. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(03)/ST/28
11 September 2003
(03-4771)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fifth Session
Cancún, 10 - 14 September 2003Original:  English
BRAZIL
Statement by H.E. Mr Celso Amorim
Minister of External Relations
I wish to convey our gratitude to the Government and people of Mexico for their warm
hospitality as well as our appreciation for the fine arrangements for this Ministerial Conference.
President Lula is totally committed to social justice.  This has a domestic dimension as well
as an international one.  First in Davos and then in Evian, President Lula brought the message that
economic growth and social sustainability cannot be dissociated.  In the next United Nations
General Assembly, he will be pushing this message forward, reiterating his appeal for greater
sensitivity for the plight of the poor.  We want to make trade and trade liberalization instrumentsof social change.  Trade must be a tool not only to create wealth but also to distribute it in a more
equitable way.
We can create here in Cancún a new spirit, showing that trade liberalization and fairer
distribution of wealth are not only compatible but mutually supportive.
Brazil remains a steadfast supporter of an equitable, rules-based, market-oriented
multilateral trading system.  The WTO is a linchpin of our integration into the world economy:
expansion of trade is central to creating jobs and achieving higher rates of economic growth and
therefore improving life conditions for hundreds of millions of people, who live below the poverty
line.
When this Round was launched in Doha two years ago, there was a shared sense of
urgency which seems to have been lost.
We must change this.  And we must do it here:  in the WTO.This Fifth Ministerial Conference is the proper place for us to show our commitment and to
rededicate ourselves to the Doha mandate.  Complacency is not an option.  The greatest threat to the
multilateral trading system comes from within.  The WTO runs the risk of irrelevance.  The danger
of fragmentation is clearly there.  This will  be to no one's benefit and certainly not to the benefit
of developing countries.
Yet, to call the Doha Work Programme a "development round" is not enough.  Words in
and by themselves do not have the magical power to transform reality.  Development goals and
concerns must be effectively incorporated into the core of the WTO Agreements.  They cannot be
an afterthought in rules tailored to the needs of developed countries;  a footnote in agreements
which largely ignore the developing world.  Derogations and longer timeframes for implementing
burdensome rules are not a substitute for mainstreaming the development dimension in the system.WT/MIN(03)/ST/28
Page 2
The Doha Declaration on TRIPS and public health, as well as the decision on the
implementation of paragraph 6 of the Declaration, were important milestones.  Brazil is proud to
have been closely associated with both steps.  But much remains to be done.
Perhaps no other area of trade is subject to so much discrimination as agriculture.
Distortions in agricultural trade do not simply harm developing countries by denying them market
opportunities.  Domestic and export subsidies in developed countries depress prices and incomes
throughout the world, cut into the export earnings of competitive exporters and increase food
insecurity in developing countries.  Their addictive power does not contribute to productivity or
creation of wealth.  They only generate dependency on one side and deprivation on the other.
None of the other issues in these negotiations remotely compares to the impact that the
reform of agriculture can have on the alleviation of poverty and the promotion of development.  This
awareness was what brought together a large number of developing countries of different sizes,
from different regions and with different economic structures.  These nations, who account for more
than half of humankind are united around the cause of agricultural reform.
The G-21 proposal asks for the full implementation of the Doha mandate in the three pillars
of agricultural reform.  At the same time, the proposal incorporates legitimate development
concerns and the need for special and differential treatment.  These objectives are not contradictory.
They are mutually supportive.  The simple fact that this proposal was made has already altered
profoundly the correlation of forces in our Organization.  I am convinced that it will be instrumentalin bringing nearer the reform we have been speaking about for so long but that we have been unable
to accomplish so far.
This Cancún meeting can be a historic turning point.  As OXFAM and others have
recognized, we have now the opportunity to bring social demands from the streets into theConference hall.
The countries that have presented the proposal represent over 63 per cent of the world's
farmers.  Our proposed framework incorporates significant negotiating positions.  It has been
carefully designed, technically as well as politically.  It cannot be ignored.  Already we see new
dynamics, which hopefully can lead to real negotiations.
For Brazil, agriculture and development are central to the success of the Round.  But they
are not our only concerns.  We participate actively in all areas of the negotiations and are prepared
to make contributions to their success, in a manner that is consistent with our development needs.
We are ready to engage with our partners with a view to the fulfilling of the Doha mandate.
Let us show to the world that the WTO will resist protectionism and overcome special interest.
That it will stand up for trade liberalization and live up to its commitment to development.  We
have waited for many years for this chance to redress the shortcomings of previous Rounds.  We
now have it in our hands.  We, in the G-21, are organized for that purpose.  We stand united, we
will remain united.  We sincerely hope that others will hear our message and, instead of confrontingus or trying to divide us, will join forces in our endeavour to inject new life into the multilateral
trading system.  To bring it closer to the needs and aspirations of those who have been at its
margins - indeed the vast majority - those who have not had the chance to reap the fruit of their
toils.  It is high time to change this reality.  This should be the spirit of Cancún.
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