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Trade negotiators to reach breakthroughs on key LDC issues in Nairobi

Xinhua, December 18, 2015 Adjust font size:

Trade negotiators from over 160 countries have made major progress with the approval of some of the key issues deadlocked at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for years, among them, the revised rules of origin to ease the export headache for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), a Kenyan official said Thursday.

"We will hope for exciting news," said Karanja Kibicho, Kenyan Principal Secretary for foreign affairs. "The intensive negotiations to include the elimination of agricultural subsidies are continuing overnight and we hope for an outcome soon."

Trade ministers and representatives at the ongoing WTO Ministerial Conference here in Nairobi reached an agreement on the key demands by the LDCs for some more relaxed rules of origin procedures,according to Kibicho.

There is a pending ministerial declaration of the new rules of origin favouring the countries listed amongst the 48 poorest countries. Some 35 of those countries would benefit from relaxed export procedures and rules of origin.

"The flexible rules of origin procedures would facilitate the integration of the LDCs into the international trading system. These are important developments and they underscore the role of the WTO in the multilateral trading system," Kibicho said.

The four-day conference also entered a new deal on zero taxes on electronic commerce on an interim basis, said Kenyan official.

The participants agreed that there would be no rule against the current system of not imposing customs duty on electronic transmissions until the next ministerial session in 2017.

The Kenyan government said the agreement on electronic commerce was of particular relevance to Nairobi, which has an expanding population of youthful innovators. Kibicho said the deal would also benefit local e-commerce innovations such as M-PESA, an electronic transaction based on the mobile telephone platform.

The information technology sector currently contributes 8.4 percent of Kenya's Gross Domestic Product, according to statistics from the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA).

"The e-commerce will enhance youth entrepreneurship. This agreement favours Kenya, which has e-commerce services. We also welcome the Information Technology Agreement (ITA). It is a watershed, innovative agreement that represents a major boost to trade," said the CS.

Another agreement to be announced at the ministerial conference also concerns the extension of the treaty on the intellectual property rights, which allows the pharmaceutical companies from the poor countries to reproduce drugs from patents owned by the rich countries to deal with health emergencies.

The agreement allowing the pharmaceutical firms to reproduce the drugs was extended by another 17 years, Kibicho said.

"This agreement will enable the countries to address their challenges in public health, including access to cheaper drugs,"he said. Enditem