PRESS/52
15July1996
SPEECH BYMR. RENATO RUGGIERO, DIRECTOR-GENERAL OFTHE WTO,
TOTHE APEC TRADE MINISTERS INCHRISTCHURCH, NEW ZEALAND,
15JULY 1996
Attached isthefulltextofMr.Ruggiero 'saddress totheAPEC Trade Ministers delivered
today inChristchurch, NewZealand.
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Address toAPEC Trade Ministers
Renato Ruggiero, Director-General, World Trade Organization
Christchurch, NewZealand, 15July1996
I
Your Excellencies, Ladies andGentlemen,
APEC hasestablished ahighlevelofambition forregional trade liberalization. Ihopethat
youcanalsotransmit ahighlevelofambition tothefirstMinisterial meeting oftheWTO inSingapore
thisDecember.
Singapore willnotbeaneasymeeting. Itisthefirstpolitical rendez-vous ofanewinstitution,
thefirstmilestone ontheambitious pathwhich wascharted bytheMarrakesh Agreement. InSingapore
wecanexpect atleast3,000 people, representing 120member governments, 30accession candidates,
otherinternationalorganizations,NGOsrepresentingenvironment,consumer,anddevelopmentgroups-
60environmental groups alone -aswellastrade unions, business andofcourse themedia from all
overtheworld.
Their presence willtestify tothepolitical importance thatisattached everywhere tothe
implications, thehopes, theanxieties thatgowithtrade, globalization andinterdependence. Inallof
ourcountries, people areconcerned withtheirprospects forgrowth andtheirprospects forjobs. Issues
likestructural adjustment inbothdeveloped anddeveloping countries, themarginalization ofthe
least-developed countries, therelationship between regional andmultilateral liberalization, andthe
universality ofthetrading system -these challenges arenotonesforsome far-off future which we
cancontemplate inadetached oracademic way. They arealready withus-theywillbeonthetable
atSingapore whether weputthem there ornot-andtheycallforaresponse.
You, theMinisters, havetogiveanswers tothose hopes andthose anxieties justasIhopeyou
willgiveclearinstructions toyourrepresentatives inGeneva tomove ontoreach themaximum possible
levelofconsensus onallthemost important issues thatstilldivide us.
II
Itisstillhardtosayhowfarwearefrom reaching thisconsensus, butIhavetocallyour
attention tothefactthattimeislimited, andthatwearenotseeing sufficient movement towards
agreement. Theproblem wefaceisnotoneofprocedure, butoneofsubstance.
There isnojustifiable reason nottoagree before Singapore onawork programme, themore
sosince much ofitisalready inthebuilt-in agenda.
Iknow thatIamtalking toMinisters fromregions where thebenefits oftheopenmultilateral
trading system havebeenmostsignificant. Your APEC agenda already covers almost everything that
hasbeenproposed forSingapore. Itwould bedifficult toexplain thatwhat ispossible inAPEC is
notpossible intheWTO.
Practically everyone seesimplementation asakeyelement oftheSingapore conference, and
ofcourse itis,butweshould remember thatinthecontext oftheUruguay Round results implementation
hasaverydynamic meaning. Itcertainly doesnotmean standing stillandlooking backatwhere we
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came from. Theworld ismoving ahead, withusorwithout us.Your economies aredoing thesame.
Ifwedonotkeepthetrading system moving forward too,weriskleaving theunstoppable movement
towards regional andglobal integration without adequate rulesandwithout aclearvision. Thedifference
isafundamental one.
III
Inthelightofthediscussions wehavehadsofarinGeneva, Icanenvisage adraftMinisterial
Declaration forSingapore which would cover thefollowing main elements:
Implementation oftheUruguay Round results;
TheWTO 'swork programme;
Andthebroader political concerns thattheWTO must takeintoaccount.
Iwould liketobriefly outline thesituation concerning eachofthese points asIseeit.
1. Implementation isamixed picture, though Iseeitoverall asmore positive thannot. The
keyaspect, andthemain success, isdispute settlement .Ibelieve thatthedispute settlement
mechanism isplaying thecentral rolethatwasintended. Itisbeing usedbybothdeveloping
andindustrial countries, large andsmall. There have sofarbeen 50requests tostart
consultations. Sixcases arecurrently before panels, andtwopanels havebeencompleted.
Wehaverecently seenthefirstruling oftheAppellate Body. Butjustasimportantly, a
significant number ofdisputes -tensofar-arebeing resolved attheconsultation stagewithout
resort toapanel. Thistestifies tothecredibility ofthesystem andtoitsdeterrent effect.
Elsewhere there ismore room forimprovement, especially concerning notifications .Other
delegations haveexpressed strong concerns about theoutlook forimplementation ofthetextiles
agreement. These concerns deserve serious attention.
Iwould liketorecall alsothatweshould report atSingapore ontheimplementation ofthe
Marrakesh Declaration onLeast-Developed Countries -concrete progress inthisregard is
theminimum thatweshould beabletodotoaidintegration ofthepoorest countries intothe
world economy anditsbenefits. Iwillhavemore tosayonthislater.
