WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/10
9December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5181)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
ITALY
Statement bytheRight Honourable Augusto Fantozzi
Minister ofForeign Trade
Letmeexpress ourgratitude andappreciation totheGovernment oftheRepublic ofSingapore
forhosting insuchanefficient manner thisConference oftheWTO. Itissignificant thatSingapore
isthevenue ofthisfirstMinisterial Meeting: acityandaState projected intothefuture foran
organization thatinthefuture finds itshighest stakes andgreatest promise.
Letmealsothank theSecretariat oftheWTO anditsDirector-General fortheirefforts and
theexcellent work theyhavedonetolaytheground forasuccessful outcome ofthisConference.
Weareheretoday notonlytoassess theresults ofthisfirsttwoyears ofimplementation of
theUruguay Round Agreement, butalsotoconfirm ourcommitment tothose objectives oftrade
liberalization thatmade "Marrakesh" suchanimportant achievement. Inthelastfewyears trade has
grown athigher andfaster ratesthantheglobal output ofgoods andservices. Trade isplaying an
increasingly important roleinpromoting growth anddevelopment onaworldwide scale. Wemust
make surethatthisroleismaintained inthefuture through theworkings ofastronger andmoreefficient
multilateral system ofrules.
Thecommitmenttothestrengtheningofthissystemrepresentsapermanentfeatureofourforeign
andeconomic policies. Oureconomic interests drive usinthisdirection andItalyreiterates itsfull
support tothemultilateral system.
Inmyopinion, toachieve thisobjective theinternational community should make agreater
effort tohelpthelessprivileged countries enjoy thebenefits ofliberalization, which arestilllimited
toafewgeographical areas. Moreover, theWorld Trade Organization should speed uptheaccession
ofnewcountries insuchawayastoconfirm itstrulyuniversal nature.
Thehugework doneinGeneva hasproduced animportant draftDeclaration. Thepaper still
leaves afewopenquestions, which however willbesoonresolved provided thatpolitical goodwill
prevails overtheMember countries 'specific, albeit important, interests.
Thefirstobjective istomake surethattheresults oftheUruguay Round arefullyandcorrectly
implemented. Inthisrespect, letmerefertothetextiles issue -theonlyonespecifically mentioned
inthedraftDeclaration -tostress thattheEuropean Union isfulfilling itscommitments under the
Marrakesh Agreement. Ourefforts tokeepupwithourobligations havebeensignificant. Weexpect
ourpartners tocarry outasimilar effort alsointerms ofagreater opening oftheirmarkets.
Wethenhavetoconfirm thecommitments listed inthebuilt-in agenda -within theframework
oftheglobal balance reached atMarrakesh -relating totheforthcoming negotiations. Wehaveto
confirm aswellthetimeschedule oftheliberalization plans already approved.
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Aspecial importance isattached tothecurrent negotiations intheservice sector: inmyview,
theconclusion ofnegotiations ontelecommunications scheduled for15February 1997willbethebest
evidence ofthewillingness ofWTO Member countries toproceed withtheliberalization plan.
Ialsolookforward toasuccessful conclusion ofthenegotiations onfinancial services bythe
endof1997, thissector being thepivot oftrade relations.
Onthetrade -environment issue, wewould haveexpected better results. Thismatter must
beurgently confronted while providing fresh impetus tothework oftheCommittee.
Theworkload oftheOrganization should notprevent usfrom addressing newinternational
trade problems. Ifwewanttoliberalize trade andopenupourmarkets, wewillnecessarily haveto
solve them assoonaspossible.
Afirstconcrete result could beachieved through anegotiated agreement oninformation
technology. Inourview, suchanagreement would beaimed ateliminating tariffandnon-tariff barriers
hindering market access. Itshould bejoined byasmany countries aspossible andcover allthenon-
consumer products relating tothissector.
Moreover, there areanumber ofother issues thatdeserve amore detailed analysis inorder
toshow thattheWTO paysattention toallthetopics related tointernational trade.
Inthiscontext, letmeunderline thatItalywould welcome aneffective roleoftheWTO in
therelationship between trade andinvestments: investment protection andliberalization areessential
tooureconomic operators, especially tosmall- andmedium-sized enterprises. Atthesame time, they
constitute afundamental prerequisite togenerate anincreasing amount ofresources tobeusedtopromote
economic growth indeveloping countries, butalsoinsome areas oftheindustrialized countries.
Iwould nowliketobriefly dwell upononeoftheissues recently discussed bothatgovernmental
andnon-governmental level: theso-called corelabour standards.
Italypaysspecial attention tothismatter. Webelieve thatensuring thebestpossible living
andworking conditions isauniversally-acknowledged responsibility. Weareconfident thatcloser
cooperation between ILOandWTO willcontribute toachieving thisobjective andIamdisappointed
thattheDirector-General ofILOhasnotbeeninvited here. Wearealsokeenonpreventing thatprogress
inthisfieldmight turnintoasource ofprotectionism, sothatallcountries would benefit fromthepositive
spin-off thattrade liberalization hasoneconomic growth.
Inthisregard, Iwanttoconfirm Italy'sfullsupport totheAction Planinfavour oflessdeveloped
countries andIhopethatthejointmeeting withUNCTAD andtheInternational Trade Centre planned
for1997 willproduce positive results.
Before concluding myaddress, Iwould liketodedicate afewwords tosmall- andmedium-sized
enterprises, thetruedriving forcebehind international trade. Withtheiractivity, theypromote aconstant
exchange ofviews andworking techniques among thevarious countries involved. Thisisspecially
trueforItaly, since theworldwide success ofourproduction islargely duetotheirdynamism and
remarkable flexibility.
Iamconfident thattheWTO willpaygreater attention totheproblems concerning the
international dimension oftheactivity ofthese enterprises. Theexploratory andanalytical work to
beundertaken bytheCouncil onGoods inrelation totrade facilitation issues could alsogivepriority
toSME-related problems.