G-20 COMMUNIQUE November 29, 2009

MINISTERIAL COMMUNIQUÉ
GENEVA, 29 NOVEMBER 2009

On the occasion of the VII WTO Ministerial Conference, the Ministers of the G-20
met in Geneva on 29 November 2009 to discuss the state of the play of the WTO
Doha Round negotiations.

They reaffirmed the unity of the G-20 and its readiness to continue to be a driving
force in the DDA agriculture negotiations.

The Ministers of the G-20 have reiterated the centrality of Agriculture in the Doha
Round. Agriculture will determine the level of ambition of the Doha Development
Agenda.

They noted that international trade has been seriously impacted by the world
economic crisis. The crisis has shown the risks of all forms of protectionist practices,
including the substantial trade-distorting subsidies provided by developed countries.
Without the means to afford stimulus packages or bail-out programmes, developing
countries are disproportionately affected and bear the consequences of any erosion of
confidence in the stability of the multilateral trading system. The crisis has also
highlighted the importance and value of a development-oriented and rules-based
multilateral trading system. Concluding the Doha Development Round would result in
a triple win: (i) strengthening of the confidence in the multilateral trading system; (ii)
guarding against the rise of protectionism; and (iii) contributing to boost the global
economy while reducing its asymmetries.

The Ministers of the G-20 called for urgent action on the Doha Round. All developed
and developing members should be ready to negotiate for a conclusion of the Round
respecting the Mandate. There is urgent need to translate political statements into
concrete engagement in Geneva in order to accomplish the shared objective of
concluding the Round in 2010. In their view, the only way to achieve this objective is
to seek convergence on the basis of the draft modalities texts of December 2008. They
also shared the view that, although direct dialogue among members may be useful, the
primacy of the multilateral process must not be undermined. They noted that nearly
all WTO members, developed and developing, are in a position to follow this course.
They urged all WTO developed members to join this consensus.

The Ministers of the G-20 also met with the Ministers Coordinators of Developing-
Country Groups: The African Group (Egypt); the African, Caribbean and Pacific
Group of States - ACPs (Jamaica, Kenya and Mauritius); the CARICOM (Trinidad &
Tobago); the Cotton-4 (Burkina Faso); the G-33 (Indonesia); the NAMA-11 (South
Africa); the Least Developed Countries - LDCs (Tanzania); and the Small, Vulnerable
Economies - SVEs (Barbados). The Ministers welcomed the exercise of assessment
among developing countries and highlighted the solidarity demonstrated by
developing country groups throughout the negotiations. The Groups emphasized that
the full integration of developing countries into the multilateral trading system will
only be achieved if the WTO system reflects their development needs and
concerns. To that end, they underlined the importance of concluding the Doha
Development Agenda by 2010 and that its results place development at its centre.

The Ministers agreed that, in order to achieve convergence, there is need for a process
that would lead to a narrowing of differences on remaining issues within the next few
months. The Ministers also agreed that there should be a multilateral opportunity,
early next year, to evaluate progress made, identify remaining obstacles, and explore
ways to successfully conclude the DDA before the end of 2010 in accordance with its
Development Mandate.

The Ministers of all developing-country groups emphasized the importance of
concluding the Doha Round and their joint commitment to achieving an ambitious
and balanced outcome that delivers on the development objectives of the Round in
accordance with the Mandate.