WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/16
9December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5201)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: English/
Singapore, 9-13December 1996 French/
Spanish
CUBA
Statement byH.E. Mr.Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz
Minister ofForeign Trade
More thanhalfacentury agotheUnited Nations Economic andSocial Council decided tohold
aConference onTrade andEmployment inthecapital ofmycountry. Thedocument which resulted
from itsdeliberations, known astheHavana Charter, putforward theideaofaninternational trade
organization, which wastheorigin oftoday'sWorld Trade Organization.
Thisisnotaproper timetoanalyse thedifferences between whatthatorganization, which never
went intoeffect, wasintended tobeandthepresent-day organization. Itsuffices tosaythatmany
ofthetopics dealtwiththenarebeing onceagain considered inthisConference: theuniversal character
oftheorganization, thecompetition standards andtheefficiency ofthemechanism forsettling disputes,
among others.
Ifwhatwewanttodoisimprovethecurrentmultilateraltradingsystem,weshouldaskourselves
onwhatbases thispurpose should beachieved.
Itisimperative toestablish provisions toregulate international activities; weprefer their
existence toanarchy, toresorting tounilateralism. Thatiswhy,asaprinciple, theestablished standards
mustberespected byall,andthemechanisms which havebeensetupforthatpurpose, especially that
ofdispute settlement, must beconsistent withtheirmandate andcalling.
Theaforementioned isindispensable within thecontext oftheobjective accelerated process
ofgrowing interdependence oftheworld economy, andbased onthis,theaspirations oftheeconomically
andpolitically strong toimpose ontheweak theirownconceptions anddictate tothemtheirinhumane
neoliberal recipes forconducting theireconomies.
Attempting tofindasolution forthepresent problems oftheworld economy byerasing all
boundariesandconsideringnationalstatesandtheprincipleofsovereigntyasobsoleteduetotheobjective
globalization phenomenon isadoctrine which further increases theexisting gapbetween therichand
thepoor.
When weaddress anyofthetopics inouragenda, itisevident thatthere aresome whoare
interested inestablishing international standards which tendtoperpetuate thedifferences indevelopment
oftoday'sworldunderthepretextoftheexistenceofequalopportunitieswhichareactuallynon-existent.
Thus, forexample, developing countries arecalled upontorapidly advance intheireconomic
liberalization, while bignations strengthen theirborder protection, especially those ofthenon-tariff
type.
Pressure isbeing exerted tointroduce newtopics intheOrganization 'sworking agenda, some
ofthemhaving noconnection withtrade, suchaslabour standards, atatimewhen developing countries
./.WT/MIN(96)/ST/16
Page2
havenotyetbeenabletoassimilate theprovisions oftheUruguay Round Agreements. Ontheother
hand, theminimum commitments adopted inrelation tothesecountries arenotcomplied with, asoccurs
inthetextile sector.
TherightofdevelopingcountriestoreceivetechnicalassistanceinaccordancewiththeAgreement
onTrade-Related Aspects ofIntellectual Property Rights isbeing putoffandnoconcrete decisions
aremade tobenefit netfoodimporting developing countries.
Ecological protection regulations, which would exclude thedeveloping countries from the
possibilities offered bytheinternational market, arebeing called forbythose whonever complied
withthem andwho, besides, were theoneswhopolluted theplanet.
Thegreat challenges confronting humanity: hunger andpoverty, aswellastheobjective
consequences ofglobalization, mustbeapproached taking intoconsideration thedifferences between
rights andobligations oftherichandthepoor.
Theinternational trade ofmost underdeveloped countries isessentially thesame today asit
hastraditionally been, especially asconcerns thecontinuous deterioration oftheterms oftrade and
thestagnation ofmany ofthese terms.
Inthiscontext,weconsiderthatthemagnitudeofdevelopmentmustbepresentinallthedecisions
adopted inthisConference andthatitswork shallbemainly aimed atrevising thefulfilment ofthe
agreements reached during thepastUruguay Round andatthestart-up ofabalanced workplan,deriving
from theimplicit agenda.
Itbehoves tounderscore onceagain thatstepping-up thepaceofthenegotiations inanysector
would work against amajority ofcountries which havenotyetcompleted theassimilation ofthose
agreements.
Likewise, theso-called newtopics shall correspond withthemandate andscope ofthe
Organization andnottrytouseitscontractual character toestablish binding multilateral commitments,
which ignore specialized international fora.
Bringing newmembers intotheOrganization should beaprioritized taskinthecoming months,
inorder toattain trueuniversality, within aframework ofplurality, trustandmutual respect forthe
internal structures ofeachcountry.
Cuba isasocialist Statewhose economy hasundergone deeptransformations, which arestill
under wayinorder toadjust ittotheworld welivein,without abandoning ourpolitical concepts.
Thanks tothemeasures taken, there hasbeenasystematic growth ofexports andimports inthelast
three years within thecontext ofageneral recovery oftheeconomy, despite thecriminal andillegal
economic, commercial andfinancial blockade towhich Cuba issubjected, inflagrant violation ofthe
principles andregulations ofthisOrganization, aswellasthebasic postulates ofinternational law.
Thisblockagehasbeenrepudiatedbytheinternationalcommunity,asshownbytheresultsoftherecently
heldvoting onthisissue intheUnited Nations General Assembly.
Thiseconomic war,waged against ourpeople bytheworld 'smost powerful nation, whose
extraterritorial character hasbeenstrengthened bytheHelms-Burton Act,hasbeenimposed onusfor
thesolereason ofwanting tomaintain ourindependence, sovereignty, self-determination andnational
dignity.
Nevertheless, Cuba fulfils andshallcontinue tofulfil itsduties withWTO andtocooperate
asalways forthesuccess ofthisOrganization.