WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/25
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2010)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: English
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
IRELAND
Statement Circulated byMr.TomKitt,
Minister forTrade
This, thesecond Ministerial Conference oftheWorld Trade Organization, andthefirsttotake
place attheHeadquarters oftheOrganization, hasbeenlabelled a“transition ”Conference. Itcomes
just17months afterthehighly successful firstConference inSingapore inDecember 1996andperhaps
asomewhat similar period before thethirdConference where Ihopetoseethesuccessful launch of
anewcomprehensive round oftrade liberalization.
Although ourmeeting maybedescribed astransitional itistaking place ataveryimportant
timeinthehistory ofthemultilateral trading system. During theweek wewillbecommemorating
the50thAnniversary ofthesystem. Itisanappropriate occasion therefore toreflect onprogress in
trade liberalization overthelastfiftyyears andtolookforward tohowthesystem might contribute
totheprosperity ofthepeoples ofallmembers andprospective members oftheWorld Trade
Organization.
Notwithstanding thefactthattheperiod since thefirstConference inSingapore wasexpected
toberelatively uneventful, itwasmarked byanumber ofimportant developments which further
strengthened themultilateral system. Since Singapore wehavewitnessed thesuccessful conclusion
ofmultilateral negotiations onBasic Telecommunications andFinancial Services. Theplurilateral
agreement onInformation Technology which wasconcluded inSingapore hasbeendeveloped and
expandedinmembership,andnegotiationsarewelladvancedforthefurtherstrengtheningandbroadening
oftheagreement.
Following from thedecision oftheSingapore Conference, 1997 sawsubstantial progress in
developing theIntegrated Action Programme infavour oftheLeast Developed Countries andtheholding
inOctober 1997 oftheHigh-Level Meeting onLDCs.
These arebutsome oftheveryrecent events inbuilding upthestructure ofanall-embracing
multilateral trading system. Aswereflect onthepast50years ofgrowth ofthesystem wemust
acknowledge theinput made byourpredecessors inpainstakingly creating thesolid system thatwe
haveinplace today. Extremely dedicated people havedevoted anenormous amount ofenergy and
intellect inputting together thecomponents ofasystem thatisstanding thetestoftimeverywelland
isproviding asolidandsecure foundation forever-expanding economic development. Inits“Statement
ofNational Trade Policy ”published earlier thisyear, theIrish Government hasreaffirmed its
commitment tothecontinuing liberalization oftheworld trading system under theauspices oftheWTO.
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Oneofthemostimportant components inthissystem istheDispute Settlement Understanding.
Inarelativelyshortperiodoftimeithasproveditselfasaneffectiveadjudicationmechanisminclarifying
andresolving awiderange ofdisputes. Thewillingness ofMembers toresolve theirdifferences through
thisimpartial mechanism hasgreatly strengthened theauthority ofthisorganization andtheprimacy
ofthemultilateral trading system.
Lookingtothefuture,amajortaskfortheWorldTradeOrganizationistoensurethatitcontinues
tomake avitalcontribution toenhancing growth, prosperity, jobs,animproved environment andbetter
living andworking conditions throughout theworld. Ibelieve thatfurther broad based liberalization
within theWTO framework willdothat.
Iampleased attheprogress thathasbeenmade since Singapore intheworking groups set
uptoexamine Investment, Competition andTransparency inPublic Procurement. Ilookforward to
thereports which willcome fromthese Working Groups andtothesubsequent discussions astohow
theWTO should address these issues. Likewise withTrade Facilitation, which issoimportant in
ensuring thatthebenefits oftrade liberalization willaccrue tobusiness andconsumers. Therecent
symposium onthesubject has,Ibelieve, shown theimportance ofaddressing thetopic ofTrade
Facilitation intheWTO. Ontheimportant question ofcorelabour standards, alsoraised inSingapore,
Ilookforward tosignificant progress being made attheInternational Labour Conference tobeheld
inGeneva nextmonth.
Theprogramme ofwork agreed atSingapore, together withthepre-existing “built-in ”agenda,
means thattheOrganization hasaveryfullworkload andIcansympathise withthose Members,
particularlytheleastdevelopedcountries,whoexperiencerealdifficultiesincopingwiththecommitments
ofexisting agreements, andfinditextremely difficult tocontemplate taking onnewobligations.
Along withmyfellow EUcolleagues, Iamfullycommitted toworking constructively with
developing countries whorequire technical orother assistance soastoensure fullandtimely
implementation ofcommitments undertaken intheURAgreements.
Thegenuine needs andproblems oftheleastdeveloped countries must berecognised and
appropriate stepstaken toensure agreater integration ontheirpartintothemultilateral system. Iwould
strongly support thecallonalldeveloped Members ofWTO totakeappropriate measures toincrease
market access toproducts originating inthese countries. Themore advanced developing countries
should dolikewise, andIbelieve there aremany whocould doso.
Notwithstanding thefactthattheWTO hasaverysubstantial workload based onthe“built-in ”
agenda andtheSingapore decisions, Ibelieve thattheOrganization must continue topushoutthe
boundaries oftrade liberalization. Looking backoverthe50years ofGATT, wecanseehowmuch
thegradual building ofthesystem hascontributed toeconomic prosperity, evenifnotasuniversally
enjoyed asonewould wish.
Ibelieve theWTO muststrive forgreater liberalization inorder toachieve thedesire weall
haveofseeing continuing andshared global economic growth. Ifullysupport therefore thecallsof
many Members forthewaytobecleared toenable decisions tobetaken when wenextmeetineighteen
months orsotoembark oncomprehensive multilateral negotiations which willresult inevengreater
trade liberalization tothebenefit ofall.
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