WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/32
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2019)
Original: French MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
SWITZERLAND
Statement Circulated byMr.Franz Blankart,
Secretary ofState, Federal Office ofExternal Economic Affairs
1. Introduction
Aswetakestockof50years ofexistence ofthemultilateral trading system, wehavetorecognize
threethings: opentradehasbeenapowerful vehicle foreconomic development andprosperity; GATT
andtheWTO havemade theirmark asessential instruments ofinternational economic cooperation;
andthestrong trade links established bythesystem havefostered mutual respect forlaw,which is
thefoundation stone ofpolitical stability andpeace.
Thismaybedescribed asaremarkable setofachievements, further bolstered bythemajor
successes achieved lastyear, withtheagreements oninformation technology, telecommunications and
financial services.
Despite these undeniable successes, some recent developments havebeenasource ofconcern
tothegeneral public:
- Thecostsofthesocial andeconomic adjustments associated withtheinternationalization
ofeconomic activities andtheinternational division oflabour;
- thepossible consequences oftheAsian crisis; and
- thestillglaring lackofcoherence among international policies inthetrade, monetary,
financial andenvironmental areas.
TheWTO 'sposition ontheinternational scene makes itdirectly vulnerable tothecriticism
aroused bytheshortcomings ofinternational cooperation. Itistherefore essential thatwereaffirm
ourdetermination totakeupthenewchallenges atbothnational andinternational level. Fortoday,
more thanever, these twolevels ofaction areinseparable.
- Atthenational level, theeffort made toimprove thefunctioning ofdomestic markets
mustbepursued andstrengthened. Particular attention mustbepaidtoenhancing the
skills ofthelabour force through anactive education policy thatisinkeeping with
theincreasingly demanding needs ofthejobmarket.
- Attheinternational level, wemust aimatthecomprehensive implementation and
progressive development oftheWTO Agreements, aswellasatintensifying our
cooperation within anopenmultilateral trading system.WT/MIN(98)/ST/32
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2. Implementation
Implementation oftheWTO Agreements remains thehighest priority. Thecredibility ofthe
multilateral trading system isatstake. Theachievements sofarareencouraging andbearwitness to
theresolve ofgovernments toliveuptotheobligations theyhave entered into. Inthecaseof
Switzerland, doing sohascalled formany adjustments toSwiss legislation.
TheWTO dispute settlement system hasworked satisfactorily sofar.Itwillbeimportant to
ensure, bycomplying strictly withthesystem, thatitcontinues toreflect ourunwavering commitment
totheWTO rights andobligations.
Thispositivebalancesheetshouldnotdisguisethedifficultiesencounteredbytheleast-developed
countries. Already inMarrakesh wedecided tosupport their efforts tobecome integrated into
international trade. Theplanofaction adopted atSingapore andtherecommendations oftheHigh-Level
Meeting onleast-developed countries werefurther steps inthisdirection. What isimportant nowis
thattheseresolutions should becarried intoreality, andthisapplies inparticular totheimplementation
oftheintegratedframeworkfortrade-relatedtechnicalassistanceandimprovedmarketaccessforproducts
from theLDCs.
Inthisspirit, Switzerland thoroughly overhauled itstariff preference scheme. Under thenew
system which came intoforce on1March 1997, LDCs enjoy zeroduties onallindustrial goods and
mostagricultural products. Ninety-eight percentofexports fromLDCs nowenter theSwiss market
duty-free. Furthermore, Switzerland ispursuing adevelopment cooperation policy aimed atpromoting
theparticipation ofdeveloping andtransition economy countries inthemultilateral trading system.
Itrecently made available toMissions totheWTO theservices ofaninternational trade cooperation
andinformationagency(A.C.I.C.I.),whosepurposeistohelptheleast-developedcountriestoparticipate
actively inthework oftheWTO. Switzerland hasalsodecided tomake acontribution of
SwF1.5million tofunding thetechnical assistance provided bytheWTO, inparticular todevelop
andstrengthen activities onbehalf ofLDCs. Itwillalsocontinue thesupport ithasprovided since
1991intheformofSwF300,000 peryearfortraining courses forCentral European andEastAsian
countries thatarecandidates forWTO accession.
Implementation alsocovers thereviews ofsomeWTO Agreements thatareunder wayoralready
completed (inparticular theAgreements onintellectual property, technical barriers totrade and
preshipment inspection andtheDispute Settlement Understanding). Progress hascertainly beenmade
towards improving theworking ofthese Agreements, butitremains insufficient andweshould try
tofindmore far-reaching solutions during theongoing reviews.
Lastly, anadditional effort ofawareness-raising andinformation astotheraison d'êtreand
significance ofthemultilateral trading system isnecessary. Thismust bedone bystepping upthe
dialogue between thepublic andtheWTO andbyimproving thetransparency oftheOrganization 's
work. Thereview oftheprocedures forthederestriction ofWTO documents scheduled tobegin in
Julywillprovide anopportunity formaking realprogress inthisdirection.
3. Future work
TheWTO 'sfuture activities largely stem from thework programme built intothe
WTO Agreements, assupplemented bythedecisions oftheMarrakesh andSingapore Conferences.
