WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(99)/ST/56
1 December 1999
(99-5254)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Third Session
Seattle, 30 November - 3 December 1999Original:  Spanish
VENEZUELA
Statement by H.E. Dr. Juan de Jesús Montilla Saldivia
Minister of Production and Trade
1. This Conference is taking place at the close of the century, more than fifty years after the
creation of the multilateral trading system and at the end of the time-limit we set ourselves in
Marrakesh to review and assess the implementation of the Uruguay Round Agreements.  It is,
therefore, an appropriate time to reflect on what we expect of the trading system and theresponsibilities it places on WTO Members.  As for Venezuela, our participation in this Ministerial
Conference is particularly significant as it comes at an important time when Venezuela is defining a
new social contract, a country project that will propel us into the new era and will set the parameters
for a more active involvement in the world economy. This is the thrust of the message I am here to
convey, a message which embraces our vision of development, trade and the trade liberalizationprocess, one which endeavours to state our country's position with respect to the main topics of the
negotiations we are about to commence here.
2. Trade liberalization processes, especially those stemming from the Uruguay Round, gave
WTO Members great expectations of participating in the benefits of globalization.  However, for
developing countries, these years have brought scant benefit with regard to their expectations, in spite
of the tremendous sacrifices they have made to adju st and to comply with the rules, and the pains they
have taken to gain greater access to world market s.  The international co mmunity has to admit that
many developing countries have made huge efforts to adapt to WTO rules without any evidence of
their being guaranteed trade benefits which are adequate in terms of their economic development
needs and of equity.  It should also be recognized that the acceptance by our countries of the
promotion of rapid opening-up of capital accounts has made them more sensitive and vulnerable to
financial instability and international speculation.
3. We therefore believe that it is time to re-evaluate the world economic liberalization process
from a broader perspective.  Not to discredit it, since it can be very useful, but to correct its faults, to
perfect it and make it a true springboard for development.  In other words, we need to transform the
liberalization process into an effective tool to fulfill the economic, social and political aspirations of
all societies throughout the world.  Development, not anything else, has to be the aim of our efforts tointegrate our economies into the world economy, and the liberalization process must be seen as a
means to that end and not an end in itself.  The development dimension, therefore, should serve as the
framework and the guide managing the multilateral trading system, its negotiations and the
implementation of its rules.
4. On the basis of what I have said, and throughout the preparations for this Conference,
Venezuela has contended that, to be able to negotiate or establish new multilateral commitments, it
has to be made sure that the development dimension is an integral part of the system.  This must be
realized through four priority actions and commitmen ts.  Firstly, at the outcome of this Conference,
there must be a firm commitment on the part of WTO Members to find an effective solution to the
implementation problems surrounding some Urug uay Round Agreements.  These problems haveWT/MIN(99)/ST/56
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made it difficult for developing countries to enjoy the hoped-for benefits of trade, as in the case of
agriculture and textiles, for example.  Secondly, the concept of special and differential treatment
needs to be redefined in the agreements so that it goes beyond its present limited scope, which
consists only of time-frames and promises of international cooperation which are not always
respected.  Only then will this concept be operative and binding.  Thirdly, the agreements to benegotiated must be flexible enough for developing countries to implement productive development
policies which are market-compatible.  That is, legitimize the concept of "Development Policy
Frameworks" and incorporate it into special and differential treatment.  Fourthly, this Ministerial
Conference should agree on guiding principles for negotiation which will guarantee participation and
balanced outcomes for developing countries in the aforementioned ways.
5. As a country seeking the best way to integrate itself into the international economy, there are
two additional points we would like to raise in th is forum before commenting on specific negotiation
issues.  These are topics which should be dealt with on the WTO Agenda, in such a way, as to help to
maximize opportunities for developing countries.  The first point has to do with guaranteed access to
technology and the second the assistance which should be given to consolidating regional integration
and free trade agreements.
6. Since the Uruguay Round, because trade-related investment measures and trade-related
aspects of intellectual property rights were included on the multilateral agenda, there has been an
automatic relationship between the domination of technological innovation and access to technology,
on the one hand, and WTO rules on the other.  This is obviously of extreme importance to developing
countries since the competitiveness of their own production and trade depends on narrowing the
international gap in technological development.  This  is why we reiterate our arguments.  First of all,
we firmly believe that multilateral rules must be formulated and implemented to help improve our
access to technology under reasonable trade conditions, rather than impede such access or make it
difficult as a result of those rules.  Secondly, the WTO work programme must include the setting up
of a Working Group on the Transfer of Technology to study the relationships between multilateral
agreements and technology transfer as required by developing countries.
