. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(03)/ST/47
11 September 2003
(03-4797)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fifth Session
Cancún, 10 - 14 September 2003Original:  Spanish
CHILE
Statement by H.E. Mrs Maria Soledad Alvear
Minister for Foreign Affairs
I should like to begin by thanking the Mexican authorities, through Minister Derbez, and the
State of Quintana Roo for organizing this Fifth Ministerial Conference.
Since the Doha Ministerial Conference, Chile has pursued further its trade policy based on
openness and transparency.  Our single customs tariff has been reduced unilaterally to 6 per cent.   We
have concluded free trade agreements with the European Union, the United States, Korea and the
EFTA countries.  These are in addition to the agreements we already have with Mexico, virtually allthe countries of South and Central America and Canada.  As a result of the foregoing, the average
tariff applied is close to 2 per cent and soon, 80 per cent of our trade will be free of tariffs.
Ours is not the only example of such trends.  A growing number of economies are seeking to
liberalize their trade swiftly and on the basis of sound disciplines, even in services and investment.  In
doing so, their preferred instrument has been agreements concluded outside the WTO, the reason
being that negotiations in the WTO are slow and their ambition is not always set as high as the levelthat can be achieved in bilateral agreements.  The delays in the present Doha Round are a case in
point.  If the problems at the root of those delays  are not overcome at this Ministerial Conference,
there will be even greater incentive to seek bilateral agreements.
We nevertheless believe that it is essential to have a strengthened system which is fully
legitimate and lays down principles and rules for in ternational trade.  To fulfil that role the WTO
occupies a unique position that no bilateral or regional agreement can equal, and we cannot waste it.
First, the size and diversity of its membership means that the agreements adopted in the WTO
will be seen as legitimate by world public opinion in as much as they reflect a balance that is inkeeping with that diversity.
Secondly, failure to make progress in the WTO amounts to making the benefits of trade
inaccessible to many countries, particularly the poorest, whose trade depends heavily on a few
products in which they have comparative advantages, which are at present highly protected and theproduction and trade of which show sever distortions.
Thirdly, the WTO is the only Forum capable of settling a number of fundamental problems
for which no bilateral or regional agreement has found or will find a solution.  A case in point is the
growing abuse of anti-dumping measures by an increasing number of countries.  But the most striking
example is the enormous agricultural subsidies granted by a small number of rich countries which
have devastating effects on the rest.WT/MIN(03)/ST/47
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This brings me to the origins of the Doha Round.  Named the "development" round, its
purpose is to enable the developing countries and the least-developed countries to be fully integrated
in the multilateral trade system and, as a consequence, to receive the benefits the system generates.  In
order to succeed, the Round must clearly focus on th e key issue:  agriculture.  To eliminate the
paradox that currently exists whereby the tenets of economic theory are applied strictly to a certain
type of product but not others, is the greatest contribution that the multilateral trade system can make
to lifting millions of people out of poverty.  This is widely acknowledged not only in the academic
world but also by the governments of the countries that subsidize agriculture the most.  Yet so far the
rhetoric has not been accompanied by actions.
Fulfilling the Doha mandate in agriculture requires adjustments that involve social and
economic costs in the short term.  For that reason, the necessary flexibility must exist for those
adjustments to be gradual and politically viable.  To that end, we might consider the possibility of
allowing longer deadlines for implementation than those traditionally granted in the GATT/WTO,
particularly for the implementation of commitmen ts requiring more complex adjustments.  Time
limits of more than a decade, perhaps.
Flexibility for the implementation of commitments must not imply lowering the level of
ambition set at Doha.  On the contrary, we must take advantage of  the flexibility to raise our level of
ambition.
Our main task is to eliminate all forms of subsidies on agricultural exports and substantially
reduce domestic support in this sector which distort trade.
If these objectives are not achieved, it will be very difficult – perhaps impossible – to make
headway in other areas of the negotiations, and even more difficult to broaden the single packageagenda.
The time has come for the industrial countries to put an end to unfair competition, the
counterpart of which is greater poverty in our countries in the developing world.  We must transform
the rhetoric on development that accompanied the launching of the Doha Round into real political will
to solve our problems and give effect to what we agreed.  No more, no less.
I should like also to note and express our satisfaction at the agreement reached on public
health and access to medicines.  This not only solves an urgent humanitarian problem, but also
improves the image of the WTO in the eyes of civil society and gives a strong impetus to the Doha
Round.
We welcome Cambodia and Nepal as full Members of the WTO.  We hope that it will be
possible to speed up and facilitate the accession processes of the remaining candidates, particularly
the other least-developed countries.
Lastly, we express our gratitude and support for the offer made by Hong Kong, China to host
the Sixth Ministerial Conference.
In conclusion, I hope that the important meeting that lies ahead will be crowned with success.
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