Onthisbasis, weshould launch apreparatory process toenable usatthenextMinisterial Conference
todecide onthestructure andcontent ofthecoming trade negotiations. Ourwork should alsofocus
onanynewsubject calling forWTO action owing tothenewforms ofeconomic interdependence linking
us.WT/MIN(98)/ST/32
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ForSwitzerland, thecoming trade negotiations must respond totwoneeds:
- Theneedtostrengthen themultilateral trading system asembodied bytheWTO; and
- theneedtoguarantee balance among theinterests ofallWTO Members.
Switzerland considers thatnosubject canbeexcluded apriori fromthefuture work. Itisready
towork towards aconsensus inanopen-mined andconstructive manner. Itwillstrive toensure that
themultilateral trading system develops along bothofitsinseparable dimensions: improvement of
market access andelaboration ofrulesanddisciplines thatareinkeeping withcontemporary economic
realities.
Market access
Seriousprogressneedstobemadetoeliminatetariffandnon-tariffbarriersonindustrialproducts.
Thebroadeningofliberalizationoftradeininformationtechnologyproductsandpharmaceuticalproducts
goesdirectly inthisdirection.
Inagriculture, Switzerland isprepared topursue thelong-term reform process inaccordance
withthearrangements setoutinArticle 20oftheWTO Agreement onAgriculture. Thechoice of
measures andpaceofreform, however, musttakefullyintoaccount themultifunctional character of
agriculture.
Itisalsonecessary toeliminate excessively complex customs procedures which aresometimes
more costly thancustoms tariffs themselves. Determined action inthisdirection isallthemore urgent
inthatitwilldirectly benefit small andmedium-sized enterprises andconsumers.
Ourwork should alsocover thelatest technical developments ininternational trading. This
isamajor issue, because what isatstake istheextraordinary growth potential ofdigitally traded
products. Topreserve thispotential, Switzerland isready toenvisage atariff standstill forelectronic
trade.
Improved market access isalsoamatter ofopening upgovernment procurement. Wemust
draftmultilateralrulestoimprove,onanon-discriminatorybasis,observanceofgovernmentprocurement
procedures.
Switzerland willcommit itselftopursuing theliberalization oftradeinservices. Thisimplies
improving market access commitments andreducing limitations onthenational treatment principle.
Atthesame time, itwillbeimportant toensure thatthescope ofthecommitments entered intoon
market access andnational treatment isnotlimited byauthorization procedures thatarenotinkeeping
withthecriteria oftransparency andproportionality. Therules oftheGeneral Agreement onTrade
inServices willhavetobesupplemented where thisproves necessary.
Investment andcompetition
Investmentandtradearetodaycloselylinkedandbothrequirefortheirdevelopmentapredictable
andcoherent framework. TheWTO must shoulder itsnatural roleindeveloping thisframework.
Thework thathasbeencarried outpursuant totheSingapore mandate areagoodstarting point. They
pavethewayforconcrete action. Thesame istrueoftheinteraction between trade andcompetition
policy. Inthisareatheaimmustbetoensure thattheexpected benefits stemming fromthedismantling
ofgovernment obstacles totrade arenotnullified byprivate obstacles. Extending thefundamentalWT/MIN(98)/ST/32
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principles ofthemultilateral trading system toinvestment andcompetition policies should bethestarting
point forWTO work inthisarea.
Coherence issues
Therelationship between trade andtheenvironment isoneofSwitzerland 'spriority concerns.
Theobjective ofsustainable development towhich weareallcommitted callsforcoherent practice
interms oftrade policies andenvironmental conservation policies. Wedeeply regret thefactthatthe
work carried outsofarbytheWTO hasnotproduced concrete results. Tangible progress remains
tobemade, especially inorder toensure coherence between theWTO rules andtrade provisions of
international environmental agreements. Switzerland supports theproposal toholdahigh-level meeting
oninteraction between trade andenvironment.
Cooperation between theBretton Woods institutions andtheWTO isofftoagood start.
Nevertheless, thiscooperation mustbestrengthened inorder toensure coherence inglobal economic
policy making .
InSingapore, forthefirsttimeinthemultilateral trading system weproclaimed ourcommitment
toobserving internationally recognized basic labour standards .Atthesame time, werejected the
useoflabour standards forprotectionist purposes. Since thentheInternational Labour Organization
(ILO) hasundertaken amajor series ofactivities topromote application ofthese standards. Itwould
nowbeuseful tobegin considering, inclose cooperation withtheILO, whattheWTO 'scontribution
inthisfieldcould be.
Regionalism
Therapid development ofregional cooperation isadding anewdimension tothemanagement
ofmodern trade relations. Thescope andambitiousness ofrecent regional initiatives must prompt
ustoensure thattheyarecomplementary tothemultilateral trading system. Asamatter ofpriority
wemust ensure thatregional arrangements donotcompromise therights andobligations of
WTO Members.
4. Accessions
TheWTOshouldhavethebroadestpossiblegeographicalbase.Futureaccessionswillstrengthen
theOrganization 'suniversal character andalsobuttress thereforms under wayincandidate States.
Switzerland willendeavour toensure thattheaccession procedures arecompleted asrapidly aspossible
onterms thatguarantee abalance between therights andobligations accruing from theWTO.
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