WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/14
9December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5200)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: Spanish
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
MEXICO
Statement byDr.Herminio Blanco Mendoza
Minister ofForeign Trade andIndustrial Development
Itisagreat honour formetoparticipate onbehalf ofMexico inthis,thefirstMinisterial
Conference oftheWorld Trade Organization.
Much hashappened inthenigh-on twoyears since thisOrganization began itswork. World
trade, driven bytheliberalization agreed intheUruguay Round, continues tobeoneofthemainengines
ofeconomic growth.
WTO 'snewdispute settlement mechanism, oneofthemostimportant results oftheUruguay
Round, hassuccessfully passed itsfirsttests. Judging bytheinitial results, weareachieving theintended
objective ofgreater certainty andfairness intheapplication ofmultilateral trade rules.
Inmycountry, theentry intoforce ofourUruguay Round commitments inJanuary 1995
coincided withtheworst economic crisis inthehistory ofmodern Mexico. Inthose difficult times,
notonlydidMexico notflinch fromfulfilling itsmultilateral obligations, butitsprompt implementation
ofthose obligations proved apowerful allyindealing withthecrisis andachieving arapid return to
thepathofsustained andstable growth.
Incommon withthemajority ofMembers, Mexico believes thatthisConference should focus
itsattention onensuring theimplementation oftheUruguay Round Agreements andtheearlyresumption
andconclusion ofthesuspended negotiations onservices, inparticular telecommunications, financial
services andprofessional services, andondiscussing ofthework programme toenable ustobuild
abetter organization which willcontinue topromote thewelfare ofourpeoples byexpanding trade
andinvestment flows.
However, whatwedecide inrelation totheso-called newissues willhaveapowerful impact
onthefuture oftheWTO andinternational trade. Whatever wedecide must beconsistent withthe
WTO 'sraison d'être:thepromotion ofworld trade. There arefivesubjects inparticular which I
would likebriefly tofocus on:(a)therelationship between trade andtheenvironment; (b)the
relationship between tradeandcompetition policies; (c)tradeandlabour standards; (d)multilateralism
andregionalism; and(e)theprogressive liberalization ofinternational trade.
(a) Therelationship between trade andtheenvironment
Oneoftherelatively newissues intheWTO 'swork programme istherelationship between
trade andtheenvironment. Mexico, incommon withthecountries gathered heretoday, hasagreat
interest inprotecting theenvironment andpromoting sustainable development. Economic analysis
andtheavailable empirical evidence suggest thatthebestcontribution thattheWTO canmake to
improving theenvironment istohelpachieve higheconomic growth ratesthrough theliberalization
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oftrade. Accordingly, Mexico considers thatusing trademeasures toachieve environmental objectives
isnotonlyinefficient butalsodangerous, sinceitwould certainly giverisetotheiruseforprotectionist
purposes.
(b) Trade andcompetition policies
Thereduction intariffs andtheelimination ofnon-tariff barriers asaresult ofeight multilateral
traderounds havebeenreflected inanunprecedented expansion inworld trade. Today, however, there
isariskofthebenefits ofthisliberalization being reduced bytheabuse ofanti-dumping legislation.
Thatlegislation, supposedly intended toprevent unfair trading practices, isincreasingly being used
toreplace thetradeprotection which ittooksomuch hardnegotiation toeliminate. Mexico cantherefore
agree totheinitiation within theWTO ofawork programme tostudy therelationship between trade
andcompetition which would include initsterms ofreference ananalysis ofthereplacement ofanti-
dumpingmeasuresbycompetitionpolicieswhichensureaccesstomarketsunderstable,sureandenduring
conditions.
(c) Labour standards andtrade
Ontheissueoflabour standards, Mexico isconvinced thattheonlyappropriate forum todeal
withthisissueistheInternational Labour Organization (ILO) which hasthebenefit oftheaccumulated
experience ofdecades ofparticipation byworkers 'andemployers 'associations. Thatiswhere we
must work toensure thatcountries which havenotyetdone soratify theoutstanding conventions.
ThebestwaythattheWTO canhelptoraisepeople 'sliving standards around theworld isbypromoting
economic development through increased international trade. Raising theissueoflabour intheWTO
could provide anexcuse forusing trade measures forprotectionist purposes.
(d) Regionalism andmultilateralism
Therelationship between regionalism andthemultilateral tradesystem isbecoming more and
more relevant asthenumber andscope ofregional initiatives grow. Mexico isconvinced, from its
ownexperience, thatregionalism isaveryimportant partner inachieving greater global liberalization,
andthatthemultilateral trade system should beasambitious astheregional agreements.
Thefundamental objective oftheWTO isaglobal freetradesystem. Inouropinion, therecent
creation oftheCommittee onRegional Trade Agreements should notonlyensure thattheagreements
meetthecorresponding obligations under theWTO, butshould helpustowork towards asystem like
theonethatIhavejustmentioned. Iftrade istoflowfreely, multilateralism must beasambitious
asregionalism.
(e) Progressive liberalization ofinternational trade
Recognizing theimportance ofcontinuing theprocess ofeconomic liberalization, mycountry
firmly believes thatitisappropriate toinclude negotiation ofalltariffs onindustrial products inthe
"hidden agenda" and,iftheother Members oftheWTO areprepared todoso,Mexico could also
accelerate itstariffreductions agreed intheUruguay Round. Inthisconnection, Mexico supports the
negotiation ofanagreement oninformation technology products, always provided thatthereisflexibility
indefining therange ofproducts andthetimescale fortariff reduction andthatthegreat majority of
WTO Members participate.
Lastly, Ishould liketopaytribute tothemagnificent work done, overmore thanayear, by
theGovernment andpeople ofSingapore andpersonally byourAmphitryon, Singapore 'sMinister
ofTrade, YeoCheow Tong, inorganizing thisfirstMinisterial Conference.