WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/36
10December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5169)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: Spanish
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
CHILE
Statement byH.E. Mr.Alvaro Garcia
Minister ofEconomic Affairs
Ishould liketoexpress thesincere gratitude oftheGovernment ofChile tothePrime Minister
ofSingapore, GohChok Tong, andhisGovernment, fortheirwarm hospitality andfortheefficient
organization ofthisConference.
ThefirstMinisterial Conference, inSingapore, isanopportunity toassess theachievements
oftheOrganization 'sfirsttwoyears. Theresults overthisshortperiod are,byandlarge, satisfactory.
However, wearedisturbed bythehalf-hearted commitment tofulfilling theobligations ofthebuilt-in
agenda. WeMinisters cannot shirk theresponsibility ofgiving renewed impetus tothework ofthe
agenda andrestoring thebalance ofwhatwasagreed oninMarrakesh.
Similarly, wenotewithconcern theproblems raised intheimplementation oftheobligations
contained insome agreements ofimportance toourcountry, suchastheAgriculture Agreement, the
Textiles Agreement, TRIMS andtheSubsidies Agreement. Thishasbeenmade worse byshortcomings
intransparency thathaveimpeded multilateral surveillance.
Wehavebeenfrustrated toseethetrend inthenegotiations intrade inservices, inwhich our
country hasplayed anactive part. Inouropinion, suspending them hasweakened theWTO. Asfor
basic telecommunications, Chile considers thatthenegotiations must befinally andsatisfactorily
completed inFebruary 1997inorder tostrengthen theWTO 'scredibility. Itisacollective responsibility
thatnoMember canescape.
With reference tofinancial services, itisimportant toconclude thenegotiations onthebasis
ofthesignificant results achieved in1995, withfullrespect fortheprinciples underlying themultilateral
trading system.
Wetakeapositive viewofthegeneral conclusions reached bytheCommittee onTrade and
Environment. Future work willsignify concrete progress. There isnocontradiction inpromoting
theobjectives ofsustainable development and,atthesame time, maintaining theintegrity ofthe
multilateral trading system. TheGovernment ofChile reiterates thatthebestmechanism fortackling
global environmental problems isinternational cooperation andsolutions based onmultilateral
instruments.
Ascontemplated intheAgreement onAgriculture, thenegotiation process forfurther
liberalization ofagricultural trade mustberesumed from1January 1999, forwhich purpose itisvery
important togivesubstance tothedecision toinitiate aprocess ofanalysis andinformation exchange
onthismatter in1997.
Wewelcome allinitiatives toliberalize trade. Consequently, weendorse proposals suchas
theInformation Technology Agreement (ITA). However, wewould havepreferred toseethesameWT/MIN(96)/ST/36
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enthusiasm displayed inother areas, suchasagriculture ortextiles andclothing. What ismore, we
findweareprevented fromimplementing thisinitiative, sinceitisasectoral liberalization inconsistent
withourpolicy ofauniform tariff.
Inregard togovernment procurement, negotiations needtobeinitiated toopenupthesemarkets.
Wedeem itimportant thattheprinciples ofnon-discrimination, transparency anddueprocess should
apply atalllevels ofaState'sadministration, including theprovincial orStatelevels incountries with
afederal structure.
Chile hascontinued andfurthered itspolicy ofopening uptheeconomy. Thefirstpriority
istodosoonamultilateral basis andweshallbeworking enthusiastically onwhatMr.Leon Brittan
hascalled the"Millennium Round". Meanwhile, wehavecontinued toopenuptheeconomy bybilateral
orplurilateral agreements based onopenregionalism, inthefirmbelief thatsuchinitiatives strengthen
themultilateral system. Inaddition totheFreeTrade Agreements already signed andimplemented
withMexico, Colombia, Venezuela andEcuador, wehavejoined more recently inanagreement with
MERCOSUR thatforms amarket ofenormous significance forChile, andafreetradeagreement with
Canada which, inaddition togoods, includes services andinvestments andeliminates anti-dumping
measures inthebilateral convention. Inthissame context, weshallbenegotiating withourfriends
inCentral America andPanama, inaddition toPeru.
