WT/MIN(13)/ST/25  
4 December 2013  
(13-6662)  Page: 1/3  
Ministerial Conference 
Ninth Session 
Bali, 3-6 December 2013  Original: English  
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. ARCHBISHOP SILVANO M. TOMASI 
APOSTOLIC NUNCIO - PERMANENT OBSE RVER OF THE HOLY SEE TO THE  
UNITED NATIONS AND OTHER INTERNAT IONAL ORGANIZATIONS IN GENEVA 
(Speaking as an Observer) 
HOLY SEE 
First of all, my Delegation would like to thank the Government of Indonesia for the effective 
organization of this timely and important conference and for the generous hospitality of the 
Indonesian people. 
 Five years after the onset of the global financial crisis, the world economy still struggles in hope of 
returning to a strong and sustained growth path. The rate of world output, which was 2.2 per cent 
in 2012, is projected at a similar rate in 2013. As in  previous years, developed countries are expected to show the poorest performance, with an approximate increase of 1 per cent in gross 
domestic product (GDP).
1 Developing countries are expected to grow by between 4.5 and 5 per 
cent in 2013, as in 2012. This growth has been dr iven more by domestic demand than by exports, 
as external demand from developed economies has remained weak. Economic activity in many developed countries and a number of emerging market economies are still suffering from the 
impact of the financial and economic crisis and from the unsustainable financial processes and 
domestic and international imbalances that led to it.   
Experience and economic research show that financial crises have a long lasting impact on the 
economy. Not only the balance sheets of financial institutions are heavily affected, but also those of the government and of the private sector suffe r heavily. In several ad vanced economies, this 
has resulted in an unprecedented increase in go vernment debt and poses a severe constraint on 
future growth prospects. Moreover the restrictiv e fiscal policies, which  often are implemented in 
order to cope with the debt, have, in turn, worsened the already precarious economic condition of several countries. 
 
While a minority is experiencing exponential growth in wealth, the gap is widening to separate the vast majority from the prosperity enjoyed by those happy few. This imbalance is the result of 
ideologies that defend the absolute autonomy of  the marketplace and of financial speculation. 
Consequently, there is an outright rejection of the right of States, charged with vigilance for the common good, to exercise any form of control. A new tyranny is thus born, invisible and often 
virtual, which unilaterally and relentlessly imposes its own laws and rules. An even worse 
development is that such policies are sometimes locked in through trade rules negotiated at the WTO or in bilateral or regional FTAs. Debt and the accumulation of interest also make it difficult for countries to realize the potential of their own econ omies and keep citizens from enjoying their real 
purchasing power. To all this, we can add wide spread corruption and self-serving tax evasion, 
which have taken on worldwide dimensions. The thirst for power and possessions knows no limits. In this system, which tends to devour everything which stands in the way of increased profits, 
whatever is fragile, like the environment, is defenceless before the interests of a deified market, 
which become the only rule.  
                                               
1 Cf. UNCTAD Trade and Development Report: http://unctad.org/en/Publica tionsLibrary/tdr2013_en.pdf.  WT/MIN(13)/ST/25 
 
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  In this setting, the promotion of trade could have a positive impact on several economies and thus 
set the stage for a stronger recovery and for a return to pre crisis growth, as the weak internal demand can be supported by the external componen t. Each meaningful economic decision made in 
one part of the world has repercussions everywhere else; consequently, no government can act 
without regard for shared responsibility.  As we have experienced over last years, it is becoming 
increasingly difficult to find local solutions for major global problems that overwhelm local politics w i t h  d i f f i c u l t i e s  t o  b e  r e s o l v e d .  I f  w e  r e a l l y  want to achieve a healthy world economy, what is 
needed at this juncture of history is a more efficient way of interacting which, with due regard for 
the sovereignty of each nation, ensures the economic well-being of all countries, not just of a few.  The Bali package has the potential to be a vital step towards the creation of  something new by 
WTO, something that can lead to other new opportunities – to innovation in our approach to 
multilateral negotiations. A balanced and fair trade facilitation agreement clearly is within reach. It could be the first multilateral trade agreement produced by the WTO; moreover  this trade 
facilitation deal could represent the most significant development delivered so far by the WTO.  It 
is well known that there are significant economies of scale that can be realized in this domain. Many time-saving techniques, such as computerized container scanning, are only available in high-
volume ports;  in addition, the marginal value of investment in trade facilitation may be higher 
when trade volume is large, since cost savings ar e passed on to a larger quantity of goods. Thus 
this has the potential of generating a virtuous circle where more efficient trade facilitation stimulates trade, and in turn trade improves trade facilitation.  
 
A trade facilitation agreement, therefore, is  as close to a "win-win" condition as can exist in the real world. Both developed and developing countries would benefit, and the gains will be larger for 
the latter. By some estimates, a trade facilitati on agreement is estimated to reduce costs for 
developed countries by 10 percent, but, for developing countries, by 14 percent. In fact, at its core, trade facilitation, is about connecting countries — their farmers and businesses — to the 
global economy. This is most important for small and medium-sized businesses that have the drive 
to succeed but lack the resources to maneuver through red tape.  However, developing countries alone should not bear the costs of technological im provements to facilitate trade.  A requirement 
that developing countries choose between funding vital education, healthcare, or transportation 
programs in order to fund trade facilitation technology is unjust.  Developed countries, which will 
share in the benefits, must share in the costs.  
As we have seen over last three months, agreem ent is also reachable on additional development 
issues such as a monitoring mechanism for the implementation of special and [differential] provisions, and new guidelines on rules of origin and last but not least the concerns of certain 
developing countries about food security. 
 The volatility of food prices in recent years has caused great harm to farmers, both  in the global North and South. The complexity and cost of oper ating grain reserves is well known. However, the 
lack of insurance against market failure could result in enormous costs for emergency assistance. 
Worse yet, such a crisis could cost lives – lives lost to hunger as an immediate consequence, and lives blighted for several generations by the e ffects of malnutrition on fetal development.  
 