7. The work of this Group should lead to specific recommendations which, for example, tie
trade growth in with specific resource allocation in order to strengthen our countries' technological
capacities.  We should encourage WTO Members to  agree that the multilateral trading system will
contribute to this end by suggesting that 1.0 per cent of global trade be devoted to research and
development investment in our economies, funded by national resources and international
cooperation.
8. We also believe that the multilateral trading system should contribute to strengthening and
consolidating free trade and integration agreements, which, rather than being obstacles or threats to
such a system, actually complement it.  They are also an effective means of allowing small economies
to gradually broaden their production scale and gain strength in order to participate in world trade.
The Andean Community of Nations is an example of open regionalism which has seen an
intra-regional trade grow fifty-fold over the last th irty years, committing its members to achieve a full
common market by 2005.  In order to achieve this objective, in perfect harmony with multilateral
rules, the Andean Community has included common WTO-compatible standards in the areas of, inter
alia, intellectual property, competition, services, investment, transport, customs procedures and
sanitary measures.  It has also set up a Dispute Settlement System which is perhaps the most efficient
in our hemisphere.
9. Turning to the negotiation subjects, we should like to begin by stating that agriculture is of
prime importance to us.  There is clearly a gap between world food produc tion and world food needs,
particularly in developing countries.  This situation has made it necessary to deepen the reform of
agricultural trade and to guarantee our populations food security.  This is why, in the interests of
developing countries, the special and differential treatment issue should be reviewed to includeWT/MIN(99)/ST/56
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flexible policy provisions which will allow these countries to engage in the successful productive
development of their agri-food sectors.
10. This also means that the reform process must aim to eliminate subsidies which destabilize the
world agricultural market.  So long as these distortions exist, developing countries will require
appropriate and efficient mechanisms to counter the volatility in the international prices of a widenumber of products, which is definitely exacerbated at the present time. Tropical agricultural products
markets also need to be effectively opened and not undermined in practice by the application of non-
tariff barriers.
11. Just as in agricultural trade, we were mandated in Marrakesh to negotiate on services and this
is of particular interest to Venezuela as it provides an opportunity for diversifying exports and thereby
raising the added value of our trade.  In that regard, we believe it is essential to preserve the structure
of the Agreement as well as the negotiation methods of positive lists and the request-offer approach,since these are the most suitable mechanisms available to developing countries to negotiate and
incorporate their service sectors into the international trading system.
12. Intellectual property rights are of no less importance to the Venezuelan Government.
Venezuela is committed to adequate protection of these rights as it is convinced that it is right and
even necessary to do so in order to attract and provide security for investment.  However, there shouldbe two complementary aspects which we have repeatedly highlighted in the preparatory work leading
up to this Conference.  Throughout this process, Venezuela has stressed two points which would
ensure that intellectual property rules are enforced in  a fair and equitable manner, resulting in benefits
for our country's development.  The first is th at refining the rules governing the protection of
intellectual property rights must go hand in hand with a parallel process in competition disciplines inorder to prevent and punish abuses which may be committed by patent holders to the detriment of
consumers.  This process must also prevent the improper use of such rules impeding or limiting
innovative processes or legitimate research and development activities in our countries.  Furthermore,
we have stated that a review of the TRIPS Agreement should include the adoption of mechanisms for
the protection of intellectual property rights relating to the traditional knowledge of indigenous andlocal communities.  Venezuela also believes that the WTO must assess the relationship between the
provisions of the TRIPS Agreement and the Convention on Biological Diversity to ensure that both
sets of rules are mutually reinforced.
13. As far as trade-related investment measures (TRIMs) are concerned, Venezuela wishes to
reiterate its position on two matters.  Firstly, like most developing countries, we believe that the
transition periods for some countries which end on 1 January 2000 should be extended.  Secondly,
compliance requirements should be in tune with market conditions, inter alia , those relating to
exports, technology transfer and research and deve lopment, as they could prove to be extremely
useful in competition policy and productive development, and should not be subject to any restraint
on reviews or possible renegotiations of the Agreement.
14. Trade in developing country manufactured goods is frequently subject to pressures and limits
which deny the benefits expected from this form of  trade.  Commodity prices continue their age-old
downward trend, and the access of our countries' hi ghest added-value products to industrial country
markets is limited by the abusive and unjustified application of anti-dumping measures, technical
barriers, discontinuities and tariff peaks.  Consequently, Venezuela has indicated its interest in seeing
existing subsidy and anti-dumping rules evaluated and reviewed so as to discipline them and make
their implementation more transparent, as well as to render the concept of special and differential
treatment more operative.
