The Ministerial Conference,

Having regard to paragraph1 of Article IX of the Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization;

Recalling Decision 36 of Annex F of the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration of 2005 on Measures in Favour of LDCs; and with a view to further integrating least-developed countries (LDCs) into the multilateral trading system and promoting economic growth and sustainable development in LDCs;

Recognizing that since the adoption of the Hong Kong Decision, Members have made significant progress towards the goal of providing DFQF market access on a lasting basis for all products originating from all LDCs, and that nearly all developed Members provide either full or nearly full DFQF market access to LDC products, and that a number of developing-country Members also grant a significant degree of DFQF market access to LDC products;

Decides as follows:

Developed-country Members that do not yet provide duty-free and quota-free market access for at least 97% of products originating from LDCs, defined at the tariff line level, shall seek to improve their existing duty-free and quota-free coverage for such products, so as to provide increasingly greater market access to LDCs, prior to the next Ministerial Conference;

Developing-country Members, declaring themselves in a position to do so, shall seek to provide duty-free and quota-free market access for products originating from LDCs, or shall seek to improve their existing duty-free and quota-free coverage for such products, so as to provide increasingly greater market access to LDCs, prior to the next Ministerial Conference;

Members shall notify duty-free and quota-free schemes for LDCs and any other relevant changes pursuant to the Transparency Mechanism for Preferential Trade Arrangements;

The Committee on Trade and Development shall continue to annually review the steps taken to provide duty-free and quota-free market access to the LDCs, and report to the General Council for appropriate action;

To aid in its review, the Secretariat shall, in close coordination with Members, prepare a report on Members’ duty-free and quota -free market access for LDCs at the tariff line level based on their notifications; 

The General Council is instructed to report, including any recommendations, on the implementation of this Decision to the next Ministerial Conference.