WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/52
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2035)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: Spanish
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
NICARAGUA
Statement Circulated byMrs. Azucena Castillo,
Junior Minister oftheEconomy andDevelopment
On30October 1947, 23forward-looking nations signed, atthePalais desNations, theGeneral
Agreement onTariffs andTrade which entered intoeffect on1January 1948, thusinaugurating the
multilateral trade system.
Attheoutset, theGeneral Agreement wasofaprovisional nature. Wewere notsuccessful
inestablishing theInternational Trade Organization (ITO) which, inthepost-war efforts, would have
become thethirdBretton Woods Institution.
Atthetime, thedesire wastogivehumanity apredictable economic system which would avoid
afreshoutbreak ofwarandwould complement thecollective security system implemented bytheUnited
Nations.
TheITOdidnotgetofftheground because unilateralism -theallyofprotectionism -didnot
givewaytomultilateralism. However, looking backattheground thatwehavecovered overthese
pastfiftyyears, wecanseethathistory hasjustified multilateralism andfreetrade.
Nicaragua hashadthehonour ofparticipating inthismultilateral system sincethesecond round
ofnegotiations heldinAnnecy, France, inApril 1948, firstasacontracting party oftheGeneral
Agreement andthenasafounding member oftheWorld Trade Organization. Wehave always
demonstrated ourcomplete confidence inthesystem andhavecommitted ourselves torespecting the
agreements reached andtofreetrade -aliberal vocation which hasdistinguished Nicaragua -which
wearenowratifying withthetotalfulfilment ofourobligations totheOrganization andthrough the
signing ofbilateral freetrade treaties.
Itishighly important thatinthe1960s, thesystem recognized theneedtoallow developing
countries toshare thebenefits oftrade growth. "Ifitdoesnotcreate well-being, thissystem isofno
usetohumanity" itwassaidatthetime. Developed countries werethenasked togivepriority tothe
removal oftrade barriers toproducts from developing countries.
Thenegotiation process began withtheTokyo Round inthe1970s outside ofthenarrow
framework oftariffs. Theprocess ofremoving non-tariff barriers tookagreatleapforward. However,
protectionism intextiles wasinstitutionalized withtheadoption oftheMultifibre Arrangement in1974.
InMarrakesh, wemanaged toconclude oneofthemost important andambitious rounds of
negotiations, theUruguay Round, which, interalia,brought about thecreation oftheWorld Trade
Organization.WT/MIN(98)/ST/52
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Wewerealready talking about globalization withaparallel trend towards regional integration
andwidespread efforts atliberalization.
InSingapore, wepaused toevaluate theWTO forthefirsttimeandre-launch thework
programme. Wehavemade great strides overthese fiftyyears. Today there arefewer barriers to
trade, fewer tariffs, fewer quotas andfewer non-tariff barriers.
Wehaveacodeofrules andregulations which define therules ofthegame forallaspects
oftrade andatevery stage oftheoperations ofbuying andselling ofgoods andservices, investment
andtrade-related aspects ofintellectual property rights.
Small countries likeNicaragua today haveadispute settlement system which makes itpossible
toprevent theimposition ofarbitrary unilateral measures.
Wecertainly have reason tocelebrate these achievements which have given birth tonew
opportunities andwhich givecountries likeNicaragua hope andoptimism inthedifficult taskof
eradicating poverty.
Nicaragua firmly believes inthissystem andtherefore would liketotakethisopportunity to
suggest howitcanbestrengthened.
Asmany ofourcolleagues havesaid,weareliving inaworld where frontiers arebeing erased,
where information technology iscreating anewdimension todistance. Inamatter ofseconds wecan
access orsend large volumes ofinformation, orvisit acompany orclient who is8,000 or
12,000 kilometres away.
Ourcompanies arespeaking ofglobal competitiveness andaregetting ready totakeadvantage
ofthese newopportunities andchallenges. These companies needtorelyonclearrules ofthegame
and,above all,tobeabletocompete onanequal footing.
Wemust continue todismantle subsidy policies, especially asregards agricultural products
andthetextile industry.
Wemust boldly advance indismantling systems ofquotas orquantitative restrictions.
Weverymuch hopethatintheforthcoming agricultural negotiations major progress willbe
made inthatdirection.
Thedeveloped world spends more thanUS$250 million onagricultural subsidies. This
discriminatory measure constitutes themostserious barrier totradeliberalization, undermining equity
andglobal development.
InNicaragua wehaveopted foramodel ofsustainable development which includes aprominent
roleoftheprivate sector, together withaclearcommitment tostrengthen thesocial market economy
andrespect fortheenvironment.
Maninharmony withnature isthefocus ofNicaragua 'sdevelopment strategy.
Nicaragua issignatory toandrespectful oftheseven basic conventions oftheInternational
Labour Organization, andwearetrying, tothebestofourability, tosetanexample intheareaof
working conditions.WT/MIN(98)/ST/52
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However, wenotice thatthetemptation isstrong fordeveloped countries toreplace onetype
ofprotectionism withanother.
Thecomparative advantages ofthedeveloping world mustnot,andcannot, inanyway,justify
theimposition, bytrading powers, ofconditions ofanysortwiththeaimofblocking access tomarkets.
Protectionism nowhasanewname: conditionality. Wewillbefirminresisting allthe
consequences ofmarket restrictions disguised associal orenvironmental clauses.
Weareconfident -andwewillwork towards ensuring -thatwhatwehavebuiltoverthelast
fiftyyears, which wearecelebrating today, willserve asabasis forpromoting trade growth. And
thisgrowth willenable developing countries toimprove thestandard ofliving oftheirpopulations,
founded onsocial equity andtransparency inglobal relations.
Thewelfare ofthehuman raceisthefocus andraison d'êtreofthismultilateral trading system.
Thank youverymuch, andGodbless you.
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