WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/11
9December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5182)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: French
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
FRANCE
Statement byMr.Yves Galland
Minister forFinance andForeign Trade
ThefactthatthefirstWTO Ministerial Conference istaking place inSingapore isnotwithout
significance. Itillustrates theeconomic andpolitical vitality ofAsia. Italsoillustrates thesuccess
achieved bythedevelopment model, adopted bySingapore, based onanopening totheworld within
anopenmultilateral framework. Iwould liketotakethisopportunity tocongratulate Singapore on
itssuccess, andtothank theGovernment forthearrangements ithasmade forthisMinisterial
Conference.
During thisConference, wewillbepursuing fourobjectives, which Ishallcome toinamoment,
butfirst, mayIpoint outthatwehaveembarked upon ournegotiations inaspirit ofdetermination
towork towards thedevelopment ofthemultilateral trading system.
Anopen multilateral system istheraison d'êtreoftheWTO, andIwould remind youthat
France sought andstrongly supported thecreation oftheOrganization. Wemust reinforce and
consolidate thissystem, primarily through astrong, credible andimpartial WTO towhich weareall
committed andwhich could welcome 28newcandidates formembership, including suchmajor countries
asChina andRussia, ontheunderstanding, ofcourse, thattheyadhere andadapt toWTO disciplines.
Thecommitment ofeachandevery oneofustomultilateralism obviously implies ourrejection of
unilateralism andhence allforms ofextraterritorial legislation.
Inowcome toourfourobjectives:
I. Firstly, scrupulous respect forthecontent andtimetable oftheMarrakesh Agreements
Wewould liketoimplement theMarrakesh Agreements, intheirentirety andunreservedly.
Wemustadhere scrupulously toourcommitments andagreed timetables, particularly withregard to
tariffs andagriculture.
Themonitoring ofdisciplines andcommitments isoneofthemain tasks facing theWTO.
Itisalsoapriority fortheFrench Government, indeed, apolitical priority ofparamount importance
because stability inthisareaisthefirstindication ofthefirmestablishment ofacredible multilateral
system. Without strict respect forobligations, there canbenorendezvous withthemillennium.
Thisimplies determination onallourparts andweshallbeveryvigilant inthatregard. We
shallpayclose attention tomarket access; youwillhavenoted thattheEuropean Union hasbeen
exemplary initsapplication oftheMarrakesh Agreements, including inthesensitive textiles sector.
Weshallalsobeattentive totheoperation ofthedispute settlement mechanism.WT/MIN(96)/ST/11
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II. Oursecond objective istheconclusion ofunfinished negotiations
Theimplementation oftheMarrakesh Agreements, intheirentirety, alsorequires thesuccessful
conclusion, without further delay, oftheunfinished negotiations onbasic telecommunications and
financial services.
Thedeadline forbasic telecommunications, 15February 1997, isfastapproaching. Bythat
date, wemust forge aglobal agreement, including international andsatellite services, firmly based
onthemost-favoured-nation clause. TheEuropean Union andtheUnited States haveledthewayby
making improved andextremely ambitious offers. Iencourage other Members tofollow thatleadand
urgethose whohavenotyetsubmitted offers todosobefore theendofthenegotiations.
France would likenegotiations intheareaoffinancial services toresume atthebeginning of
1997 sothatamultilateral agreement, grouping asmany signatories aspossible andensuring ahigh
levelofliberalization, canbereached by31December atthelatest.
III. Thepursuit oftrade liberalization isourthirdobjective
Thepursuit oftrade liberalization involves, firstandforemost, theliberalization oftrade in
information technology. Wewould liketheAgreement onInformation Technology toeliminate all
tariff andnon-tariff barriers totrade between themain European, American andAsian producers,
including trade inoptical fibres andpassive electronic components.
Thepursuit oftrade liberalization alsoinvolves theestablishment, within theWTO, ofan
environment conducive tothedevelopment ofinvestment. Investment hasbecome afundamental
dimension ofeconomic globalization. Astheexcellent report produced bytheWTO Secretariat has
shown, thedistinction between trade andinvestment isnowadays becoming increasingly tenuous.
Allofusneedtomove inthisdirection andIknow thatmany developing countries would not
understand ifonlytheOECD countries weretomake theirvoices heard onthisquestion. Ournext
Ministerial Meeting intwoyears'timeisinfacttoofaraway forinvestment tobetackled before the
OECD concludes itswork inthatarea.
