ACP General Secretariat

The ACP Council of Ministers gathered in Brussels for a two days meeting (6-7 December 2001) considered that the outcome of the WTO Doha Conference represented an important success for the ACP Group. According its analysis, this success is due to appropriate preparations for this conference.

ACP Ministers of Trade met in Brussels on 5 and 6 November 2001 adopted a declaration to serve as a common platform for their positions in Doha, and appointed one spokesman for the whole Group, assisted by a Deputy Spokesman. In addition, 6 Ministers were appointed as coordinators for

At Doha, the ACP requested and obtained that the question of the waiver for the Cotonou Agreement be included on the Conference Agenda. It can safely be said that this concentrated the attention of delegates on the Group and its overall concerns. This issue assumed such prominence that its resolution became crucial to the successful outcome of the Conference itself.

Intensive consultations were held between the ACP Group and the European Commission on the one hand, and two groups on the other hand, some Central and Latin American countries; and Philippines and Thailand.

In the end, the waiver was granted at Doha thanks to the concerted effort of ACP spokesmen and the alliances constructed with friendly forces.

Further to the decision of the Conference to set up Working Groups on those main issues requiring further negotiation and discussion, Spokesmen were appointed for each theme, as follows: TRIPS, Agriculture, Rules, Implementation, Singapore issues, Environment.

In view of the similarity of their positions on many issues the ACP Group proposed and it was agreed that joint meetings of the LDCs the OAU Group and the ACP Group should be held. The ACP Group and the alliance established with the LDCs and the OAU Group participated actively in all the consultations, formal as well as informal.

Overall, their main concerns were taken into consideration in the final decisions, i.e., the Ministerial Declaration, the Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and public health, the Decision on implementation issues and concerns and the decisions on the waiver (see Annex).

The issue of the waiver assumed such prominent that its resolution became crucial to the successful outcome of the Conference itself.

contact : Hegel Goutier tel : +32 2 743 06 04 fax + 32 2 743 06 58 http://www.acp.int

ACP Council of Ministers considers the outcome of the WTO Doha Conference as an important success for the ACP Group