WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/16
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-1982)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
AUSTRALIA
Statement Circulated byTheHonourable TimFischer MP,
Deputy Prime Minister andMinister forTrade
Australia, asamedium-sized trading nation, depends crucially ontheframework offairand
predictable rulesoftheWTO. These rulesofferusprotection fromunilateral andarbitrary behaviour.
They create aframework inwhich wecanpursue market liberalization.
Australia seesthisfiftieth anniversary asanoccasion ofgreat significance. Itallows usboth
toreflect onourjointlabours ofthepasthalf-century andtochart future directions fortheWTO.
Importantly, itallows ustotakedecisions ontheleadership thattheWTO mustshow indealing with
thechallenges itfaces.
Thesuccesses oftheUruguay Round wereenormous. Theywerefollowed withmajor outcomes
intheliberalization oftradeintelecommunications, financial services andinformation technology goods.
Disputesettlementactivitycontinuesapace,attestingtoconfidenceintheprocessesoftheWTO,although
itscomplexity iscreating concern among some Members about theirability tomount casesandtherefore
thesystem being effectively outoftheirreach.
Challenges fortheWTO
Despite these successes, theWTO cannot simply confine itself torefining theexisting rules.
Thiswould betostagnate, doing things thatareoflittleinterest toanyone except those learned inthe
rules ofthisorthatagreement.
Aninternationaleconomicorganizationmusthavelargerambitions:itmustrespondtoincreasing
globalization. Itmustrespond tothegenuine needs oftheinternational business community. Itmust
deliver realbenefits tothevastgroup ofpeople wecallsimply "theconsumer". Itmustcontinue to
make amajor contribution toraising global living standards andproviding sustainable jobs. Thepace
ofdevelopments means thatorganizations liketheWTO aresubject tothechallenge ofcontinuous
reinvention.
Itmust alsobeabletorespond tocrises which mayarise andensure thattheprocess of
multilateral trade liberalization makes apositive contribution tosolving these issues.
Wemustkeepmarkets openinthefaceofchallenges from theAsian economic crisis which
willincrease thepressure forstructural adjustment inanumber ofAustralia 'sclose neighbours and
challenge thewider multilateral system. Wemustdemonstrate thattheWTO, through themaintenance
ofopenmarkets andthetradeandinvestment liberalization itpromotes, canmake asolidcontribution
totheresolution ofsuchproblems.WT/MIN(98)/ST/16
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Implementation ofWTO commitments hasbeenadifficult process forallparties, butespecially
forsomedevelopingcountries.ThisMinisterialConferencerightlyhas,asonefocus,theimplementation
ofourexisting commitments. JustastheUruguay Round created enormous opportunities, thechallenges
havebeentoensure thefullimplementation ofthecommitments sothatwecandeliver these benefits
infull.Australia 'sposition isclear. Werecognize thattechnical assistance onimplementation issues
isessential. Australia hasbeen active inassisting developing countries initsregion intheir
implementation efforts andwestand ready tosupplement those efforts. Buttheparties totheUruguay
Round entered intoabinding undertaking toimplement their commitments, within their various
time-frames, andweseenocompelling arguments torevisit thecommitments ortoquestion theresults
oftheRound.
Wemustalsorisetothechallenge ofdemonstrating tothepublic whattheWTO doesandthe
benefits itbrings. Wemustfindways andmeans, particularly atthenational level, toensure thatall
those withaninterest inourwork haveadequate access towhatwedo,andwhywedoit.Weneed
toexplain andsellthemessage thatanopen multilateral trading system benefits allofus.Inthis
connection, letmenotewithappreciation therecent study bytheOECD entitled "Open Markets Matter".
Itsexamples oftheeffects oftrade liberalization andthecosts ofprotection areverycogent. The
Australian Government hasmirrored these efforts atthedomestic levelwithanumber ofpublications
andactivities aimed atinforming thecommunity onthebenefits oftrade liberalization forAustralia
andtheinternational trading community.
Weshould beclear, however, thattheWTO isanintergovernmental organization which deals
withlegalrights andobligations. Itmust work effectively, andweshould bearthiswellinmind as
welookforgreater transparency.
Wemust handle thetrade policy issues raised byregionalism. Wemust recognize thatthe
bestsolution forallliesinanacceleration ofmultilateral liberalization, notaresort topreferential
treatment forsmaller groups ofcountries. Regionalism canbeapositive force. Itcanbeusedto
promoteandbuildmoreopenandcomplementarymarketsandtherebystrengthenthemultilateralsystem.
Butitisasecond-best solution. Therefore itisofconcern thatmultilateral disciplines onregional
agreements areweak andcharge asmall price forthisderogation from thebasic ruleoftheWTO.
