RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE G/L/96
23July1996
ORGANIZATION(96-2886)
Original: English COUNCIL FOR TRADE INGOODS
SINGAPORE MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE:
FURTHER INDUSTRIAL TARIFF NEGOTIATIONS
Thefollowingcommunication,dated17July1996,hasbeenreceivedfromthePermanentMission
ofAustralia.
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Introduction
Australia submitted apaper onthebuilt-in agenda oftheWTO fordiscussion inthe
Director-General'sinformalHeadsofDelegationconsultationsontheSingaporeMinisterialConference.
Itwasagreed attheHeads ofDelegation meeting of10Junethatelements oftheAustralian paper should
betaken upintherelevant WTO bodies. Since oneofthose elements concerned industrial tariffs,
Australia proposes thattheGoods Council consider theissueofindustrial tariffs andnon-tariff measures
inthecontext ofthefuture work programme oftheWTO.
Background
Thebuilt-in agenda comprises commitments tomonitor andreview Uruguay Round agreements
andtonegotiate further liberalization insome areas. Itprovides afuture work programme forthe
WTO.IthasbeenwidelyacceptedindiscussionsontheagendafortheSingaporeMinisterialConference
thatthebuilt-in agenda should beaprincipal focus oftheMinisterial Conference.
Thebuilt-in agenda includes commitments toresume negotiations inimportant areas ofmarket
access, namely agriculture andservices. These commitments areembodied intheAgreement on
Agriculture andtheGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices. They mean thatnegotiations inthese
areas willresume fromthebeginning oftheyear2000. Butthebuilt-in agenda doesnotinclude any
commitment tofurther negotiations intheareaoftrade inindustrial products.
Australia believes thattheomission from theWTO 'swork programme ofnegotiations on
industrial tariffs wasanoversight, resulting from thefactthattheUruguay Round didnotproduce
acovering agreement onindustrial tariffs similar totheagreements produced onagriculture andservices.
Wedonotbelieve thattheinadvertent omission ofindustrial tariffs fromthebuilt-in agenda indicates
theintentofWTOMemberstosidelineissuesrelatedtoindustrialtariffs.Tariffsandnon-tariffmeasures
continue torepresent significant barriers tomarket access.
Proposal: Further tariff negotiations andpost-Singapore preparatory work
Toremedy thissituation, Australia proposes thatarecommendation beputtoMinisters atthe
Singapore Ministerial Conference foragreement thatbroadly based negotiations onindustrial tariffs
./.G/L/96
Page2
begin atthesame timeasnegotiations onagriculture andservices, atthebeginning oftheyear2000.
Australia notes thatthisisnotanewproposal. Others haveexpressed theviewthatthere should be
acommitment tocommence further broadly based tariff liberalization negotiations attheappropriate
time.
Australia emphasizes thatitisnotseeking tore-open existing agreements onindustrial tariffs.
Ourintention istoensure thatthefuture work programme oftheWTO isbalanced andthatitreflects
theinterests ofallWTO Members. Webelieve thatbalance isbestachieved byensuring thatthefuture
agenda oftheWTO results incomprehensive multilateral negotiations inwhich allMembers ofthe
WTO areabletopursue theirprincipal market access interests, whether inindustrial products, services
oragriculture.
Australia alsoproposes thatpreparatory work forfuture negotiations inindustrial tariffs be
undertaken either bytheGoods Council ortheMarket Access Committee starting in1997 afterthe
Singapore Ministerial Conference. Suchwork would beinlinewiththepreparations thatwebelieve
should beundertaken forelements oftheexisting built-in agenda. Awork programme could encompass
information-gathering andanalysis ofissues, including policy options, related tonegotiations.
Agreement byMinisters attheSingapore Ministerial Conference thattheWTO undertake such
preparatory work would ensure thatindustrial tariffs arenotoverlooked atSingapore. Itwould ensure
thatif,asproposed byAustralia, negotiations begin in2000, theybegin ingood earnest andarenot
delayed bypreparatory discussions thatwould needtotakeplace before thenegotiating process began.
Aswehaveindicated, non-tariff measures canalsobeabarrier tomarket access. Exporters
world-wide continue tofindthatthisisthecase. Moreover, astariffs havecontinued tofallasaresult
ofmultilateral negotiations intheWTO aswellasunilaterally inregional fora, non-tariff measures
havebecome evermore exposed aspotential oractual barriers totrade. Suchmeasures aredealtwith
intheWTO Annex 1(a)agreements. Consideration ofnon-tariff measures inthesebodies could perhaps
alsoberelevant toawork programme leading tofuture negotiations onindustrial tariffs.
Tosummarise, Australia isproposing thatarecommendation beputtotheSingapore Ministerial
Conference to:
- begin industrial tariff negotiations in2000 atthesame timeasfurther negotiations in
agriculture andservices; and
- mandate theGoods Council ortheMarket Access Committee toundertake preparatory
work forsuchnegotiations from 1997.