WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/39
10December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5206)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: English
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
JAMAICA
Statement bytheHonourable Seymour Mullings
Deputy Prime Minister andMinister of
Foreign Affairs andForeign Trade
Attheonset, Iwould liketoassociate mydelegation withtheprevious speakers whohave
expressed theirappreciation forthewarm hospitality shown bytheSingaporean authorities andthe
impeccable arrangements made forthisConference. Thepresence hereofsomany Ministers andSenior
Officials atthisfirstMinisterial Meeting oftheWorld Trade Organization, demonstrates ourconfidence,
ourhopes andexpectations.
Mr.Chairman, yourelection andthatofyourVice-Chairmen, eachfrom different regions,
andwitheconomies atdifferent stages ofdevelopment, assure usthattherewillbebalance andproper
orientation totheoutcome ofourdeliberations.
Fornearly 50years anddespite theprovisional nature oftheregulatory framework, namely
theGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade (GATT), theinternational trading system hasserved
countries well. Thathowever isnotthecomplete picture. There arestillhundreds ofmillions who
arenotbenefiting from thedecades ofgrowth intrade andinvestment fostered byprogressive
liberalization andthemore recent thrust towards theglobalization ofproduction.
Wemusttherefore maintain ourcommitment tocontinue ourefforts, within theWorld Trade
Organization (WTO), towards amore evendistribution ofthebenefits oftradeandinvestment, greater
coherenceininternationaleconomicpolicy-making,andeffectivecoordinationbetweenourOrganization
andother international development andfinancial institutions.
Ispeak forasmall opentrading nation which relies asmuch ontradeingoods asontradeable
services; asmuch onintellectual capital asonforeign direct investment. Forthreedecades asaGATT
contracting party, Jamaica hasengaged insuccessive negotiating rounds oftrade liberalization, asan
integral partofourintegration intotheworld economy. There isalsoimproved access totheJamaican
market asaresult ofautonomous adjustment measures.
Ourmixedeconomyispoweredbycenturiesoftradeflowsinfluencedbytraditionalrelationships
where tradefollowed theflag. Ourpresent tradepolicy builds onthese traditional relationships taking
intoaccount comparative advantage andcompetitiveness.
Jamaica likeitspartners intheCaribbean Community, theUSA/Caribbean Basin Initiative
andtheCanadian/CARICOM CARIBCAN arrangement, seesasmuch value inthese regional trading
arrangements asweseeintherights andobligations oftheWTO Agreement. Likeourpartners, we
alsoattach importance tothewider ACP/European Union Lomé Convention. These Agreements, all
recognized bytheWTO confer abalance ofbenefits formembers atdifferent stages ofdevelopment.WT/MIN(96)/ST/39
Page2
Asgroups ofcountries, seeking toimprove thewelfare ofourpeoples through linking our
economies inregional arrangements, wehavebeenprepared todosoinwayscompatible withtherights
andobligations ofthemultilateral trading system.
Weliveincompetitive andchallenging times. Werecognize theimpatience oftransnational
industries. Thisimpatience often manifests itselfinanti-competitive actions attheexpense ofsmaller
oremerging industries. Consequently wemust relyonandhavetrustinamultilateral rules-based
system which regulates andsetsacodeofconduct formarket competition. These rulesandcodes must
bedrafted inways thatarefairtothelarge andthesmall, developed anddeveloping. They mustbe
respected byall.
During theUruguay Round negotiations Members recognized certain implications which their
decision would haveoncertain developing countries. Commitments entered intowithregard tonet
food-importing countries inparticular, require more thanbestendeavours. AttheWorld Food Summit
amere month agoinRome, over183governments, supported bymajor international organizations
andnon-governmental bodies reaffirmed theircommitment toachieve foodsecurity. Inthisregard,
theWTO hasamajor roletoplay.
OurOrganization alsomust continue tosupport thecapacity-building efforts ofdeveloping
countries. Aspartofitstechnical cooperation activities, WTO mustcontinue towork withcountries
tobuild national expertise sothattheyarebetter abletocomply withsubstantive andprocedural
commitments andsobenefit from Agreements made.
TheAgreement onTextiles andClothing istheresult oflengthy andpainstaking negotiations
whichsoughttoaddresstheinterestsandconcernsofallMemberStates,particularlyexporters,including
small suppliers forwhom thetextiles andclothing industry plays amajor role. Thebalance ofinterest
carefully builtintotheAgreement must bepreserved.
Wehavecrafted aDeclaration which willconvey tothecitizens oftheworld ourintention
tomake theWTO auniversal forum fornegotiating greater opportunities fortradeingoods andservices,
forthegains fromcapital investment, bothphysical andhuman. Jamaica looks forward totheaccession
ofChina andother countries seeking membership intheWTO. These countries should recognize that
theyhaveaninterest inopening theirmarkets notonlytothelarge trading nations, butalsotothe
majority ofthemembership oftheWTO, whose production andtrademaynotindividually besignificant
inglobal terms.
TheWTO 'sdispute settlement system -asthecentral element forproviding security and
predictability inthemultilateral trading system should bekeptunder careful review soastoensure
thatallparties todisputes have equal opportunities topresent anddefend their interests andthat
procedures arefairandtransparent. Ifthemechanism isusedasablunt instrument, itwillquickly
fallintodisrepute atbest. Atworse itwillbeacudgel forjudicial coercion ofthesmaller trading
partners.
Imustaddress anissuewhich hasbeenincreasingly discussed intherun-up tothisMinisterial
Conference. Irefer, ofcourse tocorelabour standards. InJamaica, economic development ispeople
focused. Ourlabour movement isnotindifferent tothisdebate andhasconsulted withGovernment.
Jamaica isaparty tomore than25ILOConventions including thecorestandards. Core standards
arecategorized asahuman rights issue atthework place andobjectives ofgovernments should be
toassist countries through technical cooperation toimplement them. Jamaica believes thatthismatter
should bestudied further within theInternational Labour Organization (ILO) which hasamechanism
which allows government, labour andemployers tointeract. TheILOcandraw ontheexpertise of
theWTO andother organizations asappropriate.WT/MIN(96)/ST/39
Page3
Ifwedonotliftoursights beyond thatwhich isfamiliar andeasily understood, werunthe
riskoffalling behind. Weknow thatiftheWTO asanOrganization andnowapermanent body, is
notreflective of:thediversity ofitsmembership, itsexpertise anditsexperience, itscoverage ofissues
intheglobal economy andmostimportantly differential andmore favourable treatment fordeveloping
countries itislikely tobeconsidered aretreat fortheconsumerist richinstead oftheindustrious poor.
Itwillbeachallenge totheDirector-General andtoourrepresentatives inGeneva toensure
thattheyarenotsocarried away bypolicy prescriptions thatwelosesight oftheprocess whereby
those policies areimplemented. Without efficient management, thealready burdensome number of
meetings, particularly forthesmall delegations willbeamajor obstacle inthebalanced implementation
oftheWTO Agreement. Theinability ofsome Members toberepresented atmeetings inGeneva
isalsoamatter forconsideration.
Insummary, theJamaican delegation wishes tounderscore acommitment totrade expansion
through trade liberalization aswellasacommitment tothemanagement oftheregulatory system.
However,goodsensedictatesthatweeschewUtopiandreamsofarushtoaglobally-freesystem,
lestthatdeflects usfrom thereality ofpatient, careful andbalanced negotiations onfurther removal
oftrade barriers -anagenda which isalready builtintoourwork.
Asalways, Jamaica stands ready toassist thefuture work oftheWTO toshare experiences
andtolearn from theexperiences ofother Member States.