WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/L/574 
17 June 2004 
 (04-2623) 
 Original:   English 
  
 
MEETING OF APEC MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRADE 
 
Pucón, Chile, 4-5 June 2004 
 
Communication from Chile 
 
  The following communication, dated 10 June 2004,  is being circulated at the request of the 
Delegation of Chile.  
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MEETING OF APEC MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRADE 
PUCON, CHILE, 4-5 JUNE 2004 
MINISTERIAL STATEMENT  
ON DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA (DDA) NEGOTIATIONS 
 
 1. We, the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade, strongly support the efforts now underway to 
move the Doha negotiations fo rward expeditiously. We urge all WTO members to intensify 
their efforts in coming weeks to agree by July 2004 on the key issues that will provide a clear 
way forward for the Doha negotia tions. We emphasize the continued importance of the mandate 
agreed by Ministers in the Doha Development Ag enda (DDA) and the need for high levels of 
ambition and respect for flexibility contained th erein to be faithfully reflected in the way 
forward.   
 
2. Consequently, bearing in mind that the deve lopment dimension permeates all areas of the 
negotiation, we commit and direct our officials to  work with a sense of urgency to achieve by 
July 2004 results that include: 
 a negotiating framework for agriculture that provides an ambitious approach to market 
access with the necessary flexibilit y; substantial reductions of  trade-distorting domestic 
support; and includes a specific commitment to abolish all forms of export subsidies by 
a date certain; 
 a negotiating framework for non-agricultural market access, on the basis of the Derbez 
text, that is balanced and provides fo r real improvements in market access and 
addresses non-tariff barriers; 
 an agreement to launch negotiations on trad e facilitation within the single undertaking, 
recognizing APEC’s special contribution in this area;   
 the tabling of services offers by member s that have not done so by July 2004, a 
timeframe for improving offers, as well as ma king progress in the rule-making areas of 
services; and,  WT/L/574 
Page 2  
 
  a reaffirmation on the need to make substan tial progress in all areas, including work in 
the Negotiating Group on Rules in accordan ce with the Doha mandate and the Bangkok 
Leaders’ Declaration; 
 
3. We reaffirm that a high level of ambition in all areas of the DDA must be accompanied by a 
strong and renewed emphasis on deve lopment. In line with this am bition we also want prompt 
results in the on-going efforts aimed at maki ng existing special and differential treatment 
more precise, effective and operational.  We commit to enhancing technical assistance and 
capacity building for developing members.   
 
4.  We instruct the APEC Geneva Caucus to inte nsify their efforts to support the key areas of the 
July package. Recognizing that agricultural market access is lagging behind export subsidies 
and domestic support, we further instruct that special attention be given to finding a way 
forward.  WT/L/574 
 Page 3 
 
 
 MEETING OF APEC  
MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRADE 
PUCON, CHILE, 4-5 JUNE 2004 
STATEMENT OF THE CHAIR 
 
 
We, the APEC Ministers Responsible for Trad e, representing 21 member economies collectively 
responsible for 47 percent of world trade and over 50 percent of global GDP, met in Pucón, Chile, on 
4 – 5 June 2004, under the chairmanship of H.E. Ma ria Soledad Alvear, Minister of Foreign Affairs 
and Trade, Chile.  
 
The meeting was also attended by the Director General of the World Trade Organization, Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, the Executive Director of the APEC Secretariat as well as by distinguished 
observers from the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council; Pacific Islands Forum and the ASEAN 
Secretariat. The APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) was represented by Mr. Hernán 
Somerville, Chairman of ABAC 2004. 
 We met under the policy theme of “A Commitment to Development through Trade and Investment” 
with the aim of fostering closer economic and comm ercial ties in the Asia Pacific region. The main 
policy theme supports the Chile APEC 2004 Theme of “One Community, Our Future”.  
 
Strengthening the Multilateral Trading System 
 APEC support to the WTO process   
In accordance with our separate st atement on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations, we 
emphasized the need for a successful conclusi on of the DDA negotiations as strengthening the 
multilateral trading system is of the major importanc e for the achievement of Bogor Goals of free and 
open trade and investment by all APEC member economies.  We welcomed plans for an APEC/WTO Roundtab le on Trade Facilitation in Geneva, to share 
APEC’s positive experiences in this  area with non-APEC economies. 
 We expressed our satisfaction with the latest de velopments regarding the accession process of the 
Russian Federation and VietNam to the WTO. We recognized the importance of APEC WTO 
capacity building programs aimed at supporting their accession and committed ourselves to encourage 
the earliest possible conclusion of their accession negotiation processes. The support by the Russian 
Federation and VietNam to the Ministerial Stat ement on Doha Developm ent Agenda (DDA) is 
without prejudice to their accession negotiations to the WTO.  Taking into consideration the c ontributions made by recently acceded Members to the WTO, their 
particular concerns should be given du e consideration in the DDA negotiations. 
 
In line with the recommendations of the APEC Workshop on WTO Capacity Building Best Practices, 
we instructed officials to identif y best practices and build the capacity of APEC members in the areas 
of multi-stakeholder and intra-governmental consu ltations on trade negotiations, in order to help 
developing economies to fully participate in WTO DDA negotiations and enjoy the full benefits of 
WTO membership. We instructed officials to iden tify best practices and build the capacity of APEC 
members in the areas of multi-stakeholders and intra-governmental consultations on trade 
negotiations.  
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