WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(98)/ST/101
20 May 1998
(98-2130)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Second Session
Geneva, 18 and 20 May 1998Original:  Spanish
MEXICO
Statement Circulated by Dr. Herminio Blanco Mendoza,
Minister for Trade and Industrial Development
The objective of this document is to set out th e views of the Government of Mexico on future
negotiations in the World Trade Organization (WTO).
1. The multilateral trading system
Over the past five decades, international trade ha s been the principal catalyst for the growth of
the global economy.  To a large extent, this growth was made possible by the trade liberalization
efforts undertaken following the creation of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) in
1948.  In the 50 years that have gone by since then, GATT evolved from an Agreement that onlypromoted the liberalization of flows of trade in goods, with the limited participation of 23 countries,
into a global institution, the WTO, comprising 132 Members with another 31 in the process of
acceding, covering areas that now include services, trade-related investment measures, intellectual
property rights, and with an effective dispute settlement mechanism.
For Mexico, international trade has played an extremely important role since it acceded to the
GATT in 1986.  Our accession guaranteed secure access for our exports to the markets of partners to
the Agreement and participation in the negotiations that have taken place since, including the Uruguay
Round, thereby obtaining recognition of our unilateral openness in the form of concessions from the
contracting parties.
At the same time as Mexico was taking part in multilateral negotiations, firstly in the GATT
and then in the WTO, it was following an ambitious programme of regional and subregional
negotiations.  Our free-trade agreements with eight countries and the eight agreements currently beingnegotiated complement multilateral liberalization.
Mexico's integration into the global economy has meant that the external sector has become
the main driving force for growth and the most impor tant source of job creation in the country.  The
level of US$110 billion reached by exports in 1997 corresponds to almost one third of our gross
domestic product and makes us the eighth Member of the WTO in terms of total trade.
2. WTO work programme
The WTO work programme is basically made up of four elements:  implementation of the
Uruguay Round Agreements;  the built-in agenda;  decisions by the Singapore Ministerial
Conference;  and new issues.  All these elements occupy an important place in the WTO's future
programme.WT/MIN(98)/ST/101
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(a) Implementation
Mexico has fully met the obligations and commitments it undertook in the Uruguay Round.
Moreover, each of these commitments was met according to the timetable fixed.
In implementing the Agreements, systemic problems were detected, i.e., problems relating to
the deficiencies of the Agreements themselves or to the special problems of certain countries.  This is
why this subject should be part of the WTO's future work.
A solution to these problems has to be found without modifying the substance of the existing
commitments and obligations. This will be an essential element in promoting greater multilateral
liberalization and ensuring that some countries do not lag behind in this process.
(b) Built-in agenda
The Uruguay Round Agreements lay down a progra mme for the review of certain agreements
and for negotiations on agriculture, services and certain aspects of intellectual property rights.  This
programme is known as the built-in agenda.
The built-in agenda in itself is not sufficient to promote greater liberalization.  There does not
only need to be a link among its various elements, but these also need to be linked to other issues of
interest to the WTO's Members.  This is the only wa y of ensuring that the spectrum of issues will be
sufficiently broad to achieve a meaningful exchange of concessions among participants.
(c) Singapore decisions
At the Ministerial Conference in Singapore, work programmes on trade and competition,
trade and investment, and transparency in government procurement were agreed.  Since then, the
work has been analytical in nature and a decision to negotiate disciplines in these areas will have to be
taken before the end of this year.  Mexico considers that disciplines in these areas could be negotiated.
Trade and competition
The terms of reference of the Working Group on Trade and Competition Policy are not
limited to studying the possible impact of competition policy on market access and consequently to
the recommendation of common disciplines in the area of competition.  The interaction between both
policies is of particular relevance.
One of Mexico's special concerns is the use of anti-dumping measures for protectionist
purposes.  Although anti-dumping measures may be justified in terms of the relevant WTO
Agreement, Mexico considers that in some cases these measures could be incorporated into
competition policies in the importing country.  The Working Group should identify these cases and inthe future should work towards the defini tion of joint commitments in this field.
Trade and investment
The positive impact of foreign investment on economic growth, employment and trade has
become a matter of particular interest for many WTO Members, including Mexico.
While countries compete to attract capital, new incentives are created, some of which have
distorting effects on flows of investment and trade.  This is one of the reasons why the WTO should
examine the possibility of elaborating international disciplines in this area, in particular, to avoid theWT/MIN(98)/ST/101
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economic distortions resulting from certain investment incentives such as tax exemptions.  This
should be done in connection with a possible agreem ent on investment within the WTO or as part of
the broader review provided in the Agreement on Trade-Related Investment Measures.
The role of the WTO is even more important bearing in mind the support which OECD
Members will seek for the negotiation of disciplines in the WTO, irrespective of the result of the
negotiations on the Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI).  It should also be recalled that thebasic obstacle to the successful conclusion of the MAI is the unnecessary complication of the
negotiations by matters not directly related to trade (for example, labour and environmental standards
and extraterritorial measures).
Transparency in government procurement
The negotiation of disciplines in this area could have an important impact on access to
government procurement markets by making available information of interest to suppliers of goods
and services in the Member countries of the WTO.  Without going into the question of market access,Mexico supports the work of the Group because it is a way of moving towards a genuinely
multilateral agreement on government procurement.
(d) New issues
There are other issues of interest to the Members of the WTO and their inclusion in future
work is being considered.  One of these is the further elimination of barriers on industrial goods.
The further elimination of trade barriers on industrial goods is an issue that is implicitly
included in the built-in agenda, but many members consider that it is one that should be considered
separately in the WTO's future work programme.  Mexico agrees with this.
Until now, sectoral measures such as the ITA have predominated.  If there is to be further
liberalization of industrial goods, the whole spectr um of industrial goods will have to be taken into
account.  Otherwise, there would not be sufficient elements to achieve a balance among the interests
of all participants and consequently the incentive to participate in these measures would be reduced.
3. Year 2000 Negotiations
Comprehensive negotiations are the best way of achieving greater multilateral liberalization
that will lead to benefits for all participants.  In  order to ensure greater multilateral liberalization, the
General Council should be given a mandate to define  the elements to be included in the negotiations,
as well as the relationship among them and the form and time-limits for the negotiations.
The future negotiations should include: (i) matters concerning the implementation of the
WTO Agreements; (ii) the built-in agenda; (iii) the follow-up to the decisions adopted in the
Singapore Ministerial Declaration; and (iv) nego tiations on market access for industrial products,
together with any issues agreed by the parties by consensus.  These should all form part of a single
undertaking.
Comprehensive negotiations of this type will yield at least the following advantages, firstly,
they include elements of interest to all participants, thus allowing a balance of interests through the
exchange of concessions among all parties.  The number of participants in negotiations will
necessarily be fewer if the interests of each and every one of them are not taken into account.
Secondly,  comprehensive negotiations promote economic efficiency by not favouring the allocationof resources towards the most protected sectors to the detriment of the others.  Lastly, comprehensive
negotiations reinforce the support of domestic production sectors for full liberalization.  It should notWT/MIN(98)/ST/101
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be forgotten that if these sectors see their demands in certain export sectors met, in the end there will
be nobody to support liberalization in sensitive sectors which, in general, are those of interest to
developing countries.
In addition, the launching of comprehensive negotiations for the year 2000 will make it
possible to confront the neo-protectionist trends that have been growing for a number of years and
have gained strength as a result of the financial upheavals of recent months.
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