Brussels, 17/10/2013 (Agence Europe) - The ACP (African, Caribbean, Pacific) group of states want the 9th Ministerial Conference of the WTO (Bali, Indonesia, 3-6 December) to deliver a “balanced and meaningful” outcome and clear commitment to a post-Bali work programme that places development at its core. This commitment is of vital importance to the ACP states and the WTO as a whole, the ACP trade ministers stressed in Brussels last week.
They said that the negotiations should be guided by the principles of fairness, inclusiveness and transparency. They urge all the members of the WTO to show the required flexibility to achieve consensus on development, special and differentiated treatment issues and the needs of the least developed countries (LDCs), agriculture, and trade facilitation and ensure a balanced outcome within and between these pillars. Over half of the 79 ACP states linked to the EU by the Cotonou Agreement are LDCs. (AN/transl.fl)