WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/95
20May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2101)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: French
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
FRANCE
Statement Circulated byJacques Dondoux,
Secretary ofState forForeign Trade
The50thAnniversary ofthemultilateral trading system provides uswiththeopportunity to
evaluate thesystem andtothink about thepriorities forthenextcentury.
Theachievements made since 1947 havebeenremarkable. ButthenewOrganization which
wascreated three years agohasserved toconsolidate themultilateral system evenfurther.
TheWTO hasfound itsplace among international economic andfinancial institutions. The
newnegotiations scheduled willallow ustocontinue inthesameveinasthelastsuccesses. Thedispute
settlement mechanism isworking well.
Arewetolimitourselves tothisandconsider ourmeeting ismerely aroutine matter?
Idonotthink so.Thefinancial crisis inAsiahasfuelled fears thatprotectionist behaviour
willre-emerge. Thisremains arisk. Thecrisis has,andwillhave, many consequences ontrade.
Atthesame time, public opinion isworried about theconsequences oftheglobalization
movement. Companies arestillconfronted withtrade andinvestment problems inallmarkets.
Itherefore believe thatweneedtosetthree priorities fortheWTO.
1. Firstofall,weneedtodoeverything possible tokeepthemultilateral trading system open
andcoherent
According totheMarrakesh Agreement, theWTO is"thecommon institutional framework
fortheconduct oftraderelations among itsMembers". Thedurability oftheOrganization, itsefficiency
andthecredibility ofitsdispute settlement mechanism usefully reinforce themultilateral trading system
atatimewhen itscoherence might beweakened.
Thedynamics ofregional integration has,foralongtime, beenthesource ofendless debate.
Thepositive contribution ofmany regional agreements totheobjective ofliberalization isundeniable.
Buttheprinciples contained inthemultilateral agreements mustberespected toguarantee compatibility
andcomplementarity oftheinitiatives taken atregional andmultilateral levels. Thisistheideabehind
thepre-eminence given tothemultilateral trading system towhich theEuropean Union hasreaffirmed
itsattachment.
Thebroadening andincreasing complexity oftheWTO 'swork programme willalsostrengthen
theOrganization. Therange oftopics onwhich wework isbecoming wider andwider. Their technical
andlegalcomplexity ofsuchtopics isgrowing. Thelinksbetween trade andregulatory reform mustWT/MIN(98)/ST/95
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alsobestudied. More andmore, panels havetodealwithmatters cutting across several Agreements,
while theirnumber continues torise.
TheWTO mustbeinaposition tofaceuptothese developments. Ithastobeprepared for
thenextsetofaccessions, inparticular China andRussia, which willgiveittheuniversal character
itshould tohave. Thereview ofAgreements andtheir modalities must beconducted from this
perspective.
France attaches thegreatest importance totheimplementation ofthecommitments entered into
inMarrakeshandSingaporewithintheagreedtime-frames.ThiswilllendcredibilitytotheOrganization.
There isnopoint inembarking onnewliberalization exercises iftheAgreements concluded arenot
totally applied, orareapplied onlypartially.
Consequently, thework conducted byourConference hasshown howmuch ground wehave
covered. Wehavereason tobeproud andweshould forge ahead.
2. Thesecond objective must betoadvance theWTO 'swork programme intheinterest of
continued liberalization oftrade andinvestment
Iamnotgoing togobackovertheAgreements concluded since theSingapore Conference.
Iwillsimply recall thesuccesses oflastDecember infinancial services, which demonstrate thatthe
serious economic difficulties wearecurrently facing havenotprevented newliberalization commitments
from being undertaken. TheWTO lived uptoitspartfullyonthisoccasion andhasgiven theright
signal.
Letmenowturntothefuture. Wehaveaveryheavy workload. Itisnowalongtimesince
international trade waslimited toborder customs duties alone.
Regulatory, sanitary andphytosanitary issues, anti-competitive practices byenterprises, public
health andconsumer protection issues, aswellassocial andenvironmental concerns needtobegiven
dueconsideration. They constitute theexpectations ofeconomic players andtheconcerns ofpublic
opinion. Iwillcome backtothislater.
