WORLD TRADE WT/GC(97)/ST/7
16December 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-5522)
Original: English General Council
10December 1997
HONG KONG, CHINA
Statement byMr.Stuart Harbinson
Permanent Representative oftheHong Kong
Special Administrative Region ofChina
Letmesayattheoutset howgrateful wearetotheChairpersons ofthevarious Councils and
Committees andtotheSecretariat foralltheirhardwork overtheyear. Thereports before usrepresent
averyimpressive body ofwork. Weareparticularly grateful totheChairman oftheTrade Policy
Review Body andtoDr.Kimfortheirintroductions ontheoverview ofdevelopments intheinternational
trading environment. Ishould nowliketocomment briefly onsome oftheissues raised inthesuccinct
andilluminating report compiled bytheDirector-General.
Thereport rightly refers tothepolicy challenges presented bydevelopments inthefinancial
sector. Hong Kong, China firmly believes thattheanswers lieinthecombined virtues ofsound rules,
regulation andfurther liberalization. These areareas inwhich theWTO hasamajor roletoplay.
Thechallenge most immediately facing usisofcourse theconclusion ofthecurrent negotiations on
financial services: thisisachallenge which wemustaccept andovercome, inorder tosendasignal
ofconfidence andprogress totheoutside world. Butbeyond thatwewillstillhavemuch work to
do.
There arealsobroader challenges facing theOrganisation, andweareparticularly grateful
totheDirector-General fortheindicative listofthese provided inparagraph 8oftheOverview report.
They areallmajor issues inthemselves andbearrepeating -tomaintain andwhere necessary improve
theimplementation ofWTO Agreements (wehavealready commented ononespecific itemunder this
heading -textiles andclothing); toensure apositive relationship between regional agreements andthe
multilateral trading system; tomake theWTO atruly“World ”organisation; totackle theproblems
ofthemarginalisation, andlastbutbynomeans leasttoshape thefuture agenda oftheWTO.
Wewere alsogladtonotetheview expressed intheOverview thatthedispute settlement
mechanism isproving aneffective instrument, withregard towhich bothdeveloped anddeveloping
countries areparticipating. Themechanism isofcourse coming upforreview but,inthelightofthis
general assessment withwhich weagree, thisdelegation doesnotforesee theneedformajor change
atthisstage.
Thereport alsodraws attention tothefactthattraditional market access issues arestillrelevant
toourdeliberations. Inparticular, asubstantial number ofhightariffs remain andtheseaffect “classic ”
areassuchasagriculture,textilesandclothing,whichareofconsiderableinteresttodevelopingmembers.
While itisfashionable todownplay traditional market access problems these days, mydelegation has
nodoubt thattheyarestillcentral toourfuture agenda fortrade liberalization. Wemust bearthis
inmind asourfuture agenda evolves.
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Thereport confirms ourownimpression thattheprocess ofregional integration hasintensified.
Asaresult, differences between MFN andpreferential ratesofduty, between regional andinternational
standards, andthemultiplicity ofpreferential rulesoforigin arematters ofincreasing concern tothis
delegation. Itisessential thatthepaceofmultilateral tradeliberalization andtradepolicy rule-making
keeps pacewithdevelopments ontheregional front. Itisnotourimpression thatthisis,overall, the
current situation. Therefore, inourview, inorder toensure aprocess ofconvergence between
multilateralism andregionalism theWTO, astheguardian ofmultilateralism, needs todevelop abroad,
balanced andactive work planforthefuture. Thisisatheme towhich weexpect toreturn nextyear.
Finally, thequestion ofmarginalization. Itistosome extent reassuring thatwehavestarted
totackle thisissue, butweshould remember thatwehaveonlyjuststarted. Hong Kong, China hopes
tobeabletocontinue toplayaconstructive roleinfuture work inthispolicy area, which weregard
asessential tothefuture health ofthisOrganisation andtheworld trading system ingeneral.