WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/13
9December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5185)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: English
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
GERMANY
Statement byMr.Günter Rexrodt
Federal Minister ofEconomics
ThefirstWTO Ministerial Conference isahistorical event. Weshould allcombine ourefforts
tomake itasignificant stepinstrengthening themultilateral system. Singapore, which isahubfor
world trade flows, willinject therightspirit forourforthcoming deliberations. Iwould liketothank
Prime Minister GohChok Tong andhisGovernment fororganizing thisconference.
Itistheresponsibility ofallparticipants tomake thisConference asuccess. Having saidthat,
letmeunderline thatthemajor trading partners, inparticular, theEuropean Union, theUnited States
andourAsian partners, haveanadded responsibility topromote stability andgrowth intheworld trading
system.
Germany, asaleading trading nation, accepts thisresponsibility andisfirmly committed to
achieving significant progress inthisConference.
Concrete decisions forfurther liberalization should beputontopofouragenda. Iwould like
tobeclear onGermany 'spriorities:
First: Thesuccessful conclusion ofthenegotiations ontheInformation Technology Agreement
(ITA) hashighpriority.
Ourcommitment toeliminate tariffs onITAproducts bytheyear2000atthelatest would send
aconcrete signal ofliberalization from Singapore around theworld.
Second: Germany hasakeeninterest intheacceleration oftheten-year schedule forthealready
agreed reduction ofindustrial tariffs.
Iinvite theworld trading partners tojoininmultilateral efforts onthissubject.
Third: Germany strongly endorses theAction PlanoftheWTO infavour oftheleastdeveloped
countries (LDCs).
Inaconcerted action, allindustrialized nations, aswellastheemerging economies, should
grant theleastdeveloped countries totalfreeaccess totheirmarkets.
Fourth: Intextiles andclothing, thebalance ofmutual obligations agreed uponintheUruguay
Round hastobemaintained. Thisshould notprevent thedeveloped countries, however, fromstriving
formore concessions andfaster integration provided theconcerned exporters offersignificant market
opening steps inreturn.WT/MIN(96)/ST/13
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Fifth: Inservices, wearecommitted toasuccessful conclusion byFebruary ofnextyearof
theongoing negotiations toliberalize basic telecommunications.
BoththeEuropean Union andtheUnited States haveimproved theirliberalization offers.
Now allcountries arecalled upon tocontribute toasuccessful outcome.
Another decisive stepinservices willbetoconclude acomprehensive agreement onfinancial
services bytheendof1997 inorder toreplace theexpiring interim agreement.
Allmajor players should participate onamost-favoured-nation basis.
ThisfirstWTO Conference should alsosetthecourse forthegrand design ofthemultilateral
system inthenextmillennium. Themostimportant issues are:investment; competition; environment;
andlabour standards. Letmemake afewremarks onthese issues.
Trade andInvestment willbeoneofthecoreissues intheeverdeepening integration ofthe
world economy.
Westrongly support theideathattheWTO should:
- Take upthecomplex question oftheinterdependence between trade andinvestment;
- andconsider developing amultilateral legalframework forbetter protection andmarket
presence forinvestors.
Freeinvestment flows increasingly require acareful lookattrade andcompetition rules.
Multilateral trade andcompetition rules should bedeveloped:
- Toprevent distortions ofcompetition intheprivate sector; and
- toeliminate impediments toworldwide market access.
Inourglobalizing world, responsibility fortheenvironment andsustainable development is
alsoachallenge fortrade policy makers. Wemust define rules which helptoenforce multilateral
environmental agreements butdonotleadtohidden protectionism.
Icome nowtoahighly sensitive political issue.
Social issues dealwiththepolitical order ofnations andwiththeirsocietal values asawhole.
Suchfundamentally complex concepts cannot bedealtwithbytradepolicy measures which areprecisely
defined inalegalsense butlimited inscope. Wemustnotbring intotheWTO aconfrontation about
cultural andsocial values. Thiswould destroy thecredibility ofthesystem including thehighly valuable
dispute settlement instrument. Thedispute settlement instrument hastobeapplied torealtradedisputes
andnottoforeign orsocial policy issues.
Nodoubt -infringements onfundamental human andworkers 'rights areintolerable andhave
tobeaddressed inallrelevant fora, primarily bytheInternational Labour Organization.
Wearewilling tosupport aconcrete dialogue between WTO andILOforfurther clarification
oftherelative responsibilities oftheorganizations.WT/MIN(96)/ST/13
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Some basic principles havetobeobserved:
- Wemustensure thatsocial issues arenotusedasapretext forprotectionist measures;
- we,theindustrialized countries, have toaccept thecompetitive advantage ofless
developed lowwage countries;
- wehavetorecognize thatfurther liberalization leads tomore prosperity indeveloping
countries which, inturn, facilitates thecompliance withlabour standards.
ThedraftMinisterial Declaration strikes agood balance between thedifference views onthis
sensitive issue.
Before concluding myremarks Iwould liketostress thattheWTO hastoevolve intoatruly
universal organization.
Itistherefore, inourcommon interest thatallapplying countries become WTO Members,
butweexpect them toaccept therules ofthemultilateral trading system. Newmembership must
strengthen theWTO, notweaken it.
Letme,Mr.Chairman, paytribute toyourexcellent preparation ofournegotiations andyour
skilful conduct ofouraffairs inWTO which provides invaluable services forallMembers.
Inacooperative spirit wecanpavethewayforthenextround ofWTO negotiations atthe
turnofthecentury which iscloser athandthansome maythink.