A/RES/59/221
5.
Reaffirms that all countries have a shared interest in the success of the
Doha work programme, which aims both at further increasing trading opportunities
and reducing barriers to trade among nations and at making the trading system more
development-friendly, which would contribute to the objective of upholding and
safeguarding an open, equitable, rule-based, predictable and non-discriminatory
multilateral trading system, and recalls that a major contribution of the Doha
Ministerial Declaration4 was to place the needs and interests of developing countries
at the heart of the Doha work programme and that this important objective needs to
be pursued with a view to bringing about concrete development-oriented outcomes
from the multilateral trade negotiations;
Looks forward to the early development of the frameworks outlined in
6.
the decision of 1 August 2004 of the General Council of the World Trade
Organization, in an inclusive and transparent manner, into concrete, detailed and
specific modalities for the early and successful conclusion of the negotiations, while
ensuring balance and parallel progress within and between areas under negotiation
bearing in mind the needs and concerns of developing countries, and ensuring a fair
and development-oriented outcome of the Doha work programme based on a broad
agenda, including enhanced market access, balanced rules and well-targeted,
sustainably financed technical assistance and capacity-building programmes;
Recognizes, in regard to the decision of 1 August 2004 of the General
7.
Council of the World Trade Organization and consistent with the Doha work
programme, the following issues of particular interest and concern to developing
countries:
(a) Reviewing special and differential treatment provisions with a view to
making them more precise, effective and operational and, in this regard,
expeditiously completing the review of the outstanding agreement-specific
proposals and cross-cutting issues, and finding appropriate solutions to outstanding
implementation issues, by July 2005, as provided for in paragraph 1 (d) of the
decision;
(b) The elaboration of modalities under the framework on agriculture, as
contained in annex A to the decision, for negotiations, in accordance with
paragraph 13 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, noting that reforms in all three
pillars of market access, domestic support and export competition form an
interconnected whole and must be approached in a balanced and equitable manner
with operationally effective and meaningful special and differential treatment for
developing countries, and recalling that agriculture is of critical importance to the
economic development of developing country members of the World Trade
Organization, particularly to the least developed countries and the net foodimporting developing countries, and that they must be able to pursue agricultural
policies that are supportive of their development goals, poverty reduction strategies
and food security and livelihood concerns, and that non-trade concerns will be taken
into account;
(c) Implementing concretely the commitment to address cotton issues
ambitiously, expeditiously and specifically within the agriculture negotiations, as
provided for in annex A to the decision;
(d) The elaboration of modalities on market access for non-agricultural
products pursuant to annex B to the decision, with the aim of reducing or, as
appropriate, eliminating tariffs, including the reduction or elimination of tariff
peaks, high tariffs and tariff escalation, as well as non-tariff barriers, in particular on
products of export interest to developing countries, with a comprehensive product
4