Implementation alsoincludes thework oftheCommittee onTrade andEnvironment .The
Committee hasdoneuseful work inbringing together environmental andtrade interests and
beginning todefine thebasis foramutually supportive relationship, andconcrete results of
solidvalue arewithin reach; whatisneeded isthepolitical willtotakeholdofthem. Isee
worrying signs thatthiswillisnotsufficiently present.
2. Theconsultations inGeneva sofarhaveshown thatthescope oftheWTO 'swork programme
isthemostdifficult question forSingapore. Thecurrent situation isthatwehavearange of
proposals onsubjects which either haveafoot-hold inthebuilt-in agenda, seektoaddtoit,
orcutacross categories. Twenty-four "non-papers" havebeentabled, on14subjects, ofwhich
thegreat majority arealready within thescope ofexisting WTO bodies toagreater orlesser
extent; onlyaveryfewcould really becalled new. Theurgent challenge istodistil these
disparate elements intoasubstantial butbalanced work programme.
Thebuilt-in agenda involves, among othercommitments, thestartofnewnegotiations inmajor
sectors, suchasservices andagriculture, attheturnofthecentury. Thenecessity ofpreparing
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adequately forthese negotiations hasbeenemphasized. Wesometimes hearthecomplaint that
multilateral negotiations move tooslowly. However, oneofthereasons theUruguay Round
tooksolongwasthat,inmany sectors, preparation didnotbegin untilafterthenegotiations
werelaunched. Since governments havealready agreed onthetiming ofthesenewnegotiations,
itissurely logical tobegin thenecessary preparatory study andanalysis wellinadvance -this
isimportant, notleast, toensure thatallthemembers oftheWTO, whatever theirlevel of
development, areabletoparticipate fully.
Furthermore, though thework programme muststartfrom thebuilt-in agenda, anumber of
delegations havemade thepoint thatitcannot beconfined toit.Foronething, theyhavenoted
thatthebuilt-in agenda hassome veryobvious gaps, suchasindustrial tariffs. Thehopehas
alsobeenexpressed thattheSingapore conference might giveafurther liberalizing impulse
inanumber ofsectors where theUruguay Round negotiations fellshort ofsuccess.
3. Thepolitical perspectives :AtSingapore, Ministers willbeexpected togiveasense ofthe
aimsandobjectives ofthetrading system -theglobal challenges andopportunities within which
ourwork programme willoperate, andtowhich itmust ultimately respond.
Globalization -itshould bemade clearthatthismeans maximizing opportunities for
growth, jobsandreducing marginalization. Theunity ofindustrial anddeveloping
countries around thebenefits oftheopentrading system andglobal integration isthe
great achievement oftheUruguay Round -itisonewemust consolidate andbuild
on.There isnorational alternative.
Wemustalsoextend thebenefits ofglobal integration totheleast-developed countries -
implementationoftheMarrakeshDeclarationistheimmediatepriority,buttheultimate
goalmustsurely beelimination ofallbarriers totheirmarket access possibilities. The
promotion ofinvestment intheleast-developed countries isanother important aspect,
onewhich argues forthenegotiation attheappropriate timeoffully multilateral
investment rules intheWTO. There isalsoaclear needforbuilding human and
institutional capacity through improved technical assistance incooperation withother
agencies (which alsohelps implement theUruguay Round Coherence mandate).
Thetrading system mustbeuniversal .Weneedtobring the30candidates inassoon
aspossible, butinawaywhich strengthens thesystem.
Therelationship between regional andmultilateral trade liberalization -APEC has
akeyresponsibility here. Icannot emphasize enough theimportance ofapositive
interpretation ofopenliberalization -thatis,respecting theMFN principle -asabasis
forconvergence ofregional andmultilateral initiatives. Without suchaconvergence,
weriskfragmentation oftheglobal economy intotwo,threeorfourpreferential regional
blocs, eachonewithitsownrulesandprocedures, confronting eachotherattheborder.
Thisisnotthewayinwhich trade canbestcontribute tobuilding amore integrated,
more balanced, andultimately amore secure world.
Lastly, letmeunderline theimportance ofsending theworld amessage ofreassurance
andconfidence about themultilateral system, arule-based system, rather thanone
based onpower. Thisissomething asuccessful Singapore meeting canandmustdo.
Aspartofdoing so,Ihopeitwillestablish thebasis forusing the50thanniversary
ofthemultilateral trading system toreaffirm itsimportance andreassert itsdynamism.
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IV
Toconclude, letmesumupbysaying thatyouhaveachoice: youcangotoSingapore with
important issues stillopenandspend aweek haggling about textsunder thepressure notonlyoftime
butoftheworld 'sattention. Toachieve consensus insuchcircumstances would bemuch moredifficult.
Orontheother handyoucangotoSingapore having already agreed ontheoutstanding issues
andthusbefreetohaveacreative interchange onthekeypolitical andinstitutional challenges inthe
tradingsystem.ThisrequiresdirectingyourrepresentativesinGenevaclearlytoreachsuchanagreement
andgiving them thenecessary flexibility todoso.
Doing sowillmake itpossible foryou,theMinisters, toconcentrate onthetaskthatonlyyou
canreally do-renewing thesense ofpurpose anddirection ofthemultilateral system andmaking your
commitment toitclear totheworld.
END