WT/MIN(15)/ST/19  
18 December 2015  
(15-6728)  Page: 1/1  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY HON. TODD MCCLAY 
MINISTER OF TRADE 
NEW ZEALAND  
It is my pleasure to address you as a group for the first time.  At the outset, let me thank the 
Government and People of Kenya for their gracious hosting of this Ministerial Conference and for the hospitality that they have extended to us.   
It must be clear to all of us that this will not be  an easy week, and that the current situation is not 
an auspicious way to mark the 20th anniversary of  the WTO. But, we are here, and we are working 
together to secure an outcome befitting that important milestone.   
 
Despite the difficulties it has faced, the WTO remains New Zealand’s number one trade priority. For a small, geographically isolated, trading nation like ours, nothing offers greater potential than 
the multilateral, rules-based, trading system. And, to be very clear, this system must include a 
negotiating function – whether it be one based on Doha or otherwise.    Drawing the curtains on the Doha Round could not mean that the Doha issues, or the problems 
that have impeded us, will go away. We cannot pretend, for example, that a system which allows 
some countries to maintain very high levels of domestic support, and border protection in agriculture, is a fair one.  
 
Equally, as the global economy evolves, so too mu st the multilateral trading system evolve. This 
process of evolution must be reflected in the ac tivities of the WTO.  We must complete the 
20
th century agenda, but we cannot exclusively lock ourselves into that.  Nor can we afford to 
pause, or rewind, the progress the WTO has made over two decades. That progress is more than implementing the WTO agreements, settling disputes  and ensuring oversight of commitments.  I 
refer here to the essential role that the WTO plays in progressing the trade agenda, and ensuring 
it adapts to meet the requirements of a modern world.  
 We have the opportunity, over the critical hours and days ahead, to demonstrate that the WTO can 
progress that agenda in several critical areas.  Most significantly for New Zealand’s economy, we 
are all working hard on a substantive and important outcome in export competition in agriculture.  As President Kenyatta wisely observed yesterday, the agriculture negotiations are the ones from 
which developing countries can derive most gains, while also providing us with the best 
opportunity to address longstanding distortions.  In particular, we hope that we can achieve our long-held goal of finally eliminating agricultural 
export subsidies, as well as other measures on export financing and food aid.   We also look 
forward to substantial outcomes for Least Developed Countries in a range of areas, and to the other elements of the Nairobi Package that are being progressed.  New Zealand will continue to 
play its part in making this Conference a success. 
 As the Director-General has said, we know that the outcome of this Ministerial will not be 
comprehensive. But we can – and must – ensure it is credible. And what is credible is more than 
just agreeing on the lowest common denominator. It is achieving an outcome that is commercially meaningful, that can be implemented and respecte d, and which will act as a compass that can 
guide us in the next stage of our journey as Members of this organization. 
__________