WT/MIN(13)/ST/103  
27 January 2014  
(14-0439)  Page: 1/2  
Ministerial Conference 
Ninth Session 
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: Spanish  
 
  STATEMENT BY H.E. MR HÉCTOR MARCOS TIMERMAN 
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS AND WORSHIP 
ARGENTINA  
I would like to begin by thanking the Government of Indonesia and the Indonesian people for their 
hospitality in organizing this Conference. May I also take this opportunity to greet the Conference Chairman and the new WTO Director-General, Roberto Azevêdo. I wish to thank Mr Azevêdo for the efforts he has made to revitalize the WTO trade negotiations since taking up his position 
only a few months ago. 
 I believe we now have the urgent task of reflecting upon our collective inability to establish 
concrete measures in fa vour of development. 
 The failure to make progress in the Doha Round - a round of negotiations devised to ensure 
development and balance the results of the Urug uay Round - not only endangers the credibility 
of the WTO, but affects the outlook for the multilateral trading system. These risks would 
not be dissipated by forcing an unbalanced agreement merely to obtain a result.  
In his opening address yesterday, His Excellency  the President of the Republic of Indonesia, 
Mr Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, made various references to the need to secure a fairer and more equitable multilateral trading system, and this is the essence of the problem we face. As we all 
know, many negotiators in Geneva consider these attributes (fairness and equity) completely alien 
to the reality of the negotiations at the WTO. We  should not therefore be surprised by the lack 
of positive results. 
 
I t  i s  c l e a r  t h a t  i f  t h e  B a l i  p a c k a g e  s u f f e r s  f r o m  a  l a c k  o f  b a l a n c e ,  a s  w e  b e l i e v e  i t  d o e s ,  it is because Members' concerns have so far not been taken into account in the texts negotiated 
in Geneva and, even more fundamentally, because the package in its current state, 
as we understand it, is neither representative of, nor does justice to, the Doha mandate. 
 In our view, the Trade Facilitation Agreement is not an agreement which favours the poorest 
countries or provides widespread benefits, but on e that benefits some Members more than others. 
 Argentina will support the proposed Trade Facilitation Agreement on the condition that the Bali 
package includes substantial measures responding to long-standing demands for reforms 
in agriculture, a sector at the heart of the Doha Agenda which is severely distorted by subsidies and the policies implemented by developed countries. For the time being, however, there is no correlation between the trade facilitation commitments asked of the developing countries and any 
equivalent provision requiring developed countries to undertake commitments in the areas 
of agriculture and development. We are working to achieve a balanced agreement.  
Developing country exports continue to suffer from trade barriers and subsidies, in particular 
in agriculture. Such policies have harmed developing countries for decades, affecting food production in particular. We all know that Africa  was a net exporter of food before the "subsidy 
war" and developed country protectionism, and it  could be again if the rules governing trade 
in agriculture are reformed.  Our countries do not need hasty and ill-considered liberalization that crystallizes our productive 
and commercial structure around primary goods and manufactured products with low value added. WT/MIN(13)/ST/103 
- 2 - 
  However, lowering access barriers to develope d country markets is vital for development 
as it helps to generate the foreign exchange required to cover increased imports linked to growth and industrialization.  
At this time of uncertainty for the future of the multilateral trade negotiations, Argentina reaffirms 
its commitment to the Doha mandate and undertakes to continue negotiating in a spirit of cooperation and flexibility, as it has done up until now. 
 
If no agreement is reached on a package in Bali , it will not be because the elements of the 
package are wrong or inappropriate, but rather because not enough attention has been given to its horizontal balance. There cannot be commitments for some and mere declarations or aspirations 
for others. For the post-Bali work programme, we propose continuing with this agenda with a view 
to achieving consensus and binding commitments on all issues. This includes urgent work on export subsidy elimination, which must be a priority if we hope to re-establish vital attributes 
such as equity and justice in a rules-based trading system. 
 Failure to reach agreement on the Bali package will not, in our opinion, mean the end 
of multilateralism and the WTO, but will simply prove that to reach an agreement it is necessary 
to take everyone's interests into account.  We believe that no new issues should be accepted until the Bali agenda issues most closely related 
to development, such as agriculture, special and differential treatment, and the situation of LDCs, 
have been agreed on. It would be difficult  for us to advance towards a supposed "21
st century 
agenda" when serious, long-standing problems on the 20th century agenda remain unresolved. 
 
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