WORLD TRADE WT/FIFTY/H/ST/13
19May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2094)
50thANNIVERSARY Original: English
Geneva, 19May1998
SOUTH AFRICA
Statement byH.E. Mr.Nelson Mandela,
President
Today 'sauspicious occasion isrichwiththeironies ofthelatter halfoftheTwentieth Century.
Astheinternational community painstakingly assembled aneworder amidst thedevastation
ofawarfought foruniversal principles offreedom, therewerejusttwocountries ofAfrica thatsigned
theoriginal GATT Agreement.
They were Southern Rhodesia andtheUnion ofSouth Africa, today Zimbabwe andthe
Republic ofSouth Africa.
Atthattimebothwerecomponents oftheBritish Empire indiffering stages ofcolonial rule.
Weneednotdwell onwhytheyinparticular entered theGATT. Wedoknow thatthepeoples
ofAfrica were notconsulted.
Iandthevastmajority ofSouth Africans hadnovoteandwerecompletely excluded fromany
suchdecisions.
ThethenGovernment inSouth Africa expressed itself asparty toacollective recognition, in
theintroduction tothe1947 agreement, that,
"relations inthefieldoftrade andeconomic endeavour should beconducted withaviewto
raising standards ofliving, ensuring fullemployment andalargeandsteadily growing volume
ofrealincome andeffective demand, developing thefulluseoftheresources oftheworld and
expanding theproduction andexchange ofgoods."
These noble sentiments would havehadouragreement then, astheydonow.
What issopainful isthattheywerenotrealised inmycountry -norforourcontinent orindeed
formost ofhumanity.
InSouth Africa 'scaseittookanother 47years ofstruggle before therewasademocratic election.
Inthose 47years South Africa traded extensively, andprovided anobject lesson, ifsuchwere
needed, thattrade doesnotofitself andinitself bring abetter world.
Yetoverthose same47years theinternational community came toinsist withincreasing vigour
thatfreedom isindivisible.WT/FIFTY/H/ST/13
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They identified withouraspirations andhelped usachieve them. Together wewere ableto
struggle foragreater andjustcause.
Today, Iamproud tobeabletoaddress youasthePresident ofafreeanddemocratic Republic
ofSouth Africa, andastherepresentative ofoneofmany African members oftheWTO.
Freedom hasbrought South Africa thechance toachieve abetter lifeforallourpeople, through
ourReconstruction andDevelopment Programme.
AsapartofthisProgramme wearestrengthening ourengagement withtheWTO because of
itsimportance tooureconomy andthatofSouthern Africa.
Incommemorating the50thAnniversary oftheGATT, therefore, South Africa chooses tolook
forward rather thandealwiththeimperfections ofthepast.
Butinseeking tobuild abetter future weignore thelessons ofthepastatourperil.
Though international trade andinvestment havealways been anintegral partoftheworld
economy, theextent towhich allparties havebenefited hasdepended onthecircumstances inwhich
theyhavetaken place.
Thecurrent process ofglobalization isnoexception.
Theextent towhich allcountries benefit willdepend onhowwe,theMember States actin
concert toshape theprocesses.
Inthe50years oftheGATT wehavesurely learnt enough -despite thedefacto exclusion of
many, many developing countries -tovastly improve onthemanagement oftheworld trading system
tothemutual benefit ofallnations andpeople.
Wearefirmly ofthebelief thattheexistence oftheGATT, andnowtheWorld Trade
Organization, asarules-based system, provides thefoundation onwhich ourdeliberations canbuild
inorder toimprove.
However, torealize theaspirations ofallrequires wisework tobedone.
TheWTO cameintoexistence precisely asaresponse totheneedforamoreeffective regulatory,
supervisory andenforcement environment forworld trade andinvestment thantheGATT could then
provide.
Butnowwecanseethatthesuccess ofthesystem agreed toinMarrakesh in1994willdepend
onthewisdom withwhich itisimplemented andtaken forward.
Inmaking acomplex point itisnatural tofallbackonone'sownexperience, andIhopeyou
willpermit metodoso.
South Africans fought ahorrifying abuse ofpower andweredetermined thatitshould never
happen again.
Wetherefore elected tobegoverned byaconstitution -ineffect arules based system -that
must protect allinequal measure.WT/FIFTY/H/ST/13
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Butwecould notforget thattheinjustice anddiscrimination thatwefought against hashad
deep-seated structural effects.
Ifourconstitution wasblind tothereality ofinequality andhistorical imbalances thatprevent
equal access toopportunity; thenitwould become asource ofbothactual andperceived injustice.
