WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/62
11December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5236)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
SRILANKA
Statement bytheHonourable Kingsley T.Wickremaratne M.P.
Minister ofInternal andExternal Trade, Commerce andFood
Itisindeed agreat pleasure andaprivilege toaddress thishistoric firstMinisterial Meeting
oftheWTO being heldinSingapore. Letmetakethisopportunity tobring warm greetings toboth
H.E. OngTeng Cheong, President andH.E. GohChok Tong, Prime Minister ofSingapore andto
thefriendlyandhospitablepeopleofSingaporefromH.E.MadamChandrikaBandaranaikeKumaratunga,
President ofSriLanka, fortheprosperity andprogress ofSingapore. MayIalsoaddmyowngreetings.
Weareparticularly grateful totheGovernment ofSingapore forhosting thishistoric Ministerial Meeting
andalsofortheelaborate arrangements made forthisevent.
Mr.Chairman,pleaseacceptourheartycongratulationsandwarmfelicitationsonyourunanimous
election astheChairman ofthismomentous Ministerial Meeting. Mydelegation reiterates itscomplete
confidence andtrustinyouastheMinster ofTrade ofSingapore forthesmooth steering ofthe
deliberations ofthismeeting toasuccessful conclusion.
Aspecial word ofthanks should alsogotoMr.Renato Ruggiero, Director-General oftheWTO
andhisdedicated staffforallthemeticulous preparatory work completed forthesmooth conduct of
thisMinisterial Meeting.
Iftheestablishment oftheWTO on1January 1995isregarded asthe"Crowning Achievement
oftheUruguay Round", anassessment oftheimplementation oftheUruguay Round Agreements should
definitely assume greater significance inthecontext ofthisMinisterial Meeting. SriLanka firmly
believes thatthemainfunction andthecentral theme ofthisfirstMinisterial meeting oftheWTO should
beafreeandfrank assessment andanalysis oftheimplementation ofthevarious Uruguay Round legal
instruments, which came intooperation on1January 1995. NowthattheWTO hasbeenoperational
foralmost twoyears, itisopportune thatthemembers oftheMultilateral Trading System undertake
athorough stocktaking astohowfarwehavegone, where westand andwhatremains tobedonein
thefuture concerning theresults oftheUruguay Round.
With regard totheimplementation oftheUruguay Round Agreements, itisrecognized, that
mostdeveloping countries made substantial commitments onliberalization oftheireconomies aswell
assubstantial concessions during thenegotiations. Anumber ofdeveloping countries emerged from
theRound withtheirentire tariff schedules bound. SriLanka, forexample bound almost theentirety
ofitsagricultural tariff at50percentandamodest number ofindustrial tariff lines. Thedeveloping
countries undertook those commitments inthebelief thatthenewrule-based trading system would
guard against protectionist tendencies indeveloped countries.
However,developingcountriesarestillfacingnumeroustariffandnon-tariffbarriersinproducts
ofexport interest tothem, forexample textiles andclothing, leather products andagricultural products.
Asfornon-tariff barriers, while theUruguay Round hasaddressed thisissue andimproved therulesWT/MIN(96)/ST/62
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governing trade policy issues, there areseveral provisions intherules which would hinder access to
markets bydeveloping countries.
Ontheongoing work programme oftheWTO, Iamgladtoinform thatSriLanka hasbeen
veryclosely following developments inthisregard, particularly inthefieldofnegotiations infinancial
services andtelecommunications. IntheUruguay Round, SriLanka entered modest multilateral
commitments intwosubsectors under thetourism sector. However, inthecontext offuture negotiations
infinancial services andtelecommunications, weareseriously considering thefeasibility ofmaking
concrete offers inthese twosectors inorder thatourunilateral liberalization measures should assume
amultilateral dimension.
Thenegotiations intheUruguay Round were based onexpectations, asrecognized inthe
Agreement Establishing theWTO, ofpositive effects designed toensure thatdeveloping countries secure
ashareinthegrowthininternationaltrade,commensuratewiththeneedsoftheireconomicdevelopment.
Wearewitnessing acontinuous evolution towards theprocess ofglobalization andaveryrapid pace
oftechnological development intheworld economy. Itis,therefore, necessary thatthenewinternational
trade rulesshould beimplemented inamanner thatwould contribute totheintegration ofdeveloping
countries totheglobal economy. Furthermore, developing countries require opportunities inseizing
theadvantages offered byglobalization andliberalization.
