WORLD TRADE WT/GC/8
11February 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0509)
Original: English GENERAL COUNCIL
7February 1997
COMMEMORATION OFTHE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF
THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM
Statement byCanada
Delegations willrecall thatCanada 'sMinister forInternational Trade, theHonourable Art
Eggleton, proposed paragraph 23oftheSingapore Ministerial Declaration, which instructs the
General Council toconsider howthehistoric event ofthe50thanniversary ofthemultilateral
trading system canbestbecommemorated.
Canada isproposing ameeting atMinisterial leveltocommemorate the50thanniversary.
Minister Eggleton made theproposal hedidattheSingapore Ministerial because he
thought itimportant thatthere beagreater public understanding ofthefundamental contribution
thatthemultilateral trading system hasmade toeconomic growth andprosperity. Inthelastfour
decades, world trade increased 15-fold, reaching over$US6,000 billion in1995. Inthesame
period, global production hasincreased byonly6times. More andmore countries arefinding
boththeircurrent prosperity andtheirfuture economic hopes dependent ontheglobal
marketplace.
These trends toglobalization havebeenledbytechnological change buttheyhavebeen
greatly facilitated andaccelerated bypolicy changes ofarevolutionary character. Market-oriented
reforms predominate informer communist states; inthedeveloping world, themarket hasmoved
totheforeandbasing development onimport substitution hasbeenlargely abandoned. Theclose
to30countries thatareintheprocess ofacceding totheWTO attest tothenature ofthese reforms
andtheimportance these countries attach tothemultilateral trading system asameans ofsecuring
economic growth andprosperity.
TheCommemoration presents anidealopportunity tohighlight tothepublic the
importance ofthemultilateral trading system toeconomic growth andprosperity. Aparticular
point tobeemphasized istheintegration ofdeveloping countries asfullandactive participants in
theworld trading system. However, weshould alsoreflect onwhysome Members oftheWTO,
particularly theleastdeveloped, havenotyetshared inthebenefits ofanopentrading system. In
addition tolooking backatwhatwehaveachieved, thecommemoration should alsolookforward
tothechallenges before us,including theincreased interdependence between themultilateral
trading system anddomestic economic policies. Members mayalsowishtoconsider possible
domestic parallel programs toraisetheprofile ofthemultilateral trading system withtheirpublics.
Inconsidering possible approaches tothe50thanniversary commemoration, wehave
looked athowourorganization, thentheGATT withits95members, commemorated its40th
anniversary. TheGATT organized ahighlevelroundtable todiscuss where theGATT andworld
trade were heading, inthecontext oftheearly daysoftheUruguay Round. There wasno
Ministerial Declaration noranyMinisterial Decisions.WT/GC/8
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Wemaywanttoconsider utilizing asimilar format butthiswillneedfurther discussion.
Perhaps theDGcanbeasked tocome upwithsome ideas andproposals fordiscussion among
delegations. Mydelegation thinks thatitwould beagood ideatobuild some private sector
involvement intothe50thanniversary commemoration, possibly intheform ofsome setof
parallel activities.
Wealsohavebeenguided inourthinking byourrecent experience oftheSingapore
Ministerial Conference. While webelieve thattheConference wasextremely important in
reconfirming thecommitment ofallWTO Members totheBuilt-In Agenda aswellasinsetting
ourcourse forwork innewareas suchastrade andinvestment, wedonotseethenextMinisterial
Conference ofourorganization asrequiring thesame preparation oroutput. Wearecurrently ina
period when wewillbepreparing fornewnegotiations attheendofthedecade. Inthenexttwo
years, ourfocus should beimplementation oftheWTO Agreements andpreparatory work forthe
upcoming negotiations. Wedonotneedfurther political direction onimplementation and
preparations atthistime. ThenextMinisterial Conference should rather beastocktaking ofwhere
westand withrespect tothepoints reflected intheSingapore Ministerial Declaration, along witha
discussion ofhowtoimprove andadapt theWTO tothechallenges ofthenextmillenium. This
vision ofthenextMinisterial Conference would notinvolve aMinisterial Declaration norany
Ministerial decisions.
Forthisreason, wewould propose tocombine a50thanniversary meeting withthenext
biennial meeting oftheMinisterial Conference. Inourview, thiswould serve twoimportant
functions. First, theCommemoration andrelated biennial Ministerial Conference should provide
anopportunity toreflect upon theWTO asaninstitution andwhere theWTO isheading,
including under thissecond point issues ofuniversal membership aswellasparticular trade issues.
Thenature ofglobalization oftrade, investment andtechnology flows andtheirdramatic
acceleration overthelast10years makes suchreflection particularly important. Asweapproach
thenextmillennium, wewillneedtoconsider howthemultilateral trading system continues to
adapt andtoadjust tothechallenges weface.
Secondly, while wethink thatastocktaking nextyearwould bevaluable, wedonotwant
preparation ofsuchanevent toparalyse theimportant, although often routine, work thatgoeson
thestanding bodies oftheWTO. Itisourfrank assessment thatthepreparations fortheSingapore
Ministerial Conference were extremely time-intensive andsometimes overly politicized, thereby
detracting from theimportant day-to-day work ofourorganization. Wedonotwanttoseethis
happen again. Wehaveenough substance onourplatearising from theSingapore Ministerial
Conference interms ofthebuilt-in agenda andthefurther issues wehaveagreed todiscuss; wedo
nothavetheluxury ofapreparatory process thatwould distract usfrom getting onwithour
ongoing important work.
Forthisreason webelieve thatashort, one-two day,50thanniversary celebration, back-
to-back withaonedaybiennial Ministerial Conference, would bethepreferred format. Ashort
focussed commemoration oninstitutional issues back-to-back withanequally short stocktaking
Ministerial Conference would notentail thesame sortofpreparations astheSingapore Ministerial
Conference, yetwould serve thetwoobjectives thatIhaveoutlined above.
While itmayseem soontosome WTO Members tostartthinking already about a50th
anniversary celebration andthenextbiennial Ministerial Conference, barely twomonths afterthe
Singapore Conference, wedonotactually haveagreat dealoftimetodecide onourapproach,
given thefactthat1998 willmark the50thanniversary ofthemultilateral trading system.
Moreover, from alogistics point ofview, bothinterms ofMinisterial schedules aswellas
booking localfacilities suchashotel rooms, wewillneedtoagree ondates nolaterthanMarch.WT/GC/8
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Canada 'sinitial thinking favours holding the50thanniversary celebration andthebiennial
Ministerial Conference inthefirsthalfof1998. Thiswould onceagain reinforce thestocktaking
aspects oftheMinisterial andallow theappropriate focus oninstitutional issues, while not
detracting from theimportant work wehaveagreed toundertake.
Mr.Chairman, wearepleased tohaveshared withother Members ourpreliminary views
onhowwemight commemorate the50thanniversary ofthemultilateral trading system. The
success ofthemultilateral trading system overthepast50years reflects thefactthatcountries
haveviewed trade liberalization andrule-making asessential totheirownnational economic
objectives. WeasMembers share acommon viewthatthemultilateral trading system remains at
leastasrelevant today asitdid50years agotothese objectives. TheCommemoration ofthe50th
Anniversary presents anidealopportunity tohelpourpublics understand howthecontinued
evolution ofthemultilateral trading system canandwillcontribute totheirnational aspirations,
andhowthese aspirations aresomething thatagrowing number ofnations share.
Welookforward tofurther discussions onhowtoensure thattheCommemoration both
celebrates thepastwhile preparing thewayforthefuture.