WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/67
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2055)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
NEW ZEALAND
Statement Circulated bytheHonourable Lockwood Smith,
Minister forInternational Trade
Aswecelebrate the50thbirthday oftheGATT/WTO wecanlookbackwitharealsense of
accomplishment atwhathasbeenachieved since theGATT wasestablished in1948. NewZealand
wasoneofthe23founding Members, andhasbeen acommitted andactive Member ofthe
Organization eversince.
Over theeight rounds oftrade negotiations thathavebeenheldinthehalfcentury ofthe
Organization 'sexistence, verysignificant progress hasbeenmade. Atfirstthefocus wasentirely on
lowering tariffs, withlarge increases inglobal trade asaresult -around 8percentayearonaverage
during the1950s and1960s. Bytheendofthe1970s, theaverage tariff onindustrial products was
brought down to4.7percent. With therealization thatnon-tariff barriers were increasingly
presenting difficulties inongoing tradeliberalization, thefocus intheTokyo Round wasonsubsidies,
technical barriers andtrade remedies.
TheUruguay Round, however, represents aclear milestone inthatitproduced truly
significant, wide-ranging results across awhole range oftrade-inhibiting andtrade-distorting issues.
Clearer rules, stronger processes, broader coverage andfurther substantial liberalization were
achieved. Andthattime, 125countries wereparticipating inthenegotiations. ForNewZealand, not
onlydidweseeamore significant integration ofagriculture intothemultilateral trading system -with
newdisciplines ondomestic support, export subsidies, market access andsanitary andphytosanitary
measures -butwealsoachieved valuable agreements onservices andindustrial tariff liberalization
andtheestablishment ofaneffective dispute settlement system. Insum, wehavemuch tocelebrate
onthismost significant anniversary.
Thisyear'sWTO Ministerial Conference takes place against thebackground oftherecent
financial crisis inanumber ofAsian economies, andtheshock totheinternational financial system
thatthisentailed. Thedifficult butcritical structural reform process necessary tolessen thechances
ofarecurrence ofsuchashock hasalready begun insome oftheeconomies affected. Butthese
countries alsoneedtheability totrade theirwayoutoftheirdifficulties. Forthisopenmarkets are
required, notjustinAsia, butinEurope andtheAmericas.
Asexports from Asiaexpand, theUnited States andEurope willfacemounting domestic
pressure torestrict imports inthefaceofincreasing trade deficits anddeclining surpluses.
Governments willneed toberesolute intheir determination tosustain themomentum oftrade
liberalization. InJapan, amore openeconomy isneeded bothtoensure sustainable growth, andin
response totheconcerns ofmany ofitstrading partners overJapanese export surpluses. Andinthe
restofAsia, acontinued commitment totrade liberalization isneeded toensure thatresources goWT/MIN(98)/ST/67
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towards thepursuit ofareas ofrealcomparative advantage rather thanintoprotected, inefficient
industries. Abroad-based setofglobal trade negotiations would provide thecontext forcontinuing
theliberalization momentum, inwhich allcanlinktheirefforts.
Theproblems experienced bycertain Asian economies highlight thegrowing linkages that
existbetween international trade anddomestic structural policies asliberalization andglobalization
haveprogressed. These linkages havenowbecome sostrong thatthedistinction thattraditionally has
beenmaintained between domestic andtrade policies must nowbeseenaslargely artificial. This
entails significant challenges fortheWTO. TheWTO mustconcern itself witharange ofissues that
traditionally ithasnotdealtwith, andnotallofwhich areconducive toarules-based approach. As
wellaslooking atborder trade theWTO must continue toexpand itsfocus onbehind-the-border
issues. Itisonlybytaking thisapproach thatourefforts willhavethecoherence needed toimprove
thefunctioning ofinternational markets andtomaintain themomentum forliberalization infuture.
ThisMinisterial Conference comes, therefore, atacrucial point. Notonlydorecent events
make very apparent theneed tocontinue towork formore open markets forthebenefit ofall
WTO Members, butitiscritical thatappropriate Ministerial decisions aremade atthisjuncture to
ensure notonlycontinued vigorous implementation oftheUruguay Round result andthelaunch of
themandated negotiations attheendofnextyear, butalsoafuture trade liberalization agenda. What
more appropriate moment todemonstrate ourunited resolve towork forthesuccess of
Uruguay Round implementation andthese resumed negotiations thanonthe50thbirthday ofthe
GATT/WTO? Andwhat more appropriate moment thanthisimportant anniversary todeclare our
jointintention tobeevenmore ambitious inmoving thetradeliberalization process vigorously ahead?
