WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/120
12December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5311)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
POLAND
Statement byMr.Janusz Kaczurba
Acting Minister ofForeign Economic Relations
Ipaytribute totheGovernment andtothepeople ofSingapore fortheirgreathospitality, skills
andefforts demonstrated intheimpressive organization oftheFirstMinisterial Conference oftheWTO.
Twoyears which haveelapsed sincethisinstitution started itsexistence havedelivered aliving
testimony tothewisdom ofourjointdecision toestablish theWTO. Much oftheimpressive global
trade expansion overthepasttwoyears hasbeencertainly duetotheimplementation ofcommitments
undertaken inMarrakesh.
Thetradegrowth has,inturn,helped tomoderate theimpact ofacyclical downturn inanumber
ofmajor andsmaller economies. TheWTO hasprovided auniform, coherent system oftrade rules
tobefollowed onaglobal scale.
Ithasgenerated more transparency ineconomic andtradepolicies ofindividual Governments.
Last, butnotleast, theWTO dispute settlement system hasproven tobegenerally effective in
encouraging multilateral, rather thanbilateral, settlement oftrade conflicts. These aresome ofthe
positive effects oftheWTO experience.
Forthesakeofobjectivity wemustnotneglect, however, theshortfalls which needtobefaced
squarely aswemove forward. Themostvisible among themseems tobethelimitoncapacity ofsome
WTO Members toabsorb thecomplexity andtheimpact ofthesystem andtoadapt toitsrequirements.
Thisaspect should beapproached forsome more timewithanecessary measure oftolerance and
understanding.
Another problem consists intheneedtoimprove thepractical usefulness ofthenotification
procedures which seemtohaveoverburdened thesystem without yielding proportionate results interms
ofproper, WTO-endorsed policy guidelines fortheMembers concerned.
When theUruguay Round wascoming toaclose, mycountry -Poland -aGATT Member
since 1967, wasinaturning moment ofitseconomic history. Now, looking several years back, we
canappreciate oneessential fact:while itmayhavebeenhardtoPoland toundertake extensive Uruguay
Round commitments, theeffort haspaidoffinterms ofconsolidating thesystemic change associated
withthesuccessful adoption ofrulesandmechanisms ofamarket economy. Theabsorption ofWTO
standards intothenational legalandadministrative system hasalsobeenessential foraccession tothe
OECD earlier thisyear,andfortheongoing intensive preparation forfuture membership intheEuropean
Union.
Figures speak louder thanwords: during thefirsttwoyears ofimplementation ofWTO market
access commitments, Poland 'simports willhavegrown byatotalofmore than65percent. Trade
hasbecome oneoftheprincipal factors behind adynamic GDP expansion which continues at
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approximately 6percentperyear. Foreign investment hasbeenontheriseanditnowcontributes
approximately aquarter ofPoland 'sexternal trade. Obviously, theprocess hasgenerated anumber
ofhardships forthemaninthestreet andcaused substantial reallocations ofproductive capacities,
thusgenerating certain social policy dilemmas. Buttheoverall result hasbeenamoreefficient economic
structure withhigher competitive skills. This, inanutshell, isPoland 'spositive lesson drawn from
adjustment totheWTO framework.
Turning nowtotheWTO agenda Iwish toexpress mydelegation 'sstrong view thatthe
implementation andconsolidation oftheMarrakesh programme arethetoppriority. Thisincludes
alsothecompletion oftheunfinished business.
Intelecom negotiations, Poland upholds theobjective ofreaching anagreement earlynextyear.
Itisinthisexpectation thatPoland willpresent animproved telecom offer inJanuary.
While itistruethatthetrade andenvironment issue hasturned outtobemore complex and
controversial thanoriginally expected, itneeds tobefaced squarely ifWTO istoberesponsive tothe
realities oftoday'sworld. Therefore, webelieve thattheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment should
continue itsactivities under thepresent mandate.
Theinterlinkagebetweentradeandinvestmentisobviousandgrowing.Therefore,mydelegation
welcomestheinitiativetoestablishaproperframeworkforexaminationofthisissueintheWTO,without
prejudging theoption ofpossible future negotiations onthesubject. Such initiative would provide
uswithagoodopportunity tocomplement thework undertaken onthissubject within amuch smaller
circle oftheOECD membership andinother fora.
Wealsoshare asimilar positive attitude withmany other delegations asregards thetrade and
competition issue.
Inadopting herself totheOECD andEUstandards, Poland isnowintheprocess ofreviewing
domestic legislation related togovernment procurement withaviewtoacceding totherespective WTO
Agreement.
Asregards tradeandlabour standards, mayitberecalled thatPoland 'ssystemic transformation
began withtheestablishment offreetrade unions. Therefore, ourrecord onthisissue isstraight and
clean. Nevertheless werecognize thesensitivity oftheproblem interms ofitspossible linkage to
domestic politics ofWTO Members andtemptations toresort totrade-restricting measures. Therefore,
Poland isinfavour ofrecognizing theILOastheprincipal player inthefield, soastolessen therisk
ofinjecting politics intotheregulatory framework oftheWTO.
Poland isactively andextensively engaged intheprocess ofregional integration which it
considers tobeaconstructive component oftheoverall trade liberalization. Theregionalism canand
shouldbeharmoniouslyincorporatedintotheWTOmultilateralsystem.Inthisconnection,wewelcomed
theestablishment oftheWTO Committee onRegional Trade Agreements andstand ready tocontinue
open-minded activity ofthisCommittee, freefrom apriori assumptions andprejudices.
Thefavourable political changes, which havetaken place intheworld, create achance for
theWTO system tobecome truly universal, asrequired byglobalization oftheworld economy. It
isimperative tocreate auniform system oftradepolicy rulesandcriteria andthetransparency ofmarket
access conditions. Therefore, Poland strongly encourages theprompt accession ofChina, Russia,
Ukraine, theBaltic States andother candidates assoonastheyareready andwilling toaccept the
standard terms andconditions ofWTO Membership.
Before concluding, mayIrecognize thehighvalue ofservices rendered tothisinstitution by
itsDirector-General andtheSecretariat. They havemydelegation 'sgratitude andconfidence.