed countries ininternational trade
andinthemultilateral trading system, andencouraging theminparticular toconsider possible initiatives
theymaybeprepared toundertake, onanautonomous basis, toenhance theirmarket access infavour
ofimports from least-developed countries.
V. FINANCIAL SITUATION
8. TheHigh-Level Meeting istobefinanced entirely fromvoluntary contributions, andaspecial
Trust-Fund hasbeenestablished intheWTO. Todate, onlySweden hascontributed tothisspecial
Trust Fund, although acertain amount ofthetechnical assistance provided toleast-developed countries
tohelpthem complete theirneeds assessments (which wasforeseen inthebudget fortheHigh-Level
Meeting) hasbeenfinanced from separate Trust Funds established bytheNetherlands, Norway and
NewZealand.
9. Themajor budgeted itemoftheHigh-level Meeting isfinancial assistance toleast-developed
countries tohelpthem, upon request, tocover thecosts oftheparticipation ofuptothree members
oftheirdelegations totheHigh-Level Meeting. Intheletter ofinvitation toparticipate intheHigh-
LevelMeetingsenttotheTradeMinistersoftheleast-developedcountriesjointlybytheDirectorGeneral
ofWTO, theSecretary-General ofUNCTAD andtheExecutive Director ofITC, dated 5August, it
wasstated thatacertain amount offinancing would beavailable toassist theirgovernments tocover
thecosts oftheparticipation oftheirdelegations. Letters accepting theinvitation, indicating thatin
mostcases theleast-developed country delegations willbeheaded atMinisterial levelandinmostcases
asking forfinancial assistance, arebeing received bytheSecretariat, which needs urgently torespond
totherequests indicating theextent towhich itwillbepossible tocontribute tomeeting thecosts of
delegations 'participation.