. /.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(01)/ST/84
11 November 2001
(01-5676)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fourth SessionDoha, 9 - 13 November 2001Original:  English
MOZAMBIQUE
Statement by H.E. Mr Salvador Namburete
Deputy-Minister of Industry and Trade
Allow me, first of all, to congratulate you, on behalf of the Government and people of the
Republic of Mozambique and, indeed, on my own behalf, upon your election to preside over our
deliberations at this Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference.  We will continue to fully cooperate with
you in the discharge of your noble duties.
Let me join the previous speakers in thanking the Government and people of the State of
Qatar for hosting this Conference, for the warm hospitality accorded to us since our arrival in this
beautiful country, and for the excellent working ar rangements put at our disposal to ensure the
successful holding of this event.
As I am taking the floor after the statement by the honourable Minister of the Republic of
Malawi, who spoke on behalf of the Southern African Development Community (SADC), I would
like to take this opportunity to associate myself full y with the said statement,  particularly with regard
to a number of critical issues of paramount importance, not only for the developing countries, but for
the overall concerns within the multilateral trading system requiring our concerted efforts for the
common good.
As we stand ready to continue to work together with our trading partners, it seems to us that
time is of essence in achieving the desired solutions in many outstanding issues.  You will agree with
me that since the adoption of the Marrakesh Agreement, several issues stand short of implementationfor a better participation of the developing countries, and especially for the least-developed countries
(LDCs) like Mozambique, in the multilateral trading system (MTS).
On many occasions we have expressed our frustration and serious concern at the imbalances
resulting from globalization.  Therefore, is order to address these imbalances, Mozambique reaffirms
the view that Special and Differential Treatment (S & D) for the developing countries, particularly the
LDCs, is a core principle of the WTO.  In this regard, this Conference needs to devise special
measures to assist LDCs in their efforts to integrate themselves into the multilateral trading system, by
providing them with the required technical and financial assistance.
We have an excellent opportunity to capitalize an the Plan of Action agreed at the
LDC III Conference in Brussels last May and ensure that the best endeavour language contained inthe WTO agreements and decisions is made meaningful and operational, by adopting a decision in
Doha, turning them into legally binding commitments.
It seems that the recently created Integrated Framework Trust Fund is not proactive enough to
respond to those issues to which we urge more proactive actions by the WTO, in coordination with
the other core agencies involved.WT/MIN(01)/ST/84
Page 2
We want to place on record our appreciation for some important market access initiatives
taken by developed countries, such as the EBAS  under the ACP-EU Cotonou Agreement, the African
Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA) by the USA, and other preferential schemes including bilateral
agreements.
We are, however, seriously concerned about the lack of security of access due to the
autonomous nature of GSP and other preferential sc hemes, whose benefits are permanently threatened
by the possibility of a unilateral introduction of limitations or exclusions to products or beneficiary
countries;  by the uncertain criteria for the triggering mechanisms for such limitation or exclusions;
and the limited timeframe of application of preferences.  All these factors contribute to the high
degree of unpredictability of existing preferential market access schemes.
Another area of serious concern for my delegation with regard to preferential market access
arrangements is that of imposing non-trade related conditionalities in the qualifying criteria,
aggravated by stringent rules of origin with respect to the industrial capacity of the LDCs.
With regard to access to medicines, Mozambique reaffirms that the flexibility provisions
contained in the TRIPS Agreements, whereby Members can take actions to allow for easy access to
affordable medicines to combat communicable dis eases, in particular HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and
malaria, be upheld.  My delegation reiterates the need for the protection of traditional knowledge,
through an adequate multilateral legal framework.  It  also reiterates the need to respect international
instruments, such as the Convention on Biodiversity, the FAO Agreement on Access to Vegetable
Genetic Resources and the OAU Model Law on the Rights of Local Communities to Biological
Resources, among others.
With regard to the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), and bearing in mind the importance of
this sector in Mozambique as the main source of rural livelihoods, employing more than 80 per cent
of the labour force, it is our view that the objective should be to achieve substantial improvement on
market opportunities for all agricultural products of export potential and interest for developing
countries through a considerable reduction of tariffs and the elimination of quotas.
We recognize that the progress made in the negotiations on trade in services should be in a
manner to eliminate the imbalances between developed and developing countries in the development
of this sector.
Before I conclude, allow me to express my delegation's view that implementation issues
should be given primacy over the new ones, in the context of any future work of our Organization.
On Singapore issues, Mozambique recognizes that issues such as trade and investment,
competition, government procurement, trade facilitation, trade and environment and e-commerce are
of utmost importance.  However, we have the view that these issues are not a priority at this stage and
that the on-going study processes should continue in order to prepare for possible future work.
It is our understanding that WTO should continue playing a proactive role, based an
transparent rules with a view to restore the confidence among its Members in the process of
liberalization and globalization of the world economy.
Let me conclude by adding my voice to those who preceded me in welcoming and
congratulating the People's Republic of China on its accession to the family of the WTO.
We equally welcome, in anticipation, the accession of the Customs Territories of Taiwan,
Penghu, Kinmen and Matsu scheduled to take effect during the course of this Ministerial Conference.
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