In recent years the Holy See consistently has expr essed concern about food security, as stated by 
Pope Francis in His Message for the World Food Da y "…an invitation to rethink and renew our food 
systems from a perspective of solidarity, overcoming  the logic of unbridled exploitation of creation 
and orienting better our commitment to cultivate an d look after the environment and its resources, 
to guarantee food security and progress towards sufficient and healthy food for all". The "text on public stockholding for food security purposes" follows along the same lines
2 and could represent a 
good basis for the future negotiation in the post-Bali Agenda. We invite all delegates to support 
and finalize an agreement that would provide a more secure, stable and equitable access to food for countries that need it.  
 
Mr President, the Bali conference occurs after a lo ng series of failed Ministerial Conferences. We 
are collectively responsible for making it a successful conference. For too many years, multilateral 
negotiations have been stalled by a limited amount of issues that are effectively impeding the 
success of the whole package. 
                                               
2 Doc. JOB/TNC/29.  WT/MIN(13)/ST/25 
 
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  As a result, many countries opted to liberalize trade through Regional or Bilateral Trade 
Agreements. The number of such agreements ha s increased exponentially during the last 15 
years. Currently there is a clear tendency to further enlarge these RTAs to form mega-regional trade agreements such as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership, or the Trans-Pacific 
Partnership. Certainly, the enlargement of regional trade agreements is a step towards further 
trade liberalization but we have to bear in mind  that these agreements inevitably threaten the 
desirability to reach an agreement on a truly multilateral basis. In fact, by entering a regional 
trade agreement a country reduces the incentives to  extend its efforts on trade liberalization at a 
multilateral level. Most importantly, we know that only the multilateral system is a clear, equitable system that provides effective guarantees for small and poor countries that tend to be penalized in 
a Regional Trade Agreement where it is asymmetric.  Among the most damaging concessions 
developing countries make in regional and bilateral agreements are those enhancing the 
monopolies on life-saving medicines
3, which reduce access and affordability and those that provide 
excessive legal rights to foreign investors, limiting the policy space for nations to promote 
sustainable and inclusive development.4   
 In conclusion, 
We all should be aware of the fact that we currently find ourselves at a crossroad in multilateral 
trade negotiations and probably in shaping the future for the WTO.  Two contradictory paths could be taken at this crossroad: 
In one, we fail to deliver a meaningful post-Bali Agenda. In this way not only will we lose yet 
another opportunity, but also many offers of flexibility, for this package will disappear for an indeterminate period of time. 
 
In this scenario, the role and the credibility of the WTO itself will inevitably start to be questioned. How can we ask individuals and firms to believe in a multilateral framework that in a period of 
almost 20 years has yet to reach the closure of the first negotiation round? The loss of the WTO as 
a negotiating forum of course, would have the greatest impact on the smallest and the poorest economies. Big countries will always have options.  Fair or unfair, that is a reality. As Pope Francis urged in his Apostolic Exhortation
5  “ The need to resolve the structural causes of poverty cannot 
be delayed, not only for the pragmatic reason of  its urgency for the good order of society, but 
because society needs to be cured of a sickness which is weakening and frustrating it, and which can only lead to new crises. Welfare projects, which meet certain urgent needs, should be 
considered merely temporary responses. As long as the problems of the poor are not radically 
resolved by rejecting the absolute autonomy of markets and financial speculation and by attacking 
the structural causes of inequality
6, no solution will be found for the world’s problems or, for that 
matter, to any problems. Inequality is the root of social ills”. 
 The second path, to be taken as we exercise our common responsibility, will result in a more 
hopeful scenario. Over the last months some progress has been made on the Doha agenda and 
new proposals have been put on the table. It is possible, therefore, to  bring about, through this 
conference  a turnaround in trade talks,  so that the WTO can regain its central role in addressing new problems, tackling new opportunities, and, most importantly,  in promoting more free and 
equitable trade, not as an end unto itself, but as one of many tools to end poverty for all. 
 
__________  
                                               
3See, e.g., "All costs, no benefits: How TRI PS-plus intellectual property rules in the US-Jordan FTA affect access to medicines, " 
Oxfam Briefing Paper No. 102, March 21, 2007, http://www.oxfam.org/sites/www.oxfam.org /files/all%20costs,%20no%20benefits.pdf .   
4 See, e.g., UNCTAD, "Towards a New Generation of Intern ational Investment Policies: UNCTAD's Fresh Approach to 
Multilateral Investment Policy-Making," II A Issues Note No. 5, July 2013, e  
http://unctad.org/en/Publications Library/webdiaepcb2013d6_en.pdf.  
5 APOSTOLIC EXHORTATION EVANGELII GAUDIUM, par.202 . 
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/frances co/apost_exhortations/documents/pap a-francesco_esortazione-ap_20131124_evangelii-
gaudium_en.html#_ftnref173.  
6 This implies a commitment to "eli minate the structural causes of globa l economic dysfunction": BENEDICT XVI, Address to the 
Diplomatic Corps (8 January 2007): AAS 99 (2007), 73.