WORLD TRADE WT/FIFTY/H/ST/14
19May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2096)
50thANNIVERSARY Original: English
Geneva, 19May1998
UNITED KINGDOM AND NORTHERN IRELAND
Statement byTheRt.Hon. Tony Blair, MP,
Prime Minister
Britain hasbeenawhole-hearted supporter offreetradesince theGATT 'sestablishment. We
remain anunashamed champion offreetradetoday. TheGATT 'ssystem oftraderulesandagreements
hascontributed massively toglobal prosperity. Itisnotsomething weshould takeforgranted. It
hashelped toincrease world trade 16times inhalfacentury.
Itishardtoover-estimate theeffect increasing trade andinvestment canhave. Inthree days
thepeople ofNorthern Ireland, andtheRepublic ofIreland, willvoteinreferendums onanagreement
thatIhopewillbring political stability andpeace. Ibelieve there willbea"yes" vote; thatthiswill
leadtoanendtoviolence forgood, andthatthisinturncanprovide asurge ininvestment andtrade.
Thisprospect maynotinitself beareason forvoting yes. Theissues atstake aredifferent. Butit
isasimple factthatmore investment islikely tofollow ayesvote.
SoIhopethat,when youreturn home, youwillallencourage yourcompanies tolookatthe
newopportunities fortrade andinvestment inNorthern Ireland theagreement willbring. Thatyou
willhelpusbring theeconomic prosperity needed tounderpin peace. Wemust notletpassbythe
bestchance formany years forrealpeace inNorthern Ireland.
Letthatthenbeasignal forpeace throughout thetroubled parts oftheworld.
Theworld isopening upwithfreertravel, common massmedia, opencommunication systems.
Freetrade isavitalpartofthismovement. Theemergence ofMercosur, NAFTA, ASEAN andof
course theEUshows howstrongly thetideisturning infavour offreetrade.
Itmayberegional fornow, butitallstrengthens themove towider freetrade -aslongas
wekeepthese trading areas opentotherestoftheworld, astheEUisandmust remain.
Sothequestion nowisnotsomuch whether thereshould befreetrade, buthowbesttomanage
whatIbelieve isanirreversible andirresistible trend sothatallcountries andallpeoples canbenefit.
Thatisthemillennium challenge -forusandfortheWTO.
Everywhere, onallfronts ofhuman existence, allpeople facethechallenge ofchange.
Technology transforms their workplaces. Globalization alters thestructures inwhich theywork.
Financial markets thatwiththepushofabutton move sums ofmoney beyond contemplation across
international frontiers withstunning rapidity, canmove whole economies. These arepowerful impulses
ofeconomic change thatleave people feeling powerless andinsecure about theirfuture. Andinthe
wake ofeconomic change, social change. Communities disintegrating, families destabilized, crime
anddrugs andsocial exclusion. Thepossibilities ofournewworld maybeinfinite butformany millions
ofourcitizens, itisthedangers thataremore real.WT/FIFTY/H/ST/14
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Ourchoice isclear. Toresist change, letithappen oracttogether tomanage itsconsequences
sothatourpeople areequipped forchange andgiven thechances andsecurity theyneed. Resistance
iseasytodemand, butwon'twork andwillspoilthegood thatglobalization canbring. Laissez-faire
willleave usdivided andbitter. Working together tomaximize thegoodandminimize thebadisthe
onlyrealistic option. Nowhere isthatclearer thaninthewaywetrade witheachother.
Ibelieve thatthere arefivekeytasks:
Firstwemust spread thebenefits, ofglobalization.
Theglobal economy isafact. Theexpansion ofworld trade -withexports upover50per
centsince 1990-hascreated millions ofnewjobsandoffered many thechance tomove frompoverty
towards prosperity. Foreign direct investment hasgrown by14percentayear. Tendeveloping
countries, comprising athirdoftheworld 'spopulation, havemore thandoubled theirincome perhead
since 1980.
Butitsbenefits havenotbeenfeltevenly. Insome developing countries trade andinvestment
arelagging.
TheG8Summit thisweekend underlined theneedtohelpdeveloping countries integrate into
theglobal economy andthereby benefit from theopportunities ofglobalization.
Iampleased toannounce thattheUKissetting aside $10million fortechnical assistance for
thesecountries tohelpprepare forliberalization overthisyearandnext. TheLeast-Developed Countries
inparticular needspecial attention. Wemust allcommit tozerotariffs fortheirexports.
