WT/MIN(15)/ST/24  
18 December 2015  
(15-6739)  Page: 1/1  
Ministerial Conference 
Tenth Session 
Nairobi, 15-18 December 2015  Original: French  
 
  STATEMENT BY H.E. MR MATTHIAS FEKL 
MINISTER OF STATE FOR FOREIGN TRADE, THE PROMOTION 
OF TOURISM AND FRENCH NATIONALS ABROAD 
FRANCE  
I would like to thank the Director-General of the World Trade Organization for his tireless efforts 
over the past few years on behalf of this valuable forum. Thanks to his determination to engage in dialogue and his boundless energy, the Director-General has become the linchpin of the 
multilateral trade negotiations. 
 All too often, these negotiations have been presented as lethargic or routine, as if the Organization 
that regulates trade between nations were the sleeping beauty of multilateral institutions. But it 
would be a mistake to perpetuate that view. In order to understand, let us go back to the roots of the WTO. 
 
The WTO is the successor to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, the GATT 1947. The GATT itself was born of the ruins of international trade following three decades of protectionism and six years of world war. Let us recall that multilateralism was a response to 
chaos. This is what makes the rules defended by the WTO so valuable: it is our responsibility to 
ensure that those rules evolve and keep up with the times. If we were to abandon the 
Organization that brings us together today, we would move inexorably towards the fragmentation 
of international trade. This is why France, a fervent supporter of multilateralism and strongly 
committed to programmes to assist developing Members with their integration, has always promoted the notion of common rules as a bulwark against that risk. 
 
We will not be able to solve everything in three days of conference. The point is, an agreement is 
possible, an agreement that will keep multilatera lism alive. Mutual concessions will have to be 
made: that is what the WTO is about. If the scope of a possible agreement were to be reduced, its 
content would nevertheless have to be balanced: this is clearly a prerequisite for the success of 
this Conference.  
There are plenty of encouraging signs. I welcome the Trade Facilitation Agreement adopted in Bali, 
which should bring about a considerable reduction in the cost of trade, particularly for the small and medium enterprises. Finalization of the IT ne gotiations in Nairobi deserves our firm support: 
the nature of trade evolves, and so must the rule s governing trade. We will need to pursue the 
negotiations on environmental goods (EGA) in 2016: following the COP21 in Paris, we have a collective responsibility to ensure that trade does not disregard environmental challenges.  
Any agreement we reach in Nairobi will be decisive for the coming years: let us find a way to 
incorporate in our agenda the new subjects of international trade: the credibility of the multilateral negotiations is at stake. 
 
Unlike the other major international institutions, the WTO is driven by its Members and not by its governing bodies. We have been entrusted with a heavy responsibility: collectively, we must find 
the necessary impetus to ensure that these negotiations are a success. 
 
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