WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/149 
17 December 2005 
 (05-6164) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
  
PAPUA NEW GUINEA 
 
Statement by the Honourable Paul Tiensten
 
Minister for Trade and Industry  
   Thank you for giving me this opportunity to address this Conference.  But before I do so, I want to firstly express my delegation's sincere gra titude to the Government and people of the Special 
and Administrative Region of Hong Kong, Chin a for their warm welcome and hospitality - xie xie ni . 
  Many of us from smaller States have come he re with a great hope that our concerns and 
interests will be considered and addressed by tho se developed and more advanced developing states 
who are in a position to help – help us to overcom e our specific development challenges - help us to 
steer our economies towards greater prosperity - and help us to integrate more fully into the global 
economy. 
  We have heard the so-called "prophesies of doom " and the concerns of those who fear that 
small economies such as mine will be forever margina lized in world trade.  But I am here in Hong 
Kong because it is my conviction that this Conferen ce can set a clear and concise mandate to fulfil the 
Doha Development Agenda. 
  I am in full support of my fellow Ministers who ha ve stressed that development must be at the 
core of these negotiations.  Failing to recognize th is will deny poorer, smal ler and more vulnerable 
developing countries such as mine the hope of a better future that is achievable through the 
multilateral trading system. 
 
 Let me say a few words about the small, vul nerable economies' work programme, which my 
country supports and remains fully committed to.  For small and vulnerable economies to achieve 
fuller integration, their specific  needs must be fully addressed. 
 
 Agriculture is the "backbone" of our economies and supports the livelihood of millions of our 
people.  In my country living off the land is a way of life;  it is the main source of our food, income, employment, and a major source of foreign exchange.  The figures indicate that it accounts for 40 per cent of Papua New Guinea's GDP, 25 per cent of  foreign exchange earnings and provides the 
livelihood for over 80 per cent of the population.  I believe that it is similar in other small and 
vulnerable developing countries. 
  It is from this standpoint that we approach  the question of market access for agriculture 
products.  We must not be required to make tariff reduction commitments that are incompatible with 
our economic status and development needs.  De signation and treatment of  appropriate special 
products that reflect the specific circumstances in our  markets is an important means to achieve this 
goal. 
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  The fact is that liberalization will reduce and ev entually eliminate the benefits that we derive 
from preferential schemes.  Because of the importa nce of exports under these arrangements to the 
economic well-being of our small and vulnerable economies, we must be given sufficient time and 
opportunity to transform and become more compe titive.  More advanced developing countries should 
join with our developed trading partners to recognize and accommodate the needs of the least 
developed countries and the small, vulnerable eco nomies in the agriculture sector.  Developing 
countries in a position to do so should offer us  tariff- and quota-free access to their markets. 
  National policies to support the agricultural sector are legitimate but absolutely should not be at the expense of the people of small, vulnerable developing economies as has historically been the 
case.  Because of our particular challenges in  producing for and reaching export markets, 
governments of small vulnerable States such as my own need to be able to work within our means to 
assist agriculture producers with appropriate mechan isms of support.  The same arguments apply to 
domestic support for development in other sectors su ch as fisheries, and small- and medium-size 
enterprises. 
 
 Export subsidies in developed countries continue  to distort trade in agricultural products.  
Such unfair trade practices contribute to the pr oblem of falling prices for non-oil commodity exports 
and impact negatively on the livelihoods of our peop le.  It is paramount that the developed countries 
eliminate their export subsidies within the shortest pe riod of time, and at the same time related issues 
to do with state trading enterprises, export credits and food aid are adequately addressed. 
 
 In the NAMA negotiations, my country is comm itted to the proposal made under the small 
vulnerable economies work programme which calls for special consideration of our small size, small 
market share, and particular vulnerabilities.  Whilst we support the liberalization process, it must be at 
a pace that can be sustained by our economies. 
 
 I would like to reiterate that the practice of  developed countries to apply low tariffs on raw 
commodities but higher tariff rates on intermediate or  final products hinders the efforts of developing 
countries to add more value to their production a nd is contrary to rea lization of development 
objectives.  
 I would also like to stress that, as with agriculture, any NAMA pack age must adequately 
reflect the serious consequences of preference erosion on small and vulnerable economies.   Formal improvements in market access mean  little to us unless the problems currently 
experienced by our producers in satisfying sanitary and phytosanitary standards and overcoming other 
technical barriers to trade are addressed.  These ar e such a serious hindrance to the development of 
our export industries that technical and financial assi stance to build our capacities is a pre-requisite for 
greater, meaningful participation in the global trading system.   Indeed, without addressing capacity issues directly, it will be difficult to implement WTO obligations and rules and many States will simply not be able to gain fully from the benefits 
associated with trade liberalization.  It is not  enough that countries such as my own are accorded 
greater flexibilities and leniencies, we aspire to  be empowered to be active members of the 
multilateral trading regime.   To illustrate my point, I refer to the acknowle dgement made in the inaugural statement of 
Director-General Mr Lamy that the incidence of anti-dumping cases pursued through the WTO has 
been on the increase.  It is important on the one  hand to prevent the abuse of over-stringent 
applications of anti-dumping measures, and it is impo rtant on the other to prevent the exploitation of 
other countries' inability to effectively implement the ru les.  For the system to be fair, the capacity of 
all WTO Members to make use of clear and transparent rules must be equivalent. 
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  Papua New Guinea welcomes the recent decisi on to adopt the waiver as a permanent 
amendment to the TRIPS Agreement in order to faci litate import of generic medicines.  Given that 
PNG has the highest number of HIV/AIDS cases in the South Pacific and virtually no drug manufacturing capacity, I would like to emphasize the urgent need for positive action to make the system work for us. 
 
 In light of all that I have said, the Aid for Trade initiative by the developed countries is 
welcomed.  In order to realize the aims and amb itions of the Doha Development Agenda, technical 
and financial assistance to implement the WTO agre ements must be complemented by assistance to 
overcome supply side-constraints to produce and trade more.  Even at this early stage we should be 
mindful of the fact that the modalities for implem entation of an integrated trade framework are 
crucially important.  There must not only be sufficient funds but furthermore the delivery mechanism must be effective, transparent and ambitious enough to tackle the real needs of recipient countries on 
development issues including infrastructure, human resources and technology transfer.  
 Finally, it is my great pleasure to join my colleagues in congratulating Saudi Arabia and 
Tonga for becoming the 149 and 150 members of the WTO family.  We welcome you wholeheartedly. 
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