There isgeneral agreement among bothdeveloped anddeveloping countries thatcompliance
withthenotification requirements under thevarious Agreements havebeenmuch more difficult than
wasanticipated. Since theentry intoforce oftheWTO, averycomplex process ofsubmitting
notifications hasstarted andisfarfrombeing completed. Itisimperative thatwestrengthen theexisting
institutional structures andcapacities, ifwearetocomply withthese notification requirements as
envisaged inthevarious agreements.
SriLanka, asadeveloping trading nation appreciating thereality ofchanging global, economic
andtradestructures,hascompletelytransformedaninwardlooking,relativelyclosedandadministratively
controlled economy intoamore liberalized system. Inthisprocess, wehaveundertaken difficult
structural reforms, withasufficient safety netforcushioning theadverse impact. Today, wehave
anopenandliberal trading system withnoimport andexport licensing andcontrols except inafew
instances fornational security, public heath andmoral considerations andwitharationalized three-band
tariffstructure of10,20and35percent,incontrast toa13bandstructure thatprevailed before 1987.
TheGovernment ofSriLanka stands committed tobuilding astrong national economy within
amarket framework, inwhich theprivate sector isconsidered asthepropelling force ofgrowth. The
roleoftheState inthemanagement ofdevelopment willremain essentially asfacilitator evenasthe
market hasbeenchosen astheprimary instrument forresource allocation.
Wehavelimited thegovernment intervention onlytoareas where market failstofunction
effectively andtherefore needs tobestrengthened orsupplemented, sothattheyserve theinterests
ofthenation.
Wehaveparticipated intheUruguay Round inaconstructive spirit andcontributed tothe
successful conclusion oftheRound inarealistic manner, keeping inview ourtrade, finance and
development needs. Likemany other developing countries, SriLanka toohasaccepted rigorous
multilateral disciplines andadegree oferosion ofpreferential treatment. Undoubtedly, thecommitments
wehaveundertaken severely limitourpolicy options incrucial areasrelated todevelopment fromwhich
today'sdeveloped countries benefited untilaverylatestage oftheireconomic development.WT/MIN(96)/ST/62
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Market access remains thecentral issueofconcern fordeveloping countries suchasSriLanka.
Products ofparticular export interest toourcountries arestillsubject totariffpeaks ortariffescalation.
Weare,therefore, welljustified inasking whether wehavebenefited fromtheRound interms ofmarket
access, especially incomparison tothenewobligations andresponsibilities wehaveassumed. While
recognizing thepositive results oftheUruguay Round forcountries likeours, weareconcerned over
themanner inwhich theUruguay Round Agreements arebeing implemented andtheproblems
encountered intheprocess ofimplementation. Forexample, theimpact oftheAgreement onAgriculture
onthenetfood-importing developing countries, likeSriLanka, would havetobecarefully monitored.
Already, theincrease intheprices offoodgrains anddairy products havecaused serious concerns.
Inthiscontext measures needtobeputinplace toimplement theappropriate Ministerial Decision.
Barriers totheexports ofdeveloping countries havetobefurther reduced inthecoming years
andtocontinue theprocess ofliberalization oftrade, there would beaneedforfurther multilateral
negotiations onissues related totariff peaks andtariff escalations affecting theexports ofparticular
interest todeveloping countries.
AstheWTO isinitsinfancy, itispremature tooverload itswork programme withareasalready
falling within thelegitimate competence oftheother international organizations. Inthiscontext the
WTO should strengthen itsnetworking capacity withotherinternational organizations togenerate greater
synergies formutual benefit. Thiswillfacilitate theoptimum utilization ofcomparative advantages
enjoyed byeachinstitution.
Inconclusion, itisourfirmbelief andconviction thattheestablishment oftheWTO truly
represented thereaffirmation ofthenoble principle oftheruleoflawininternational trade relations,
together withthedispute settlement mechanism, reversal oflong-standing protectionist practices in
agriculture andtextiles andclothing andtheextension ofmultilateral rules tocover services and
intellectualpropertyrights.Weareparticularlyhappythatthestrengtheneddisputesettlementmechanism
oftheWTO affords greater protection andsecurity forsmall trading nations likeSriLanka, against
violation ofmultilateral rules. Itisalsoheartening tonotethatthissystem hasfunctioned quitesmoothly
during theoperational period uptonow. Similarly, itisourfervent hopethattheimplementation of
theother vitalUruguay Round Agreements willreceive astrengthened impetus aftertheconclusion
ofthismomentous Ministerial Meeting.
Finally, letmetakethisopportunity toreaffirm andreiterate SriLanka 'sfirmandunwavering
commitment totherule-based multilateral trading system, inwhich wehavebeenfounder Members
ofboththeGATT andtheWTO.