Theneedfortransparency ingovernment procurement isanequally important areainwhich
Iwould liketoseeusmake progress. Public opinion isbecoming more andmore impatient inthis
respect.
Investment isbecoming increasingly central tothedynamics ofglobal trade. Employment
andgrowth depend onitandcompanies areexpecting theWTO tocover thismajor factor better.
France isoftheopinion thattogether weneedtooutline acommon legalframework, offering
economic players transparency, stability andsecurity. Otherwise, wewillallow amultilateral system
ofvarying levels tobeestablished, from which some Members willbegradually marginalized.
Theruleofconsensusandthemost-favoured-nationprincipleguaranteethatallMembersadvance
inconcert. Iamconvinced thatitisinourinterest togivepriority tothismultilateral approach, in
particular onthenewsubjects, suchastechnology andtheinformation society.
Itisessential thattheWTO dealwithallthetrade-related aspects ofelectronic trade. Iwelcome
thedecisionstakeninthisregard.Francefullysupportstheworkprogrammeandwillparticipateactively
withtheEuropean Union onthis. Wealsohopeforsuccess inourwork ofbroadening theAgreement
onInformation Technology.WT/MIN(98)/ST/95
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3. Thirdly, theneedtotakeintoaccount theexpectations andconcerns ofpublic opinion isathird
priority fortheWTO, andforeachofourcountries
Thereasons fortheconcern shown withregard toglobalization arewell-known. Wemust
constantly bearinmind thatthedevelopment oftrade andinvestment isvitaltostimulate growth,
employment andtechnological progress inallourcountries.
Wecannot letitbethought thattrade liberalization isanendinitself. Inorder toattain the
objectives Ihavejustmentioned, trade liberalization mustbecontrolled andinclude other aspects of
which public opinion isbecoming increasingly aware. Only thenwillwebeabletocontinue along
theroadofopenmarkets, liberalization andregulatory reform.
Ihavementioned theawareness ofpublic opinion. Allow metoreturn tothequestion ofbasic
social standards, which wasdiscussed atlength inSingapore. Itisstillpertinent andisbeing examined
bytheILO, anorganization whose essential roleinthisareaisrecognized byall.Atthesame time,
theWTO cannot disregard thedebate onforced labour orchildlabour, whose existence noonedenies.
Here again, theaimisclear. Wecanstarttostudy these issues together inamultilateral
framework thatgives everyone theopportunity tomake hisviews known andtodefend them. Otherwise
weruntheriskofseeing onesector ofpublic opinion exerting pressure onitsgovernment andparliament
toprovide unilateral orextraterritorial responses.
ThisiswhyFrance willsupport themeasures taken topromote common consideration and
work inthisareainboththeILOandtheWTO.
Environmental concerns arenolessimportant. TheWTO 'sefforts should bestepped upso
astomove beyond thestage ofanalysis. France hopes thattheWTO, within itsterms ofreference,
willmake asignificant contribution inthisrespect.
OurConference willhelptoboost thework oftheWTO withaview tothenegotiations to
beresumed intheyear2000. Theprinciples thatshould guide usareambition, realism andobservance
ofthecommitments undertaken andtheobjectives setfortheWTO.
Inthiseraofglobalization, France willcontinue toberesponsive totheposition ofdeveloping
countries intheglobal trading system.
Thequestion ofthepaceandform ofliberalization cannot beavoided, norcanthatofhow
toshare ofthebenefits andcostsofglobalization. ThisiswhytheEuropean Union hasfirmly committed
itself tosupporting theplanofaction forleast-developed countries.
Thepreparations fortheMinisterial Conference in1999willgivealltheMembers oftheWTO
anopportunity toexpress theirpriorities andexpectations.
ThebroadapproachadvocatedbytheEuropeanUnionshouldalloweachMembertofindsubjects
thatcorrespond toitsownpriorities intheprogramme fortheforthcoming negotiations sothatthe
finaloutcome represents thebestbalance ofinterests.
Thisremains themajor advantage ofthemultilateral approach, ashasbeenproved overand
overagain.
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