Similarly, wearecommitted toachieving thegoalofadopting afree-trade system inAPEC
bytheyear2010 andalsoinbuilding uptotheFreeTrade Area oftheAmericas. Again, itisour
expectation thattheFramework Agreement wehavesigned withtheEuropean Union willleadtoa
free-trade based form ofassociation.
Thedecisions designed tostrengthen thecomplementarity andconsistency thatshould exist
between bilateral andregional agreements andthedisciplines ofthemultilateral system arepositive.
Thishasbeenthedirection followed byChile initstrade policy. Onthispoint, theCommittee on
Regional Trade Agreements must payspecial attention torules oforigin infree-trade areas inorder
toassess andcutdown thedistortive effects thattheycreate inregard tothirdparties.
Consistent withtheviewthatamodern anddynamic organization isrequired, onewhich covers
thevarious aspects relating totrade, Chile hasco-sponsored andsupported theappropriate incorporation
ofnewandfundamental dimensions intheWTO work programme. Inparticular, weareinfavour
ofestablishingworkingpartieswhich,separately,willdealexhaustivelywithinvestmentandcompetition
policies andtheirtrade relationship, without prejudging theirfindings, soastolaythefoundations
fornewmultilateral disciplines.
Themultilateral trading system canonlybeeffective, spread andgrow stronger ifitisbased
onrules oflaw. Tothisend,additional efforts must bemade toremove anytrace ofarbitrary
discrimination inthesystem, suchasthepossibility ofapplying selective safeguards, anti-dumping
dutieswithoutappropriatedisciplines,exceptionstomost-favoured-nationtreatmentundertheAgreement
onServices, andthespread ofquantitative restrictions, particularly inagriculture. Similarly, recourse
tounilateral andextraterritorial measures under some national legislations undermines theprotection,
certainty andstability afforded bytherules ofinternational law.
Discrimination alsoexists when therearenations andeconomies thatdonottakepartdefacto
ordejureinthemultilateral trading system. Accession procedures mustbespeeded up,butwemust
alsosecure effective participation bymany Members, particularly theleastdeveloped countries. Global
welfare andworldwide security mean that,wetheother Members must allopenupourmarkets to
theirexports ofgoods andservices andbetter coordinate multilateral andbilateral cooperation forsuch
countries.WT/MIN(96)/ST/36
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Chile pursues andhastaken further atradepolicy thatisopenandtransparent, bothforgoods
andforservices, apolicy thatiscomplemented byaninvestment regime withthesame features. All
ofthisisconsistent withandfullyobserves theobligations contained intheWTO Agreement andits
Annexes, unanimously adopted bytheNational Congress.
Thebenefits ofthispolicy, which commands thebroad support ofallsectors ofnational life,
enable ustoreiterate thatitisourintention tomaintain ouractive andresponsible participation inthe
World Trade Organization.
Trade policy objectives mustbeattained withfullrespect forcorelabour rights astheyhave
beenenshrined intheILO. Wefoster therighttoorganize andtocollective bargaining. Webelieve
thatnoform offorced labour, exploitation ofchild labour orjobdiscrimination should beusedas
mechanisms toenhance trade advantages. Wemust strengthen thepositive linkbetween increased
trade flows andrespect forlabour standards. Inthisregard, weendorse thelanguage proposed in
thereport onthedraftMinisterial Declaration prepared bytheDirector-General oftheWTO.
Lastly, Iwish toexpress sincere recognition ofthework done byRenato Ruggiero,
Director-General oftheWTO, andalloftheSecretariat fortheircontinuing efforts, which havemade
foranefficient start-up ofarenewed multilateral trading system.