15. For these same reasons, in connection with the proposal by some countries to start market
access negotiations on non-agricultural products, Venezuela has stated and repeats that it will only
support the proposal if negotiations include a re-examination of special and differential treatment soWT/MIN(99)/ST/56
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that the resulting agreement would accord developing countries sufficient policy flexibility, in
addition to preferences during transition periods.  Furthermore, if such negotiations are carried out,
they must give priority to the simplification and elimination of tariff peaks which affect high added
value products from developing countries.  In addition, the negotiation of the tariffs levied on such
products must be based on bound tariffs and not the ones actually applied.
16. With respect to investment, Venezuela is not opposed to a possible start of negotiations on a
multilateral framework, so long as the agreement contains two complementary and inseparable
objectives.  Namely, it must offer guarantees of security and predictability for foreign direct
investment and it must strengthen the role of such investment as an instrument of economic
development in the recipient country within the fr amework of that country's strategies and policies.
17. Venezuela attaches special importance to information technology and electronic commerce
and the introduction of a new technological para digm which has changed the way we communicate
and trade.  The development of electronic commerce is creating many opportunities to use our own
advantages in trade in services and to successfully integrate at the international level a large number
of innovative small- and medium-sized enterprises in developing countries.  Again, the key to success
provided by these opportunities is access to technology.  For this reason, over the past two years,
Venezuela has been in favour of the WTO studying the implications of electronic commerce and thepossible implementation of related multilateral rules.  It is also of the opinion that the moratorium on
imposing customs duties on electronic commerce transactions should be extended to the Fourth
Ministerial Meeting to allow for more in-depth eval uation of the fiscal and other implications which
may be involved in the development of this new form of trade.  We have also stated, like other
countries, that the WTO, in cooperation with other bodies, should examine further the benefits to begained and, in general, the challenges and opportunities that electronic commerce could offer
developing countries.  We have pointed out that a multilateral agreement in that regard should ensure
that our countries have greater, and unimpeded access to the new technologies.
18. An agreement on transparency in government procurement would be useful to combat
corruption in all countries and to increase competition among suppliers, thereby improving theefficiency of public sector purchasing. Venezuela welcomes the start of negotiations in this area and
reiterates that such negotiations should be confined to transparency and should guarantee due
consideration for national practices and the legitimate use of government procurement as a policy tool
for the development of small- and medium-sized enterprises and, generally, the development of their
national production.
19. Venezuela has benefited directly from the balanced and fair functioning of the WTO dispute
settlement system and is of the opinion that a Dispute Settlement Body which guarantees confidenceand predictability is a fundamental - if not the main - part of the multilateral trading system.  For this
reason, we believe that it is fitting for this Mini sterial Conference to agree on the conclusion of the
review process of the Dispute Settlement Understanding, accept the resulting recommendations and
give a reasonable time-frame to finalize some pending points of interpretation.
20. Venezuela believes that topics such as the relationship between environmental protection and
trade, as well as human rights, including labour rights, deserve attention because they form part of a
fundamental aspect of the societies in which we live, namely, human development.  However, we
believe that the WTO's contribution is to incorporate development objectives in its own disciplines
and not to seek to become a forum for providin g solutions to environmental and labour problems.
Therefore, we would like to emphasize that inte rnational multilateral trading rules should not be
linked to those matters because there are disciplines, mechanisms and other appropriate forums to
address those concerns.  This is why we recogn ize and support the ILO Declaration on Fundamental
Principles and Rights at Work, the multilateral environmental agreements and the agreements
resulting from the Earth Summit, among others, which include broad, comprehensive aspects of those
specific areas, including their relevance to intern ational trade.  If the WTO wishes to prove itsWT/MIN(99)/ST/56
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legitimacy to the peoples of the world, it cannot divorce itself from human development, especially in
disadvantaged countries, but its role is appropriate incorporation of the development dimension in
trade, and not any other role.
21. I could not end without expressi ng our support, as we have done before at the initiative of
certain countries, of the creation within the WTO of a working group on trade and debt to study theway in which international trade and, more specifically, the multilateral trading system, could
contribute to resolving the problem of the external debt of developing countries.
22. Lastly, we would like to express, through you, to the Government of the United States and the
authorities of the City of Seattle, our gratitude for their hospitality and the major contribution made to
the success of this Conference.
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