WORLD TRADE WT/GC(97)/ST/10
16December 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5523)
Original: English General Council
10December 1997
INDIA
Statement byH.E. Mr.Srinivasan Narayanan
Ambassador, Permanent Representative
Attheoutset, Iwould liketothank theChairman oftheTPRB, theDirector-General andthe
Secretariat forproviding whatcanonlybetermed asextremely valuable inputs forthisoverview of
developments intheinternational trading environment.
Iwholeheartedly endorse thecomments made bythedistinguished Colombian Ambassador
about theimportance ofthisagenda itemaswellastheneedtoensure thatthissubject isdiscussed
inapurposeful manner. Iwillrevert tothisaspect towards theendofmyintervention.
Iwould havetoregretfully admit thatIhavenotbeenabletoexhaustively examine thewealth
ofinformation provided intherelevant documents, namely, thereport oftheChairman oftheTPRB,
thereports ofvarious subsidiary bodies, theannual report intwovolumes prepared bytheSecretariat,
aswellastheDirector-General 'sreport, andprepare acomprehensive statement formyintervention
today. Mypreference would havebeentostudy thesedocuments andprepare astatement which would
haveanintegrated approach inanalysing thedevelopments intheinternational trading environment
having animpact onthemultilateral trading system. However, because ofthefactthatthedocuments
were received justafewdaysbefore aswellasbecause ofthefactthatmydelegation hadaseries
ofpressing commitments during thelastfewdays, ithasnotbeenpossible formetobeready with
aprepared statement. Therefore, whatIwould liketodoistooffermycomments andhighlight my
concerns bymaking apointed reference tosome oftheelements intheoverview provided bythe
Director-General. Hence, without inanywayappearing tocriticize theDirector-General 'sextremely
commendable efforts inpreparing thisreport Iamgoing toutilize portions ofthereport tohighlight
some oftheissues which wewould consider asveryimportant. Itrustthatthisapproach would be
acceptable toyouandtheGeneral Council.
Iwould liketorefertoparagraph 8ofthereport first. Thisparagraph contains anindicative
listofchallenges forthemultilateral trading system. Wearehappy thatthechallenge ofmaintaining -
andwhere necessary improving -theimplementation oftheexisting agreement hasbeenspecifically
taken noteofinthisparagraph. Under another agenda itemconsidered earlier inthedaywesawthe
importance ofensuring proper implementation ofoneoftheUruguay Round agreements. However,
wefindthatoneimportant challenge isnotreferred tointhisparagraph. Weallknow thatinsome
agreements thereisanin-built provision forreview, aftertheagreement hadbeeninforceforaspecified
period whereas insome other agreements there isnosuchin-built provision forsuchareview. My
delegation considers thatwherever ourexperience shows thatthereissome difficulty orinequity built
intotheagreement weshould, afterthorough discussion andbased onconsensus, decide toeffect
necessary amendments totheagreement. Itiswellknown thatduring theUruguay Round negotiations
wedidnothavetheopportunity tounderstand alltheimplications ofthevarious agreements wewere
negotiating. Inactual practice wefindthatsome oftheagreements contain certain inequities which
werenotforeseen.WestronglyfeelthatsuchinequitiesshouldbelookedintoandnecessaryamendmentsWT/GC(97)/ST/10
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carried outfortherelevant agreements. Thisparagraph alsorefers tothe"built-in agenda" resulting
from theUruguay Round andtheSingapore Ministerial Conference. Iamrather surprised tonotice
thephrase "built-in agenda" usedinconjunction withtheSingapore Conference. Although theSingapore
Conference decided upon awork programme insome areas, itmaynotbeappropriate tocallthisa
built-in agenda. Thelastsentence ofparagraph 8reads asfollows: "Above andbeyond these isthe
fundamental challenge ofshaping themultilateral agenda ofthefuture". Thislastsentence, inmy
view, makes avalue judgement andimplies thatshaping themultilateral agenda ofthefuture issomehow
more important andmore critical thandealing withthepresent multilateral agenda. Mydelegation
isnotverycomfortable withthisapproach. While talking ofthemultilateral agenda ofthefuture is
afashionable thing, Iwould liketosubmit thatifwedonotprove ourselves tobeadequate indealing
withtheagenda already withus,nobody willtakeusseriously ifwetalkabout thefuture agenda.
That iswhy Ifeelthatweshould give priority tomaintaining implementation wherever the
implementation issatisfactory, improving theimplementation wherever necessary andfinding ways
andmeans todealwiththeinequities which havecrept intosome oftheUruguay Round agreements.
Forus,thefuture agenda isrelevant onlyifweareabletodealwiththechallenges arising outofthe
present agenda.
Iwould nowliketorefer tothelastindent ofparagraph 12which states that"there isalso
aclearneedtocounter negative public andmedia perceptions oftheeffects oftrade liberalization and
globalization". Inourview, thissentence perhaps gives amisleading connotation thatthere areno
inherent disadvantages orproblems ofglobalization, andthatthereisonlyanegative public perception
which needs toberemoved. Inthiscontext, Iwould liketopoint outthatarecent report published
byUNCTAD, anorganization withwhom WTO hasclose interaction, clearly brings outthefactthat
globalizationhasbothpositiveandnegativesides.Inrecentmonths,anumberofwell-researchedarticles
havebeenpublished pointing outthechallenges faced bydifferent societies because oftheglobalization
process. Therefore, itwould notbeappropriate tothink thatglobalization hasonlypositive effects
andthatallthatistobedoneistocounter thenegative public andmedia perceptions about globalization.