Atthesame time, individual governments must alsoplaytheirpartby:maintaining stable
macro economic policies, adopting transparent financial systems, encouraging savings andinvestment
ineconomic infrastructure, promoting competition andinvesting ineducation.
Second, wemust keepmarkets openandfair.
Itishardtoconceive ofareturn tothefull-blown protectionism andstrangulation oftrade
which disfigured the1930s. Thatlesson hassurely beenlearned.
Butsubtle forms ofprotectionism remain andpressures riseinacrisis. Wemustensure that
thecurrent financial difficulties inAsiadonotleadtoaretreat intoprotectionism.
Iwastherefore delighted thatattheAsiaEurope Meeting inLondon, leaders of25countries,
representing halftheworld 'sGDP, pledged themselves toresist protectionism, keepmarkets open,
andpress ahead withmultilateral liberalization. InBirmingham lastweekend, theG8resolved tokeep
itsmarkets openinresponse totheAsian crisis andcalled onothers todolikewise.
AndattheEU/US Summit inLondon yesterday wemoved toreduce further obstacles totrade
between theUSandEurope andfound aneffective waytodealwithUSsanctions onourtrade with
Cuba, Libya andIran.
Third, weneedtoextend trade liberalization.
Iknow thatimplementing theUruguay Round hasnotbeeneasy, particularly fordeveloping
countries. Butitisvitalforusalltoliveuptoourcommitments.WT/FIFTY/H/ST/14
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Wemustalsopress onwards. Thenegotiations onagriculture andservices, starting intheyear
2000, willrequire greatefforts. Butthepotential gains arehuge. Existing levels ofagricultural support
areexpensive andinefficient. Idonotbelieve theyserve theneeds oftheenvironment orwider rural
community. Weneedtoprepare forthese negotiations now, bytaking acomprehensive approach and
injecting asense ofurgency, ifwearetobring them toasuccessful andearly conclusion.
Butfourth, aswelooktoexpand world trade, wemustalsoensure thatthisisnotdoneatany
cost. Ibelieve protecting theworld 'senvironment isperhaps themajor challenge wefaceaswehead
towards thenextcentury. Governments needtoconsider theenvironmental impact ofeverything they
do,including inthetrade sphere. Trade rules should notbeusedtoimpose unfair standards on
developing countries, nortodiscriminate against their exports. Ibelieve thatbybuilding new
partnershipsincreasedeconomicprosperityandtradecangohand-in-handwithenvironmentalprotection.
Atthesame time, wemust work, intheILOandelsewhere, fortheworld-wide observance
ofcore-labour standards forallworkers. Again, notasabarrier totrade, orablock onexports from
developing countries. Butbecause allworkers deserve decent conditions intheirworkplace, wherever
theylive. Wemust alsoavoid theexploitation ofchildren.
Finally, wemust maximize thebenefits oftheelectronic ageandtheborderless economy.
Theelectronic revolution challenges eachoneofus.TheG8hasjustputforward asetof
principles foracoherent international environment inwhich electronic commerce canflourish under
private sector leadership, while respecting consumer andpublic interests. Through itsTelecomms
andITAgreements, theWTO hasalready made acontribution. Butregulating anddeveloping electronic
commerce willrequire much more attention inthefuture.
Mr.President, theGATT, andnowtheWTO haveaproud record ofachievement. Ihave
setoutthetasks ahead. Buttocarry them through, weneedpopular, public support forthework of
theWTO.
Wemust sendthisclear message:
- Thatprotectionism doesnotbring prosperity;
- that50years oftrade liberalization havegenerated unprecedented growth; theglobal
economy andelectronic revolution canhelptospread prosperity more widely;
- thatwe,themembers oftheWTO, willsettle ourdifferences onthebasis ofrules,
notofpower; oppose damaging discrimination; andrespect agreements reached freely
byconsensus;
- thatwewillworkforthefurther expansion ofworld tradeinaresponsible way,sensitive
totheneeds ofall,soastoraiseliving standards, combat poverty, promote sustainable
development andprotection oftheenvironment andcontribute tointernational security;
- and,above allthatmore openmarkets andmore trade mean growth andnewjobsfor
thebenefit ofallourpeople.WT/FIFTY/H/ST/14
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Thatisthemessage weatthismeeting should besending toallourpeoples aswecelebrate
the50thAnniversary oftheGATT andtookforward tothenext50years ofthemultilateral trading
system.
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