WT/MIN(17)/ST/24  
13 December  2017 
(17-6913) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Eleventh Session  
Buenos Aires, 10 -13 December 2017  Original:  Spanish  
 
  
STATEMENT BY H.E.  MR ALEXANDER MORA DELGADO  
MINISTER OF FOREIGN TRADE  
COSTA RICA 
Allow me to give some context to this statement by asking questions of you and of myself:  
 
What purpose is served by the multilateral trading system?  
 
Why do we participate in it?  
 
Why are we concerned about its proper functioning?  
 
What would we like to improve?  
 
Although I do not claim to have the answers to these questions, I do feel  motivated to identify  
clues that could help us to find them . This Organization, which, like trade, is a means and not an 
end in itself, must be the primary instrument for the world to be able to allocate increasingly 
scarce productive resources to their best alternative  uses, i.e. efficiently and systemically, and 
thereby aspire to reach optimum levels of production, within the natural limits of the planet . In 
this way we shall succeed in enhancing the level of relative peace and global welfare which we 
enjoy as nations.  
 
Befor e correcting what does not work well, we should be clear about what has worked since the 
creation of this institution, which we cherish as a public good of mankind : the multilateral trading 
system has generated immense value and has set up a dynamic of eco nomic growth and human 
development for its Members, including Costa Rica, which prides itself on being among those that 
have developed the furthest in the last quarter of a century . For this reason, we are convinced that 
it is in our individual and collect ive interest to make the set of rules that compose and underpin 
this system more robust, more vigorous and more effe ctive. 
 
Not all rules are created equal : there are great disparities in disciplines and obligations among the 
different Members of this Orga nization . This not only distorts trade but distorts the trust required 
to correct systemic problems in order to ensure justice in any rules -based system.  
 
The Dispute Settlement Body, considered by many to be the jewel in the crown, has been essential 
to settling trade disputes between Members in a civilized manner . Restoring it to full functionality 
must be the priority of all Members without exception, but in particular of those small countries 
like my own, for which the rule of international law is the l ast line of defence in terms of our 
guarantees, our certainty and our freedom to trade.  
 
Some Members are several years behind in notifying trade statistics, and this substantially 
weakens the WTO's reporting and monitoring function . Without up -to-date data, the Organization 
is incapable of obtaining precise evidence with which to improve the allocation of its resources and 
thus meet the needs of the membership.  
 
There are Members which demand exceptions or exclusions from compliance with new rules even 
before they have been negotiated . In a similar vein, other Members seek special and differential 
treatment even when they are not the ones in most urgent need of this mechanism which serves 
to level the playing field according to the needs and challen ges that we no doubt recognize as WT/MIN(17)/ST/24  
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  pertaining to the least developed countries . This represents a perverse logic in any regulatory 
system.  
 
I would draw attention to the fact that failure to abide by the rules in the real economy will be 
intensified in the context of the establishment of rules for the digital world ; for this reason it is 
essential to address this topic before electronic commerce becomes an industry that is impossible 
to regulate.  
 
Madam Chairperson : today more than ever, I think it very impo rtant to assert our leadership by 
devising a vision of how we would like the WTO to fulfil its purpose for the sake of both our 
domestic interests and those of the international community . The WTO that we want requires the 
will and consensus of its Members  if it is to become a reality.  
 
The path to good governance is neither anarchy nor the destruction of things that work even if 
they are imperfect . Intellectual honesty and diplomatic skill are required to indicate what is amiss 
and seek a way to achieve su stainable improvement by and for all . I urge the entire membership, 
particularly my fellow Ministers of the 164 Members of this Organization, to take up the challenge 
of remodelling this House while continuing to live in it and abiding by its rules.  
 
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