Thisiswhywefirmly believe thattheWTO should begin discussing investment andthatthe
Ministerial Conference should decide ontheestablishment ofaworking group onthatsubject. This
istheonlywaytoensure thatdiscussion isnotrestricted totheindustrialized countries, andthatall
countries areabletoparticipate andtomake theirconcerns known onthiscrucial issue.
Finally, asyouknow, theEuropean Union would liketheWTO toreflect onanti-competitive
business practices (controls, cartels, abuse ofmarket power) which constitute abarrier tomarket access.
IV. Finally, France believes theprocess ofglobalization willfalter unless ithaspublic support
Weareallconvinced thatglobalization constitutes anopportunity forourbusinesses andour
economies insofarasitstimulates innovation, growth andjobcreation everywhere.
Nevertheless, globalization isalsoasource ofconcern tothepublic, because itjuxtaposes
countries withdiffering levels ofdevelopment andwidely-varying standards ofliving andenvironmental
standards andimposes adjustments which canoften beverypainful.
Globalizationisthereforeafragileasset,whoselegitimacywemustalwaysbepreparedtojustify,
lestweprovoke protectionist reaction.WT/MIN(96)/ST/11
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Thisiswhywecannot avoid thequestion ofbasic social standards. Onthisandother issues,
what wehaveincommon ismuch more important thanthatwhich divides us:Ibelieve weareall
agreed thattheILOhasafundamental roletoplayinthisarea. Weareallagreed thatthisissueshould
innowayleadtoconcealed protectionism. Weareallagreed thattrade liberalization willhelpto
promote basicsocial standards, asproved bytheindustrial andsocial history ofthedeveloped countries.
Inthese circumstances andonthatbasis, weshould begin, attheWTO andhereinSingapore,
aprocess ofreflection onthecrucial andindisputable issues. Here, too,weareallagreed thatforced
labour should notexist. Weareallagreed thatchildslavery, asubject andterminology which appear
inareport issued bytheEuropean Parliament, isintolerable. Weareallagreed thatchildlabour should
beended assoonaspossible. France andtheEuropean Union, along withallthose whoarefirmly
committed tothatgoal, wish toassist thismovement byparticipating inaconcerted approach to
educational andtraining reform.
Onthese questions, itistruethatdifferences inapproach exist between us.Itwasmost
unfortunate thatwewerenotunanimous about inviting Mr.Hansenne, Director-General oftheILO,
withhiswealth ofexperience andcompetence, tocome toaddress us.
Indeed, inalltheseareas, theWTO provides aframework within which allcountries, developed
anddeveloping, maystatetheirpositions and,Istress thispoint, dosoongood terms withtheILO,
about whose roleandcompetence there canbenoquestion.
How could weexplain totheworld thattheWorld Trade Organization wasnotqualified to
dealwiththese basic issues relating tohuman rights intheworkplace?
Theenvironment isanother areainwhich thepublic hashighexpectations. Thebalance sheet
oftheWTO 'sactivities sofarisunfortunately considered disappointing bytheEuropean Union. These
activities should nowleadtoconcrete proposals.
Thework oftheWTO toachieve greater liberalization oftrade andimprove thewell-being
ofthepeople would notbecomplete without guaranteed access forall,more particularly inthepoorest
countries, tothepaths ofsustainable development. Nevertheless, thesecountries represent only0.3per
centofworld trade andstilldonotbenefit enough from globalization.
ThisiswhyJacques Chirac, President ofFrance andcurrent President oftheG7,hasstressed
theneedtopursue anactive development policy. Thatpolicy involves themaintenance ofworldwide
official development assistance flows. France, asyouknow, allocates 0.55percentofitsGNP or
42billion francs, todevelopment assistance, which makes France thesecond largest bilateral donor,
afterJapan.
Anactive development policy alsoentails further opening ofthemarkets ofthedeveloped and
middle-income countries totheleastdeveloped countries. Westrongly urgethatdiscussions onthis
point should quickly leadtofirmmeasures. France hasalready made certain proposals within the
European Union tothateffect. Asalways, France stands ready tofight forsolidarity, which is
diametrically opposed toprotectionism.