• 1. LDC Package: State of Play and Proposed Language for WTO’s MC8

Analytical Note, November 2011

The LDC Package was proposed by the WTO Director General, in his capacity as Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) Chair in May 2011 for early harvesting at the Eighth Ministerial Conference (MC8) in December 2011. Since then, these negotiations have run into problems due to the resistance of the United States. Nevertheless, the LDC Package enjoys broad support from other WTO members and the LDC Group in the WTO is continuing to push for results of the package at MC8. This paper provides i) a brief of the issues within the LDC package: duty-free quota-free market access (DFQF); rules of origin in relation to DFQF; the services waiver; and cotton ii) why the LDC Package should be early harvested and iii) proposed language for insertion into the outcome document of MC8.

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• 2. WTO’s MC8:  Some Critical Issues for Developing Countries

Analytical Note, December 2011

This Analytical Note provides an overview of the following: issues at stake in MC8 for developing countries and key messages for Ministers; the state of play including the main events that took place in the production of the ‘Elements for Political Guidance’ text; the legal status of the Chairman’s Statement as the outcome document of the Ministerial; important process issues to be mindful of during the Ministerial; a detailed look at the issues in the ‘Elements for Political Guidance’ text; and a paragraph by paragraph analysis of the ‘Elements’ text.

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• 3 WTO’s MC8: Implementation Issues

Informal note? November 2011

This note includes a non-exhaustive list of implementation issues that would be very beneficial for developing countries if they can be delivered.

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