. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(99)/ST/111
2 December 1999
(99-5345)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Third SessionSeattle, 30 November - 3 December 1999Original:  English
GUYANA
Statement by the Honourable Clement J. Rohee, MP
Minister of Foreign Affairs
Guyana comes to Seattle with a single objective in mind – to bring about a positive and
balanced outcome at this Third WTO Ministerial Meeting.  This is what we Ministers must seek to
achieve during the next few days – a balanced, fair and sustainable trade agenda into the next century.
Nothing less will work and we should not seek anything less.  We ought to be motivated by the
difficult and contentious preparatory process that engaged our representatives in Geneva.
We should not, therefore, merely try to make compromises.  More importantly, our decisions
must point to pragmatic solutions and realistic expectations.  We should resolve that the WTO regime
had first to be reviewed, repaired and reformed  before it could be enlarged and that development
must be at the centre of this process.  To ensure this, we must focus on the following key and criticalissues before us:
First, implementation concerns .  These concerns are real and are based on the experience of
the last five years following the establishment of the World Trade Organization.
The international trading system is central to the ongoing process of economic reforms in our
countries.  As such, the functioning of the WTO must be responsive and sensitive to the developmentneeds of all its Members, in particular to the effective and beneficial integration of the smaller and
less dynamic economies.  The system must serve us, not demand from us.  Not only is a review of the
Uruguay Round Agreements necessary, but critical reforms cannot be avoided.  Built-in imbalances
have emerged against developing countries and these must be corrected unconditionally and as a
matter of highest priority.
Second, the issue of special and differential treatment .  The provisions for special and
differential treatment must be emphasized in recognition of the structural disadvantages faced by
many developing countries by virtue of their comparatively low level of development and inadequate
access to technology and knowledge-based capital.
Many small developing countries, like Guyana, have undertaken comprehensive structural
adjustment programmes in collaboration with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank.  Needless to say, in most cases the commencement of these structural adjustments
preceded the WTO as well as the conclusion of the Uruguay Round.
For Guyana, it has not been an easy process to mobilize the national political support for the
structural adjustment and liberalization programme.  Besides, the adjustment process brought with it,
immediately, certain debilitating consequences for the weaker sections of the population including the
productive sectors.WT/MIN(99)/ST/111
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The liberalization and globalization process must ensure sustainability and stability in the
development of the smaller economies.  Dislocations must be minimized to the very least.  In the
WTO context, therefore, future special and di fferential treatment should be based on specific
development criteria instead of arbitrarily defined transition periods.
Third, a new negotiating round .  The principal guide for any new round of negotiations is
the need to make right existing imbalances in th e international trading system.  This should not
become something developing countries are expe cted to "pay" for.  Otherwise we will simply
perpetrate growing inequity and widening disparities and poverty in our developing country Members.
In the area of agriculture we demand better market access that benefits all Members,
particularly developing countries.  In countries such as mine, the agricultural sector is a way of life.For the developing countries the big challenge is to  ensure that the international regulatory framework
governing agricultural trade will contribute to the agricultural development and food security.
Any new negotiations must address the elimination of tariff peaks and tariff escalation and
should introduce further disciplines to prevent the abuse of measures such as anti-dumping,countervailing duties and safeguard actions, sanitary and phytosanitary regulations and technical
barriers to trade.
Fourth, the matter of core labour standards .  We have said it before and we wish to
emphasize it again.  We believe in the right of workers to belong to trade unions and to be engaged inthe collective bargaining process.  This in my view is a reasonable undertaking in a civilized society
and it explains why we have not hesitated to ratify and honour various conventions of the
International Labour Organization (ILO).
However, it would be a backward step for all of us – for the process we are seeking to
consolidate here – if concerns for labour standards and workers' rights were to serve as a pretext for
countries to institute new barriers to trade.  This we must avoid at all costs.
As I said at the beginning of this presentation, Guyana comes to Seattle with a clear objective
in mind, that is to bring about a positive and balanced outcome at this Third Ministerial Meeting of
the WTO.  This can only be accomplished in an atmosphere of transparency and inclusivity.  No
"Green Room", "Blue Room" or wh atever room can accomplish this.
It is for this reason that I want to sound a wa rning to this august gathering that nothing short
of a consensus Declaration is acceptable.  In this regard, all are involved, all are consumed.
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