SPECIAL SESSION OF THE COMMITTEE OF PARTICIPANTS
AT MINISTERIAL LEVEL, 22 APRIL 2008, ACCRA, GHANA

H.E. Mr. Rezlan Jenie
Vice-Minister, Foreign Affairs (Indonesia)

JOINT COMMUNIQUE

1. We, the Ministers of Parties to the Agreement on the Global System of Trade Preferences among Developing Countries (GSTP) participating in the Third Round of GSTP negotiations (Sao Paulo Round), met in Accra, Ghana, on 22 April 2008 to review progress and establish the groundwork for the final phase of the negotiations.

2. We recall that in June 2004 in Sao Paulo Brazil, we envisaged a package of substantial trade liberalization commitments on the basis of mutuality of advantages to benefit equitably all GSTP Participants. We declared the need for concerted action to harness the enormous potentials of the Agreement in promoting and expanding trade among developing countries across regions. We also committed ourselves to be more engaged in the affairs of the GSTP.

3. Having been briefed by our senior officials and experts on their work to define the basic parameters for exchanging meaningful and credible concessions, we are gratified to acknowledge with appreciation the report of the GSTP Negotiating Committee.

4. Learning from our experiences in previous round of negotiations, we instruct our officials in Geneva and in our capitals to continue negotiations to reduce tariffs in our mutual trade in accordance with the report of the Negotiating Committee. We also instruct them to carry out a programme of work for the remainder of 2008 to expeditiously resolve the remaining technical issues in the negotiations.

5. In the Sao Paulo Declaration, we pledged to develop concrete measures in favour of the least-developed country Participants in accordance with the provisions of the Agreement. We instruct our officials to enter into close consultations with the LDCs, bilaterally or plurilaterally, in the course of the negotiations this year.

6. Recalling our invitation in the Sao Paulo Declaration for the broadening of participation in the GSTP, we instruct the Negotiating Committee to expedite consideration of the applications for accession that have been filed with the Committee of Participants after the launching of the negotiations in June 2004.
 
7. Recent developments in the world economy point to imminent slowdowns in the economies of our major industrialized export markets. This is a cause of concern for us. Developments such as these validate our objective of diversifying our export market destinations and import market sources across the African, Asian and Latin American and Caribbean regions of developing countries. For this reason, we must act quickly to conclude the negotiations.

8. Through the GSTP, we seek to enhance the capacity of our economies to withstand possible downturns in the world economy. We aspire to sustain the emergence of our economies as a dynamic force in the growth of the world economy and trade. We see the GSTP as a valuable additional instrument of cooperation, not only for our benefit but for the benefit as well of all our trading partners, developed or developing.

9. In conclusion, we instruct to officials to expedite negotiations in Geneva in accordance with the report of the Negotiating Committee.

10. We avail ourselves of this opportunity to express our sincere appreciation to the Secretary-General of UNCTAD for supporting our endeavours and meeting our requirements in the negotiations.

Accra, Ghana
22 April 2008