WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/6
9December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5153)
Original: French MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
INTRODUCTION OFTHE REPORT OFTHE GENERAL COUNCIL
Statement byH.E. Mr.William Rossier
Chairman oftheGeneral Council
TheactivitiesoftheWorldTradeOrganizationduring1995werethesubjectofareportsubmitted
attheendoflastyear. TheGeneral Council examined thatreport lastDecember, andIshalltherefore
refrain from referring toit,withafewexceptions, during thisshort introduction.
With regard to1996, theGeneral Council adopted itsReport totheMinisterial Conference
on13November. TheReport describes theactivities relating totheimplementation oftheAgreements
bythevarious working bodies oftheWorld Trade Organization in1996. Inmost cases itcontains
information about thefuture work ofthebodies concerned.
Ishould liketomake afewbriefcomments ontwoelements ofthework oftheGeneral Council
in1996:
- Firstly, thefunctioning oftheOrganization; and
- secondly, thepreparatory work fortheMinisterial Conference which hasbrought you
heretoSingapore today.
Tobegin with, thefunctioning oftheWTO.
Asyouareallaware, thesetting upofanewinternational organization necessarily callsfor
theworking outofinstitutional arrangements. Despite theefforts made, itwasnotpossible tocomplete
thiswork in1995. Inthecourse of1996, theGeneral Council managed toputthefinishing touches
totheOrganization 'sinstitutional arrangements, withtheexception ofasingle issue towhich Ishall
return later.
Thus, theGeneral Council adopted anumber ofdecisions aimed atfurthering cooperation with
theintergovernmental andnon-governmental international organizations concerned bythework ofthe
WTO. TheGeneral Council alsotooksteps tomake theWTO 'sactivities more transparent.
Pursuant toitsmandate under theMarrakesh Agreements, theGeneral Council lastmonth
approved thedraftagreements oncooperation between theWTO, theInternational Monetary Fund
andtheWorld Bank. Asamatter offact,theagreement between theWTO andtheIMFwillbesigned
thisverydaybytheDirector-General oftheWTO andtheManaging Director oftheIMF. These
agreementssupplementthecooperationarrangementsalreadyagreedwithotherinternationalorganizations
suchastheUN,UNCTAD andtheWorld Intellectual Property Organization.WT/MIN(96)/6
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Meeting astheDispute Settlement Body, theGeneral Council hashelped toensure effective
implementation oftheDispute Settlement Understanding. Andmeeting astheTrade Policy Review
Body, theGeneral Council hasensured greater transparency andbetter understanding oftradepolicies
andpractices, encouraging members toobserve more closely therules, disciplines andundertakings
setoutintheAgreements.
SincetheentryintoforceoftheWTOAgreement,majorresourceshavebeendevotedtobringing
newmembers intotheWTO. FourStates haveconcluded theiraccession negotiations, namely Ecuador,
Bulgaria, Mongolia andPanama.
Inaddition, theGeneral Council hasestablished 28working parties toexamine theapplications
foraccession thathavebeensubmitted. These applications come fromdeveloping economies, including
least-developed countries, butabove allfromeconomies intransition. Some other States haveindicated
thattheyintend toapply foraccession shortly.
Several working parties, perhaps sixoreight, maywellconclude theirwork inthecoming
months.
TheWTO hasthusadvanced onitswaytowards universality. Every effort should bemade
byMembers toaccelerate these negotiations andtodetermine theindividual terms ofaccession as
expeditiously aspossible.
Owing totheincreasing influence ofregional tradeagreements ontraderelations among WTO
Members, theGeneral Council hassetupanewworking body bothtoimprove theorganization of
work inthisareaandalsotoprovide aforum within theWTO inwhich theconsequences forthe
multilateral trading system ofthegrowing number ofregional tradeagreements andregional initiatives
maybeexamined. ThisCommittee isalready hardatwork.
There isoneissue, however, onwhich theGeneral Council wasunable tocomplete itswork,
namely, thesalaries, pensions andotherconditions ofservice oftheOrganization 'sstaff. Itisregrettable
thatthiswasnotpossible despite theintensive efforts made. Asaresult, theDirector-General has
notyetbeenableto"appoint themembers ofthestaffoftheSecretariat". Pursuant toitsowndecision,
theGeneral Council willhavetoreach aconclusion onthisissue bytheendofJune1997.
Thepreparations fortheSingapore Ministerial Conference werenaturally another major focus
ofthework oftheGeneral Council during 1996. TheGeneral Council 'sconcern wastoensure that
theOrganization 'sfirstMinisterial Conference should havethebestpossible basis forreviewing the
activities oftheWTO.
Firstofall,itunanimously elected youasChairman oftheMinisterial Conference; andas
Vice-Chairmen, Mr.Enda Kenny, Minister forTourism andTrade ofIreland, Mr.Alvaro Ramos,
Minister ofForeign Affairs ofUruguay, andMr.Mondher Zenaïdi, Minister ofTrade ofTunisia.
AsearlyasApril, theGeneral Council hadmade itspreparatory arrangements fortheMinisterial
Conference, geared totwomain areas:
- TheOrganization 'svarious working bodies wererequested toprepare reports ontheir
activities withaviewtotheMinisterial Conference, onthebasis oftheirtasks under
theUruguay Round Agreements; and
- theDirector-General wasinvited tochair informal meetings ofHeads ofDelegation
inorder toprepare fortheMinisterial Conference.WT/MIN(96)/6
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ForMinisters, there aretwoelements ofthereport before youwhich haveaparticular status:
- TheGeneral Council proposes thattheMinisterial Conference should adopt the
WTO PlanofAction fortheLeast-Developed Countries. ThisPlanofAction was
drawn upbytheCommittee onTrade andDevelopment;
- pursuant tothemandate given byMinisters atMarrakesh, thereport oftheCommittee
onTrade andEnvironment issubmitted totheMinisterial Conference forits
consideration.
Iwishtotakethisopportunity toexpress heremysincere gratitude totheChairpersons ofthe
WTO working bodies fortheireffort, theirdetermination andtheircompetence. Wewereabletoachieve
what wedidachieve thanks tothespirit ofcooperation which thedelegations themselves displayed
atalltimes intheirwork. Itisthanks tothisspirit that,byconsensus, during thefirsttwoyears of
itsexistence theWTO hasreally beentheoutstanding instrument ofinternational economic cooperation
thatitsMembers intended thatitshould beatMarrakesh. Andfinally, lastbutnotleast, Iwishto
thank most warmly theDirector-General oftheWTO, MrRenato Ruggiero, forhisdecisive action
andforthespirit ofclose andconstant cooperation hehasimparted toourrelations throughout this
yearofwork bytheGeneral Council andtheWorld Trade Organization asawhole.