TheUruguay Round Agreements provided animpressive range ofnew concessions,
commitments andrules across amuch wider range oftrading activity thaneverbefore. Good
progress hasbeenmade onimplementation inanimproved butnotyetperfect system. Butthere are
stillproblems -which relate often toareas oftheAgreements thatareunclear ortoissues thatwere
notcovered satisfactorily bydiscussions intheUruguay Round. Trade-distorting subsidies, the
curtailing ofmarket access, andtheerection ofnewbarriers totrade continue. Weacknowledge and
sympathize withtheconcerns ofanumber ofdeveloping countries relating totheneedforcontinued
andfocused attention tobegiven toUruguay Round implementation. Weagree thatthere ismuch
unfinished business herewhich must notbelostsight of.Equally, weacknowledge thatmany
developing countries areexperiencing resource problems inundertaking some oftheirquiteextensive
WTO commitments, andthissituation toomustbeapproached inarealistic andsupportive manner.
These problems mustbetackled -buttackled inthecontext ofmoving forward thetradeliberalization
agenda intheinterests ofdeveloping asystem thatcandeliver more.
Negotiations inagriculture andservices arealready mandated tobegin in1999/2000, and
substantive preparations mustbemade forthese. Butinorder forusalltolinkourindividual broader
trade liberalization efforts, andalsotoengage allparticipants tothemaximum sosuccessful
negotiations canbeachieved, further broad-based comprehensive multilateral trade negotiations are
inevitable. Each economy must feelthatthere willberealbenefit inparticipation, withtheirkey
interests partofthenegotiating package. Forthisreason thenegotiations must bewider thanthose
already mandated, andshould include industrials inaddition toagriculture andservices.
Electronic commerce, which encompasses allofthese latter areas, hasrecently been
highlighted intheWTO asacross-cutting issuethatmustalsobeincluded inthese wider negotiations.
Weshould not,asgovernments, beclosed tothereality ofanexpanding andchanging global trading
environment, which interms ofoverall trade isseeing alessening rateofgrowth intraditional trade
ingoods andservices, andmuch greater growth intrade byelectronic means, including theInternet.WT/MIN(98)/ST/67
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Agriculture remains ofkeyinterest forNewZealand. Welookforward toastrong, clear
outcome ofthemandated negotiations which willplace agriculture onthesame basisastrade inother
goods andachieve afairandmarket-oriented agricultural trading system. Welookforward toanend
toagricultural export subsidies, including government-subsidized export credits. Welookforward
toimproved market access, where theaccess opportunities arecommercially viable andarenot
blocked through prohibitive tariffs. Andwelookforward totheelimination oftrade-distorting
domestic subsidies. Domestic policies inmany countries arealready heading inthisdirection; we
nowhavetowork onthecrucial trade dimension.
Butifanyofusaretoachieve ourobjectives inanysector wewillneedwidened negotiations
inwhich eachcanpursue theirownkeyinterests. Allparticipants needtoperceive advantage in
serious engagement. Fortheoverall process oftrade liberalization toremain multilateral itneeds to
bebroad-based. With aview tofurther supporting theprimacy ofthemultilateral trading system,
WTO Members should pursue withvigour stronger anddeeper multilateral tradeliberalization which
addresses theinterests ofalltrading countries. Equally, itwillbeimportant infuture negotiations
toclarify andstrengthen theGATT/WTO rulesthatregulate regional tradeinitiatives. Inthese ways,
wewillensure thatregional initiatives support themultilateral process.
Soouragenda mustbeambitious, inorder foralltoachieve theirobjectives. A50thbirthday
isatimetotakestock. Wecanbewellsatisfied withwhatwehaveachieved. Butnowweshould
lookathowtomaintain themomentum oftrade liberalization intothefuture. Afurther round of
broad-based negotiations, andatimely conclusion tothese negotiations, isthewayforward.
Therefore, letusmake sureatthisConference thataswellassetting intrainsubstantive preparations
forthemandated negotiations in1999assoonaspossible, astrong, substantive, coherent negotiating
package fornew,broad-based negotiations willemerge bynextyearfordecision byMinisters, which
doesnotprejudge thenature andscope ofthenegotiations bytheexclusion ofpotentially newareas.
Letuslooktothefuture, withclear sightedness, resolve anddetermination, forthegood of
allMember countries, andofthefuture generations ofusall.
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