Universality isakeyissue. More than30economies haveapplied tobecome members. Joining
theWTO isqualitatively quite different tojoining most other global bodies. Theacceding member
notonlyhastodemonstrate thatitcanadminister theWTO agreements effectively. Accessions must
becompleted onterms thatprovide commercially viable access forexisting WTO Members andensure
thatthebalance ofrights andobligations enjoyed byexisting Members ismaintained. Theaccessions
workload isalarge oneandthepolitical investment onthepartofbothaspiring andexisting WTO
Members issubstantial. Butthegoalofasmoothly-functioning trading system thatconveys itsbenefits
equally toallMembers iscrucial.
Wemustalsodealwiththeexpanding trade agenda, especially trade andenvironment, trade
andcompetition andtrade andinvestment. Trade rules already havedirect impact onwhat hitherto
havebeenregarded asdomestic policy issues. There haslongbeenarecognition thatcompetition and
investment regimes haveaneffect onmarket access. Inrelation totrade andenvironment weneed
togivehighpriority toimproving dialogue andpolicy coordination atboththenational andinternational
levels. Wemustensure thattrade andenvironment policies aremutually supportive. Wemustensure
thatfuture trade negotiations achieve substantial reforms topolicies which adversely affect the
environment suchasagricultural andfisheries subsidies, tariff escalation andtariff peaks.
Wearewitnessing arevolution inthedevelopment ofelectronic commerce. Most ofitisdriven
bybusiness.Electroniccommerceofferssignificantbenefitstoalltradingeconomies,andtheinternationalWT/MIN(98)/ST/16
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framework ofprinciples andrulesmustbeappropriate foritsneeds. OurtaskintheWTO istoassist
theemergence ofsuchaframework andtoensure thattheWTO rulesremain relevant tothewaybusiness
isactually done.
Towards further negotiations
TheWTOmustshowleadershipindealingwiththesechallenges.Itmustrespondtotheconcerns
ofthepublic andconsumers, strengthen therulesneeded byMembers, dealwiththerapidly expanding
trade agenda and,crucially, assert theprimacy ofthemultilateral trade system.
Australia believes thatthebestwaytodothisisthrough further, comprehensive multilateral
trade negotiations. Themandated negotiations onliberalization inagriculture andservices should be
expanded, particularly toencompass liberalizing negotiations inindustrial tariffs. Theobjective of
theWTO should betoproduce balanced market access gains thatareintheinterests ofallmembers.
Australia iscommitted totheachievement ofafairandmarket-oriented agricultural trading
system assought bytheAgreement onAgriculture. AstheCairns Group hasstressed, thenext
negotiations onagriculture, which areanintegral partoftheUruguay Round outcome, must result
infundamental reforms putting trade inagricultural goods onthesame basis astrade inother goods.
Export subsidies must beeliminated, withmajor cutstodomestic subsidies. Market access mustbe
substantially improved withdeepcutstotariffs, tariffpeaks andescalation andremoval ofallnon-tariff
measures, sothatagricultural trade canproceed onthebasis ofmarket forces.
TheGeneral Agreement onTrade inServices requires ustoenter intosuccessive rounds of
negotiations withaviewtoachieving aprogressively higher levelofliberalization oftradeinservices.
Thefirstoftheserounds isduetostartnolaterthan1January 2000. World services tradeiscontinuing
togrow strongly asglobal economic integration isstrengthening. Removing market access barriers
mustbeonetarget. Thesuccessful outcomes ofthenegotiations onbasic telecommunication services
andthose onfinancial services haveestablished agoodbaseforthisaim.Additionally, weshould always
beconscious thatafreeflowofservices alsoenhances merchandise tradeflows. Australia willparticipate
constructively andactively inthese negotiations.
Tariff liberalization andimproved market access aretwoofthefundamental reasons forthe
existence oftheWTO. Nosystem-wide negotiations inthisareaareasyetplanned. Australia sees
thisasasignificant systemic gap,since hightariff rates, especially tariff peaks, continue toobstruct
international commerce. TheGATT specifically recognizes theimportance oftariff negotiations to
theexpansion ofinternational trade. Australia isconvinced thatthemultilateral trading system will
benefit greatly fromafurther round ofcomprehensive tariffnegotiations. Wehopethatitwillbepossible
toreach earlyagreement onthisandtosupplement themandated negotiations onagriculture andservices
through work intraditional aswellasnewareas.
Australia isconvinced oftheneedforacomprehensive approach tofuture trade negotiations.
Thisistheonlywaytoensure thatthecompeting interests canbebalanced, andthatanoptimum outcome
canbeachieved. Themandated negotiations onagriculture andservices already constitute asolidcore
offuture negotiations. Soalsodothemandated reviews inthedifferent agreements coming outofthe
Uruguay Round. Tothese, wemust addtariff negotiations aswellasother areas thatwillmake the
global trading system more effective.
Looking backtoday, Australia takes pride initsowncontribution tothemultilateral trading
system. Wehavebeenactive andconstructive participants overthepastfiftyyears. Wecontinue
tohavefaithinthemultilateral approach totrade which webelieve isofenduring vitality. Welook
forward tocontinuing toplayourpartinupholding theprinciples thatunderpin theWTO.
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