Itisnotmerely aproblem ofperception butamuch bigger problem offacts. Inotice fromtheannual
report prepared bytheSecretariat thatinthecontext oftheMinisterial Conference theSecretariat intends
tobring outapaper onglobalization. Iwould appeal totheSecretariat thatthisreport should bebased
onanobjective analysis offactsandshould notbemerely adocument formarketing globalization to
thesceptics. Inmyview, what isrequired istorecognize thatglobalization hasbothpositive and
negative effects. Bysuppressing ordowngrading thenegative effects ofglobalization wewould be
doing adisservice toourselves.
Iwould nowliketoturntoparagraph 14.IamgladthattheDirector-General hasdrawn our
specific attention totherecent study ofUNCTAD dealing withthesubject oftariff peaks andtariff
escalation. Theproblem oftariffpeaks andtariffescalation isparticularly striking insectors ofinterest
todeveloping countries, suchastextiles, footwear, leather etc.Itrustthatwewillfindsome way
toaddress thisproblem.
Wehaveseriousdifficultieswithsomeoftheassertionscontainedinparagraph23oftheoverview
document. Thefirsttwosentences ofthisparagraph readasfollows: "Ministers atSingapore were
sensitive totheneedtoensure thattheWTO should develop inthelightofnewrelationships affecting
themultilateraltradingsystem.Inthisspirit,theyestablishedworkinggroupstoexaminetherelationship
between tradeandinvestment andtostudy issues raised byMembers relating totheinteraction between
trade andcompetition policy, including anti-competitive practices." Ifyoulookatparagraph 20of
theSingapore Ministerial Declaration, theconsiderations behind establishing thetwoworking groups
would beobvious. Inmyview, thefirsttwosentences ofthisparagraph arenotinexact alignment
withwhatiscontained intheSingapore Ministerial Declaration. Iamalsosurprised tofindthatthis
paragraph contains asentence totheeffect that"theGeneral Council istodecide within twoyears
oftheSingapore Conference onhowwork inthese areas should proceed". Infact,paragraph 20ofWT/GC(97)/ST/10
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theSingapore Ministerial Declaration states, interalia,asfollows: "The General Council willkeep
thework ofeachbody under review, andwilldetermine aftertwoyears howthework ofeachbody
should proceed". Icanappreciate thatsometimes when documents areprepared inagreathurry mistakes
could creep in.Iwould request theDirector-General toensure thatthisparagraph isredrafted insuch
awayastobeinconformity withparagraph 20oftheSingapore Ministerial Declaration.
Iwould nowliketorefertoparagraph 28.Wehaddiscussed thesubject ofcooperation between
theWTO andtheBretton Woods Institutions thismorning under adifferent agenda item. Ihadspoken
thismorning onthissubject, butsince Iwasunder atimeconstraint because ofaprior commitment,
Iprobably didnotexplain myself adequately. Inparagraph 11ofdocument WT/GC/W/68, which
contains areport oftheDirector-General ontheimplementation oftheAgreements between theWTO
andtheIMFandtheWorld Bank, areference ismade toapossible amendment oftheIMF'sArticles
ofAgreement tomake thepromotion ofthecapital account liberalization aspecific purpose oftheIMF.
Itisalsomentioned thatachange intheIMF'sArticles ofAgreement isclearly amatter ofgreatinterest
totheWTO sincetheWTO Agreements include references totheIMFanditsArticles. Intheforenoon
session youwerekindenough toaccept myrequest thattheSecretariat should prepare acompendium
ofallWTO Articles which make reference totheIMForitsArticles. However, Iwould liketoclarify
thatthere cannot beanyautomatic acceptance orabsorption ofanynewIMFArticle unquestioningly
bytheWTO. Thetwoorganizations havedifferent setsofrules andanynewArticle thatmight be
introduced bytheIMFcannot betransplanted intotheWTO inanymanner. Therefore, Iamparticularly
happy tonotethattheDirector-General would continue toconsult fullywithyou,Mr.Chairman, on
theproposed amendment bytheIMF. While Iamallforcooperation between theWTO andtheIMF,
thisdoesnotmean thattheWTO should inanymanner subordinate itself totheIMF.
Before Iconclude myremarks onthisagenda item, Iwould liketocome backtothepoint
made bythedistinguished Ambassador ofColombia. Hewasclearly pointing outtheimportance of
thisoverview andtheneedtoensure greater participation oftheWTO membership inthisimportant
debate. Ifullyshare histhoughts. Ithink Ambassador Akram wasalsoreferring tothisaspect during
thecourse ofhisremarks. Wehavetoensure thattherelevant documents arecirculated wellinadvance
andthatthere issufficient timeallocated fordelegations toparticipate inthisexercise inameaningful
manner. Iwould liketopoint outthatthisannual overview exercise isperhaps oneoccasion where
wecanmake conscious efforts nottomissthewood forthetreesandtherefore anyeffort tobroaden
anddeepen thisexercise isworthwhile. Isuggest, Mr.Chairman, thatearlynextyearyouholdinformal
consultations fordetermining themodalities tomake thisexercise amore effective one.