Trade ministers from over 30 least developed countries (LDCs) Sunday adopted the Livingstone Declaration as their common position at incoming World Trade Organization (WTO) ministerial meeting in Hong Kong in December.

The 38 points declaration adopted by the LDC ministers at the end of the deliberation in Zambia's tourist capital Livingstone called for binding commitment on duty and quota-free market access for all products from LDCs.

Such commitment shall be granted and implemented immediately on a secure, long-term and predictable basis with no restrictive measures introduced, the declaration said.

The ministers demanded complete exemption for LDCs from any reduction commitments and called for further strengthening of existing preferential schemes and measures to prevent erosion of their preferences.

Preferences for LDCs shall remain until rich nations remove all domestic and export subsidies, said the declaration.

The ministers also called for increased resources and effective mechanism for trade capacity building to address supply-side constraints faced by LDCs to enable them take advantage of market access opportunities.

The LDCs urged all partners to completely cancel all debts owed to them and assist LDCs in attaining the Millennium Development Goals.

The declaration also demanded a credible date for rich nations to remove all forms of domestic and export subsidies.

It called for the establishment of a special safeguard mechanism allow LDCs adopting temporary emergency measures in case of import surges and price declines for the purpose of safeguarding food and livelihood security and rural development.

Source: Xinhua