. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(01)/ST/152
12 November 2001
(01-5781)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fourth SessionDoha, 9 - 13 November 2001Original:  English
THE SEPARATE CUSTOMS TERRITORY OF TAIWAN,
 PENGHU, KINMEN AND MATSU
Statement Circulated by Mr Lin Hsin-I
Minister of Economic Affairs
(As an Observer)
On behalf of the Separate Customs Territor y of Taiwan, Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu, I wish
to express my deepest appreciation to the Government of Qatar for its generosity in hosting thisFourth WTO Ministerial Conference.  Our heartfelt and sincere gratitude also goes to the city of Doha
for the excellent arrangements made for this Confer ence and the fine hospitality extended to all the
members of the WTO.
The timing of this Ministerial Conference is opportune and critical.  Its outcome will not only
provide the impetus for revitalizing the world economy at a time when most of the Members are
facing an economic slow-down, but also will set the pace for global trade liberalization in the years to
come.  This meeting is also of great significance to us because our accession to the WTO has been
approved during the course of this Ministerial Conference.  I strongly believe that our membership
will greatly strengthen the multilateral trading system embodied by the WTO.
It should be noted that since the entry into force of the WTO Agreements on 1 January 1995,
a new global environment has emerged and has posed a new challenge to every Member of the WTO.
While we should continue to reaffirm the principle and objective as set out in the WTO Agreements,
we believe a new work programme for the WTO will be imperative for all the Members to cope with
the rapidly changing global trading environment.
We are of the view that the new work programme should entail a broad-based and balanced
negotiation agenda.  It should be based on the ex isting Uruguay Round comm itments with a view to
building a more liberalized trading environment.  However, some implementation-related issues
should be addressed and the appropriate solutions should be found.
We attach great importance to the continuation of negotiations on goods aimed at reducing
tariff and non-tariff trade barriers in order to reach the objective of further liberalization.
Nevertheless, in our view, the reduction of tariffs on agricultural products should take into account the
characteristics of product and the importance that a country attaches to it.  We are also of the opinion
that the reduction of tariff escalation and tariff' peaks should be adjusted in accordance with thespecial situations faced by different Members of the WTO.
In addition, we are convinced that the concept and spirit of sustainable development as drawn
up in the Marrakesh Agreement should be fully reflected in the process of the negotiations.  Efforts in
this area could include:  ensuring that the negotiations pay due regard to multifunctionality ofagriculture, especially to the concerns over food security and environmental protection, andWT/MIN(01)/ST/152
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maintaining policy coherence between WTO measures and multilateral environmental agreements
(MEAs).
Moreover, in view of the fast changing global trading environment, it is becoming
increasingly important for us to turn to `behind-the-border' measures, such as trade-related
competition and investment policies.  Despite the fact that these issues are complex, we should worktowards addressing these issues through a more flexible and pragmatic approach, in order to develop a
free and fair competition environment for the world trade.
We fully understand that encouraging developing and least-developed countries to actively
participate in the new work programme is one of the most important factors that will ensure the
success of the multilateral trading system.  In view of this, the WTO and the other international
agencies have offered a range of capacity building and technical assistance programmes.  Althoughwe are not yet a full member of the WTO, I am pleas ed to report to you that we have already provided
funding to two activities organized by the WTO, both of which are aimed at facilitating the integration
of developing and least-developed countries into the multilateral trading system.  It should be noted
that after our accession, we also plan to provide tariff-free treatment for certain products originating
from the least-developed countries to improve their market access opportunities.
We are facing a world economy in which the challenges and opportunities are both new and
unprecedented.  We strongly believe that the WTO, the vanguard of the multilateral trading system,
has now a vital role to play in unifying all the WTO Members to approve the new work programme
before us so as to move the world economy forward.  As one of the new Members of the WTO, welook forward to the opportunity to work side by side with all the WTO Members to contribute to the
success of the multilateral trading system and to create a better world.
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