WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/122
12December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5307)
Original: French MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
SENEGAL
Statement byH.E. Mr.Idrissa Seck
Minister ofCommerce, Handicrafts andIndustrialization
MydelegationmuchappreciatestheopportunitytoparticipateintheworkofthisFirstMinisterial
Conference oftheWorld Trade Organization, particularly asitisbeing heldinSingapore, acountry
which offers theworld anexample ofanenterprising people thatprizes liberalism andopentrade.
Iwould therefore liketothank ourhosts fortheirwarm welcome andexcellent Conference
organization.
May IalsopassontoHisExcellency thePresident oftheRepublic ofSingapore, toits
Government andtothepeople ofthisbeautiful country thefraternal greetings ofHisExcellency
President Abdou Diouf, President oftheRepublic ofSenegal, hisGovernment andtheentire Senegalese
people.
Wecan,Iamsure, allagree thatsofarourexperience ofthefunctioning oftheWTO has
beenrewarding andjustifies anoptimistic viewofthefuture ofthemultilateral trading system.
Indeed, thetwoyears since ourOrganization wasestablished havebeenmarked bythegrowth
oftrade liberalization andincreasing recourse tothemultilateral dispute settlement mechanism.
Senegal welcomes these important trends.
Likeseveral other developing countries, Senegal hastaken advantage ofthese lasttwoyears
toundertake,innumeroussectors,anoverhaulofitsinstitutionalframework,adaptingittotheprovisions
oftheAgreements signed atMarrakesh.
Itakethisopportunity toexpress ourgratitude totheSecretariat oftheWTO, aswellasto
ourpartners whoagreed tosupport ourdomestic programme ofchange andadjustment. Iwould also
liketoreiterate ourcommitment tocontinuing along thispath, being convinced thatultimately our
country willbeablefullytoassume itsresponsibilities asaMember oftheWTO andextract the
maximum benefit from theopening ofmarkets.
Withthe50thanniversary ofthemultilateral trading system onlyafewmonths away, theWTO 's
FirstMinisterial Conference should sendtheworld aclear political signal, coupled withamessage
ofconfidence inthesystem forwhich wehavesuchgreat ambitions.
This, atallevents, isthedesire ofmycountry which would liketotaketheopportunity to
reaffirm itsfaithinmultilateralism anditsdetermination towork, inclose cooperation withallthe
Members oftheWTO, fortheconsolidation ofafreeandopentrading system.
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Aspartofthisprocess, ourConference hasamoral obligation topaygreater attention tothe
situation ofthedeveloping countries. These countries deserve toreceive greater consideration, since
anymeasure taken ontheirbehalf would, infact,beequivalent tostrengthening themultilateral trading
system.
Inthisconnection, itbehoves metoraisetheconcerns ofmydelegation withregard tothe
numerous difficulties encountered bythedeveloping countries infulfilling theirnotification obligations.
While recognizing theimportance ofthese notifications forthesurvival ofthemultilateral system, I
remain convinced oftheurgent needtoreach anagreement onthestepstobetaken toreduce thenumber
ofnotifications, simplify theprocedures and,atthesame time, adopt appropriate technical assistance
measures designed tosupport theefforts ofalltheMember countries inthisfield.
Ialsofeelobliged tostress theneedforscrupulous observance ofthedecisions taken infavour
ofthedeveloping countries intheWTO. Ihaveparticularly inmindthedecision adopted atMarrakesh,
inApril 1994, concerning thenegative effects ofthereform programme resulting from the
Uruguay Round ontheeconomies ofnetfood-importing countries.
Inanyevent, mydelegation would point outthattheWTO Agreements restupon adelicate
balance reflected inacomplex system ofmechanisms, rules anddisciplines.
Developing countries suchasmine made extraordinary efforts tohelpachieve thisbalance,
convinced astheywere thatthenewmultilateral trading system would fulfil theirexpectations.
Today, despite some encouraging signs, everything seems toindicate thatinmaking ourchoices
forthefuture weshould exercise more caution asregards thenewissues tobebrought within thesphere
ofcompetence ofourOrganization.
Mydelegation believes thatdiversity ofinterests requires theMembers oftheWTO toadopt
anapproach which isbothflexible andbased onconsensus.
Thus, itwould seem advisable nottosystematically reject anydiscussion ofnewissues and,
inparticular, thequestion ofdirect foreign investment, considering thattrade andinvestment areso
closely linked. Atthesame time, however, weshould notlosesightoftheindissociable educational
andprogressive aspects ofthisimportant issue.
Senegal likewise reaffirms itstotalcommitment tostrictrespect forthebasicprinciples ofhuman
rights andreiterates itsfirmattachment tointernational labour standards.
However, wedonotrecognize thecompetence oftheWTO todecide these questions which
arethespecific responsibility oftheInternational Labour Organization.
Finally,mydelegationispreparedtoassociateitselfwithanyconsensusontheimportantquestion
oftrade facilitation. Weareamong those whoconsider thattheexamination ofthisquestion bythe
WTO should belargely based ontherelated work donebyother international organizations suchas
UNCTAD.
MayIconclude byagain stressing thehistorical nature ofthisFirstMinisterial Conference
oftheWTO. Mycountry ishopeful thatSingapore willbeadecisive stage intheimprovement of
economic andtrade relations between ourdifferent countries withaviewtoraising theirstandard of
living. Asthethirdmillennium dawns, thisshould beourpriority objective within theWTO, since
therecanbenodoubt thatthefuture ofourOrganization depends oncooperation andsolidarity among
allourMember countries, whether great orsmall, richorpoor.