Rules mustbeapplied without fearorfavour, butiftheycontain prescriptions thatcannot be
complied withbyall,oriftheresults benefit toofew,theninjustice willemerge.
Then itisprudent toremember thatnoamount ofrulesortheirenforcement willdefeat those
whostruggle withjustice ontheirside.
Thattooispartofourexperience andtheexperience ofpeople everywhere.
Where therearemanifest inequalities when therulesareintroduced thenspecial andthoughtful
measures havetobeapplied.
Thiscareatthebeginning willpromote theconditions thatwillsustain andnurture arules-based
system.
Wemust befrank inourassessment oftheoutcome oftheUruguay Round.
Thedeveloping countries werenotabletoensure thattherulesaccommodated theirrealities.
Forunderstandable reasons itwasmainly thepreoccupations andproblems oftheadvanced
industrial economies thatshaped theagreement.
Thesections dealing withthedeveloping countries andtheleast-developed countries werenot
adequately thought through.
Norhavetheybeenfullyimplemented.
Wealready havetheelements ofananswer totheproblem: inthemechanism ofanextension
oftimefordeveloping countries tocomply; andinrecent improvements inthecapacity oftheWTO
togivetechnical assistance incooperation withother multilateral agencies.
Butthisisnotyetthefullanswer.
What exactly canbedone?
Wemust startbyareaffirmation thatthebuilding ofamultilateral rules-based system is
fundamentally correct.
Powerful economies muststopapplying unilateral measures andthedeveloping countries must
negotiate theirspecific needs within thisframework.
Rules arerespected when theyareabove expediency, inperception andinpractice.
Thedeveloping countries should nowgiveleadership tothedevelopment ofapositive agenda
thatfullyaddresses theirneeds.WT/FIFTY/H/ST/13
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Indoing sotheycanbuild onwork donesince theSingapore Conference tointegrate thework
ofthemultilateral institutions.
Theyneedtodefine precisely those areasthatareobstacles totheirprogress intheworld trading
system.
Freemarket access fortheLDCs should nolonger betheissuedebated. Itisrather thepractical
effects ofimplementing thisthatneedtobeincorporated intothemultilateral system.
IftheWTO isusedtodefend thecurrent patterns ofproduction itwillfail.
Many developing countries haveaclear comparative advantage inagriculture andtextiles.
Newcompetitive advantages inmanufactured products arebeing developed.
These advantages willbethebasis fordevelopment.
TheWTO must beabletofacilitate these changes inworld production andnotbeusedasa
means torevert toprotection.
Thepaceofevents israpidandreality requires ustoaddress theso-called newissues, particularly
asnewpressing matters willemerge andareemerging.
Butonlyifthere isconfidence inthesystem willallparties feelcomfortable doing so.
Itistherefore imperative thatwebuild confidence inthesystem.
Itwould beunwise toignore theincreased frustration ofordinary people, ortoconfuse patience
which isexercised inorder toensure anadvance, withreluctance tocomply.
These arecomplex matters, andindealing withsuchmatters there arenoeasysolutions.
Butwhere there isadetermination tofindjoint, negotiated solutions thenthere isaway.
South Africa isprepared toplayitspartinhelping develop apositive anddetailed agenda for
thenextMinisterial Meeting sothatthechallenge oferadicating anddefeating underdevelopment is
fullyaddressed.
Webelieve thatcooperation withtheWTO, UNCTAD, ILO,UNDP, theWorld Bank andthe
IMFisessential.
Wemusthaveanopenandfrank dialogue todefine theseparate andcombined rolesofthese
veryimportant multilateral institutions.
There canbenorefusal todiscuss matters suchaslabour standards, social issues andthe
environment, butequally allmust beprepared tolisten carefully before judgements aremade.
Ifdeveloping countries feelthatthere isnothing togainexcept further burdens, thenitwill
prove difficult todealwiththese crucial matters.
Ladies andgentlemen;WT/FIFTY/H/ST/13
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Fifty years ago,when thefounders oftheGATT evoked thelinkbetween trade, growth and
abetter life,fewcould haveforeseen suchpoverty, homelessness andunemployment astheworld now
knows.
Fewwouldhaveimaginedthattheexploitationoftheworld'sabundantresourcesandaprodigious
growth inworld trade would haveseenthegapbetween richandpoorwidening.
Andfewcould haveanticipated theburden ofdebtonmany poornations.
Aswecelebrate whathasbeenachieved inshaping theworld trading system, letusresolve
toleave nostone unturned inworking together toensure thatourshared principles areeverywhere
translated intoreality.
Asweenterthenewmillennium, letusforge apartnership fordevelopment through trade and
investment.
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