WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(03)/ST/84
12 September 2003
(03-4842)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fifth Session
Cancún, 10 - 14 September 2003Original:  Spanish
GUATEMALA
Statement by H.E. Ms Patricia Ramírez Ceberg
Minister of Economy
The multiethnic, multilingual and multicultural country of Guatemala greets Mexico, the host
country of this major event, the Chairman of the Ministerial Conference, the Director-General of the
WTO, the Chairman of the General Council, the Ministers and Ambassadors of WTO Members andall the men and women whose combined efforts have culminated here in this beautiful city on the
Mexican coast.
Two sentences in the Preamble to the Doha Declaration are worthy of special mention.  The
first is " International trade can play a major role in  the promotion of economic development and the
alleviation of poverty ", and the second, " The majority of WTO Members are developing countries and
we seek to place their needs and interests at the heart of the Work Programme adopted in this
Declaration ".
These quotations embody the letter and spirit of the process which we have christened the
Doha Development Agenda, the starting point of which, in November 2001, was marked by the
Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha.  The Doha Development Agenda raised the hopes ofmost people the world over, which, in turn, made the launching of a negotiating round feasible.
Today, Guatemala calls for these promises to be fulfilled.
Guatemala's vision of the future of agriculture, which constitutes our most important
economic activity and accounts for the greatest number of jobs and indeed the very livelihood of ourpoorest people, is one of an agricultural market free of distortions, where production is adjusted both
to demand and to the comparative advantages of each individual country and region.  Guatemala's
tariff average, one of the lowest in all Latin America, testifies to our commitment to market
liberalization.  We call for the full elimination of all export subsidies, a substantial reduction in
domestic support and the dismantling of the barriers which continue to restrict our market access.  Wehope that the most strenuous efforts to this end will be made by the countries responsible for the
greatest distortions in agricultural trade.  If such dismantling does not become a reality, some
countries could be forced to employ new special safeguard mechanisms to protect their basic
production sectors from unfair competition and safegu ard the jobs and livelihood of the great majority
of their population for whom the only alternative is death or emigration to developed countries.
As a Member of the Cairns Group, Guatemala hereby calls for consistency between the scope
of agricultural reform and the level of ambition reflected in the Doha Ministerial Declaration.
Likewise, as a member of the G21 - the Group of 21  developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin
America which counterbalanced the process by submitting an alternative proposal - Guatemala
reaffirms its opposition to absurd protectionism and semantic balancing acts which seek to perpetuate
subsidies and domestic support.WT/MIN(03)/ST/84
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We also reiterate our exhortation to Members not to have recourse, other than on a scientific
basis, to sanitary or phytosanitary barriers which constitute unnecessary barriers to agricultural trade.
Guatemala hopes that the negotiations on non-agricultural goods will come up with
appropriate solutions to tariff escalation and peaks.  We also advocate that the Sectoral Initiative be ona voluntary basis.  Overall, we hope for more effective implementation of the principle of "less than
full reciprocity".
Guatemala's level of development, geographical location and aptitude for trade openness
mean that it has much to offer its trading partners in the field of services.  The submission of our
initial services offer served to reaffirm our commitment to the progressive liberalization of trade in
services.  We trust that our interest in the fourth mode of supply can be met by improved offers fromdeveloped countries, since this is a key element as regards financing our external imbalances and, in
particular, upgrading our human capital.
Guatemala understands the aspiration to extend to other goods the protection currently
granted to wines and spirits produced by far northern and far southern countries.  However, wereprotection to be so extended, it would have to be  in an extremely well thought out manner.  To be
avoided at all costs is the proliferation of appellations of origin the overall purpose of which is to
obtain commercial advantages from inverse protection which hinder the exports of countries lacking
the means to promote their own appellations of origin at international level.  Moreover, we are
concerned that situations could arise in which mandatory notification and registration systems haveundesirable effects.
Guatemala is committed to protecting the environment and biological diversity.  Nevertheless,
we are opposed to their protection by means of new market access barriers which restrict developing
country exports.
Although Guatemala has shown proof of flexibility in discussions on the Singapore issues,
our priority is for this process to be concluded in a transparent manner.  Numerous developing
countries are unprepared for negotiations and have expressed a desire to continue with the
clarification process.  The requirement of "explici t consensus" prior to the launching of negotiations
will force us to take the priorities of every single Member into consideration.
Trade-related concerns should not be allowed to overshadow the human dimension of
multilateralism in our discussions.  In this spirit, we welcome and approve the Decision on TRIPS and
public health and strongly urge Members to analyse any proposal which could hinder flows of food
aid extremely carefully.
We also welcome the Memorandum of Understanding signed two days ago by the WTO and
UNIDO.  Cooperation between these two Organizations  will result in greater attention being paid to
the problems facing developing countries with regard to technical assistance, capacity-building and
supply constraints.
To conclude, Guatemala reiterates its commitment to and accountability towards the
multilateral trading system.  We will continue to play a constructive role therein, in the firm belief that
trade openness is the path to our peoples' development.  However, if we truly wish for this to prove a
real Development Agenda, we will have to libera lize not only trade in industrial products, services
(including the fourth mode of supply), investment and government procurement, but also and aboveall, in goods for which developing countries are particularly competitive, namely agricultural
products.WT/MIN(03)/ST/84
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Developed countries need to be very clear on one point:  if trade is important, social peace is
even more so.  Social peace is based on the concept of suum cuique tribuere  and the only way to give
the majority of the world's population a chance is to recognize that it is essential that trade
development and progress go hand in hand with improved living standards and the creation of decent
jobs in developing countries.  Ot herwise, we will come to witness increasing numbers of illegal
migration movements, a rise in child labour and the forced prostitution of women for whom there is
no other option, since subsidies, notably agricultural subsidies, erode the life and livelihood
opportunities of the great majority of people on our planet.
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