WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(03)/12 
10 September 2003 
 (03-4726) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Fifth Session Cancún, 10 - 14 September 2003 Original:   English/ 
 French/  Spanish 
 
  
UNITED NATIONS 
 
MESSAGE OF THE UN SECRETARY-GENERAL, MR. KOFI ANNAN 
 
Delivered by Mr. Rubens Ricupero, Secretary-General,
 
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development  
 
 
 The rhetoric of global trade is filled with promise.  
  We are told that free trade brings opportunity for all people, not just a fortunate few.    We are told that it can provide a ladder to a better life, and deliverance from poverty and despair.  
 
 And we are led to hope that the current round of trade negotiations will deliver on this 
promise.   Sadly, the reality of the international trading system today does not match the rhetoric. 
 
 Instead of open markets, there are too many barriers that stunt, stifle and starve.    Instead of fair competition, there are subsidi es by rich countries that tilt the playing field 
against the poor.  
 And instead of global rules negotiated by all, in th e interest of all, and adhered to by all, there 
is too much closed-door decision-making, too much protection of special interests, and too many broken promises.   The issues are often technical, and do not us ually lend themselves to dramatic television 
coverage, like war or extreme weather.  But let th ere be no doubt: the damage is profound, and the 
victims can be counted in the billions.   They include poor farmers who, instead of bei ng able to trade their way out of poverty, are 
driven out of business by trade barriers, or penaliz ed with new barriers when, against considerable 
odds, they become successful. 
  They include the sick and the dying, whose suffering has been needlessly prolonged by lack 
of access to affordable, life-saving medicines.   And let us not forget the enormous opportunity  cost: millions of jobs, and hundreds of billions 
of dollars in income, could be created with just a few reasonable steps that governments have so far 
been unwilling to take.  WT/MIN(03)/12 
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  The answer is not
 to turn our backs on the potential of open markets. That would be 
disastrous.     After all, the World Trade Organization, a nd its predecessor, the General Agreement on 
Tariffs and Trade, have helped to bring the worl d a remarkable half-century of economic progress. 
 
 But too many countries have been left on th e margins.  A system that was meant to be 
mutually beneficial sometimes seems more like a zero-sum game.   Far from being empowered, the fisherman in Vi etnam, the cotton-grower in Burkina Faso, 
and the indigenous cultivator of medicinal herbs in Brazil are being held down.  
  The answer is to unleash their potential.  Just  as we need to improve the multilateral security
 
framework, so we must rebuild faith in the multilateral trade  framework.  Without progress now, 
today’s bitterness may well beco me tomorrow’s backlash.  
 
 We cannot solve all these problems here at Cancun.  But we must make a start.   An important step has already been taken on the issue of intellectual property and public 
health. I welcome the recent agreement on a mech anism to give developing countries which cannot 
produce cheap generic drugs the right to import th em from other countries which can.  We must now 
make sure that the agreed system  is flexibly implemented, so that developing countries can gain 
access to medicines. This is a moral imperative.  I urge all concerned to s upport developing countries 
– including with technical and legal assistance – so  that they can make maximum use of the agreed 
mechanism to address their public health concerns. 
 
 But if the result here at Cancun is to be consid ered credible, we must tackle the broader issue 
of trade in agricultural products – an issue that can  be economically decisive for many countries.  We 
must
 eliminate the subsidies that push prices dow n and make it impossible for poor farmers in 
developing countries to compete.   Those who press poor countries to open their ma rkets may indeed have those countries’ best 
interests at heart.  But can we be  surprised that poor countries are reluctant to take them seriously, 
when they find the markets of rich countries still cl osed to their products, and when they have to 
compete at home, and in the world market, agai nst subsidized products from those same rich 
countries?  
 
 These barriers and subsidies in developed countries must
 be phased out, as fast as possible, 
for the sake of humanity.   To do so is in the interests of rich and poor alike.  Trade barriers and distortions can hurt a 
country’s health whether it is de veloped or developing.  Devel oped countries spend vast sums on 
subsidies, often propping up relativ ely small and unproductive portions of their economies.  In the 
process, they hurt their own citizens twice – as taxpayers and as consumers.  
  There are surely better ways to help those fa rmers in rich countries who genuinely need help, 
than by subsidizing big exporters so that much  poorer farmers in poor countries cannot feed their 
families.  It is not hard to imagine a system unde r which just about everyone would be better off. 
 
 Agriculture is a crucial issue. But it is not th e only area where the existing world trade order is 
imbalanced. Opportunities for developing countries must  also be opened by effective liberalization of 
trade in textiles, by specific agreem ents that allow them to participat e actively in the growing trade in 
services, and by faster transfer of technology. 
  WT/MIN(03)/12 
 Page 3 
 
 
  Of course, developing countries also ha ve a responsibility to help themselves.   
  As a group they have taken important steps -- often unsung and unrequited -- to liberalize 
trade in the last fifteen years.  But some of them could do still more to seize export opportunities.  For 
example, they could improve efficiency and competitiveness by reducing barriers to imports – 
particularly from other developing countries. 
  But trade liberalization is no panacea for developing countries. For many of them, it involves considerable adjustment and social costs.  Ther e is a need for synergy and proper sequencing -- 
between the capacities of the developing countries, th e level of obligations they are to take on, the 
cost of implementation, and the adequacy of fina ncial and technical resources available to them.  
Developing countries need aid for trade, and such aid must not come at the expense of aid for development.   Indeed, trade liberalization must be carefully managed as part of co mprehensive development 
strategies that encompass health, education, the em powerment of women, the rule of law and much 
else besides.  Developing countries need help in bui lding the institutions and infrastructure, acquiring 
the technology and skills, and putting in place the lega l regimes, that will enable them to make the 
journey.  The least developed c ountries in particular often need genuinely special and differential 
treatment – not simply more time to comply with new rules.  
 Trade is the most visible manifestation of globalization.  It has proved its ability to deliver 
jobs and wealth for some.  Yet there is widespr ead unease, and even distrust, about the new economic 
and technological spaces we inhabit.  So many people  have yet to benefit, and in the developing world 
there has been great dislocation without a safety net.  
 You, the world’s trade ministers, must show those people that you have heard their cries for 
fairness.  You must give them confidence that, from now on, your negotiations and decisions will 
really meet their needs and reflect their aspirations.    You have an awesome responsibility, and a gr eat opportunity.  Your decisions can make the 
difference between poverty and prosperity, and ev en between life and death, for millions upon 
millions of people. 
  Here in Cancun, I implore you to say: “no! ” to trade policies that aggravate poverty, and 
“no!” to trade practices that undermine aid.  
 And I urge you to say “yes” to bold but sensible steps that will revive the global economy and 
set a new course for development.   You must, at long last, match deeds to the fi ne words that are in danger of losing their 
meaning.   
 Let Cancun send the world a message of hope – hope that trade will make good on its promise 
for all.    
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