WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/30/Rev.1 
15 December 2005 
 (05-6028) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
NORWAY 
 
Statement by HE Mr Jonas Gahr Støre
 
Minister of Foreign Affairs  
 
Revision  
 
 I would like to join the other speakers in congr atulating you on your election as Chairman of 
the Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference, and to thank Hong Kong, China, for hosting this Conference.  
Hong Kong is an excellent choice of venue, as it is  one of the world's most open economies and has 
shown an impressive rate of econom ic growth over the past decades. 
  There are mixed expectations for the outcome of  the Conference.  Under your able leadership, 
I am confident that if we all make a real effort, we will be able to take the Doha Round a significant 
step further.  
  The Doha Development Agenda has a single ove rriding goal:  to ensure that international 
trade boosts economic development and alleviates povert y.  In order to reach this goal, we need to 
secure and improve a strong and fair multilateral trading system.  
 
 Norway has benefited from the expansion of this trading system, which is built on rules and regulations and the principle of mutual advantage.   Now our task and responsibility is to further 
expand the system and to facilitate the inclusion of  developing countries in a way that will offer them 
real opportunities for trade, development and social progress.   
 The stakes are high.  Either we succeed in expanding the global trading system so that it 
safeguards the interests of all, or we will fail, and see the start of the total disintegration of the 
multilateral system.    It is vital that we are inclusive.  The inter ests of Members and groups of Members vary.  In a 
final agreement, the interests and concerns of the en tire membership will have to be duly reflected in a 
balanced way as part of the Single Undertaking.  This will require compromise, mutual respect and 
hard work.   Norway has clear interests in the negotiations on NAMA and services.  Our fish exports are in 
great demand all over the world.  Yet they face innumerable hurdles and protectionist measures.  We 
are determined to strengthen WTO rules in order to  prevent benefits from market access negotiations 
from being undermined by trade remedies that are applied for protectionist purposes.    Norwegian agriculture faces severe challenges due to our harsh climate.  One third of 
mainland Norway lies north of the Arctic Circle, we have a short growing season and much of the 
country is mountainous.  Therefore, we cannot co mpete on the world market.  We export very few 
agricultural products and already import half of what we consume.   WT/MIN(05)/ST/30/Rev.1 
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  We are willing to contribute in these negotiations .  The offer we are making together with our 
G-10 partners represents net losses in all the negotiati ng areas.  I note that some partners have stated 
that they are prepared to give on domestic support if  they gain on market access.  For us, the question 
is all about giving.  We are prepared to give, and we  realize that our agricultu ral sector will have to 
undergo profound changes.  But there are limits.  We n eed an agreement that re flects the fact that our 
agricultural sector differs from those in Central Eu rope or the Americas.  One size simply does not fit 
all.  It is vital for Norway to maintain a sufficien t level of protection to be able to sustain a viable 
agricultural sector and our non-trade concerns.   In the light of this, Norway is firmly of the view that a tariff cap should not be part of the 
solution and that the different tariff structures of the various Member States will have to be taken into 
account.  All Members should be able to designate  an appropriate number of sensitive products.  
  We have to make further progress on non-agricultural market access in this Round of negotiations.  Like many developing country Member s, we are looking for ambitious results.  We 
stand by our commitments in the Doha Mandate to reduce and eliminate tariffs on products of 
particular interest to developing countries in areas where peaks and escalation prevail.   
  And I repeat, one size does not fit all.  The interests and concerns of developing countries 
vary widely.  The flexibility needed by small and vulnerable Members with a narrow industrial base is 
not the same as that needed by other developing co untry Members.  We will contribute constructively 
to viable solutions to these Members' concerns.  To succeed we must negotiate the level of ambition 
and the type of flexibility granted to devel oping countries in an integrated manner.  
  Rules constitute an important part of market  access and should therefore be negotiated in 
parallel with market access issues.  
 
 Services play a crucial role in economic growth  for developed and developing countries alike.  
We have high ambitions for the services negotiations.  And again, it is important to find ways of both 
achieving an ambitious result and safeguarding the legitimate concerns of the poorest Members.  
  This Round is a development Round.  Most of the development gains will be from increased 
market access.  Given the recalibration of expectations for this Ministerial Conference and the 
postponement of the end date, it is important at this  stage to send a strong development message to the 
rest of the world.  We need an "early harvest",  and we are ready to contribute to this end.   
  Norway supports the elements that have been discussed in this connection.  An early harvest 
would be an important signal from Ministers that th e development Round is be ing taken seriously.   
  In the light of this, Norway welcomes the Ag reement reached on TRIPS and Public Health in 
Geneva last week.  But we need to go further.  We  need a mandate to negotiate an amendment to the 
TRIPS Agreement that requires the disclosure of th e source or the country of origin of genetic 
material or any traditional knowledge on wh ich a patent application is based.   
 
 A bold decision should also be taken on duty - and quota-free market access for products 
originating from least developed countries.  Norway is already providing such market access for all 
LDC products.  We challenge others to do the sam e.  This would be a substantial outcome of 
Hong Kong and an opportunity we should not miss.  
 
 We also appreciate the importance of cotton for Africa, and will contribute positively to 
efforts to find a viable solution.     Substantial increases in Aid for Trade would be an equally positive signal to developing 
countries that rich countries are willing to do their share.  We therefore urge all Members to pledge  WT/MIN(05)/ST/30/Rev.1 
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 substantial increases in trade-related technical assist ance here in Hong Kong.  Norway will for its part 
make a significant increase in its contri bution to the Integrated Framework. 
  The LDCs are not expected to take on new co mmitments in this Round.  Therefore, the new 
Norwegian Government has decided to withdraw a ll its services requests to the LDCs.  Each country 
should be able to decide how to organize its key infrastructure sectors.  Norway knows from 
experience that the development of such key sect ors was essential to the development of its own 
national economy.     Therefore, we have withdrawn requests rela ted to higher educati on and other education 
services, retail sale of electricity and water distribution services vis-à-vis  developing countries.   
  As we look ahead beyond this Round, we mu st not be afraid of addressing new issues.  
Proposals have been put forward to include ILO standards in future WTO negotiations.  Norway 
supports the idea, which is backed by labour unions , of promoting coherence between the work of the 
WTO and the work of the ILO.  
  Before closing, I would like to take this oppor tunity to welcome Saudi Arabia and Tonga to 
the WTO family.  We trust that the negotiations  on the applications that are still outstanding – 
including the major trading partne r Russia, as well as Ukraine, Viet Nam and others – will be brought 
to a successful conclusion as soon as possible. 
 
 Norway regrets that we do not have a draft ministerial decision with proposals for full modalities in the main negotiating areas on the tabl e here in Hong Kong.  Nonetheless, I am still 
optimistic.  We all agree that the level of ambiti on for the Round should rema in unchanged.  We can 
still finish the negotiations in the course of 2006.   
 
 Together we must ensure that Hong Kong is a constructive and dynamic start to the final step 
of the Doha Development Round.   
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