. /.  
 WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/119 
16 December 2005 
 (05-6083) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   Spanish 
 
  
PANAMA 
 
Statement by HE Mr Alejandro Ferrer
 
Minister of Trade and Industry  
   I have the honour to address the Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization on behalf of the Government of the Republic of Panama .  Firstly, I should like to thank the authorities of 
Hong Kong, China for their warm welcome and for the excellent facilities placed at the disposal of all 
the delegations at this Sixth Conference.   Four years ago, at the Ministerial Meeting in Doha, all the Members of this Organization committed themselves to an ambitious development ag enda that would allow us to alleviate poverty 
and promote an environment capable of raising the living standards of our citizens.  Even though the 
negotiations have not lacked intensity in the inte rvening years nor opportunities to reach consensus, 
we are today at a crossroads.  On the one hand, we are still committed to the ideals that lie at the 
foundation of this project, but for some actors, there is no commitment to put them into practice.   From the perspective of a developing count ry, such as Panama, the current multilateral 
negotiations do not only represent an opportunity to re medy some imbalances existing in the current 
rules of the World Trade Organization (WTO), which have denied us our due share of the benefits 
resulting from international trade, but also a historic  occasion to encourage acts and not words, trade 
and not the promise of aid, as well as the economic and social development of our peoples, especially 
in developing countries.  
 The second paragraph of the Doha Ministerial De claration clearly proclaims "the need for all 
our peoples to benefit from the increased opportuniti es and welfare gains that the multilateral trading 
system generates".  This is why my delegation is aiming at the achievement of balanced results that 
are mutually advantageous for all the WTO's Memb ers and not at the development of policies that 
seek to perpetuate distortions in world trade.  Our discussions should, therefore, not focus on the 
non-erosion of preferences but rather on improving market access for goods, particularly those of 
interest to developing countries.  It is our jo int responsibility to generate new trade opportunities, 
especially for developing countries.   One clear example of distortion in world trade is the question of trade in bananas, our main 
export product.  In view of the new proposal of €176/tonne, adopted unilaterally by the EC, it is time 
to call a halt so as to prevent a dispute that has been going on for over a decade and constitutes a 
lamentable legal precedent for the multilateral tradi ng system from lasting indefinitely.  The EC's new 
regime, which fixes a most-favoured-nation tariff that  is over double the current rate and at the same 
time gives certain suppliers much greater benefits in consistent with the WTO's rules, penalizes Latin 
American banana-producing developing countries to a significant extent and defies everything that the 
WTO and this round, called the "Development Round" are supposed to represent.  For this reason, the 
countries concerned have underlined once again the need to initiate negotiations leading to an 
agreement that is satisfactory and r easonable for all interested parties. WT/MIN(05)/ST/119 
Page 2  
 
 Doha is supposed to be the development round.   The greatest distortions in international trade 
are in agricultural trade, through a combination of  high tariffs, export subsid ies and domestic support 
policies which protect inefficient agriculture in developed countries but, above  all, have a negative 
impact on our agricultural production.  Abolishing or substantially reducing these practices, which 
have a negative impact on the deve lopment of our countries, would serve as a platform for significant 
expansion of the agricultural exports of devel oping countries, creating new opportunities for our 
people, assisting our integration into the glob al economy, but above all economic and social 
development.   This is why, in the context of the agricultu ral negotiations, we support the proposal to phase 
out all forms of export subsidies by 2010 at the lat est, substantial reductions in  the current levels of 
domestic support and the creation of new market  access opportunities for products of interest to 
developing countries.  In the latter case, the greatest  possible liberalization of tropical products would 
be a step in the right direction. 
 
 Two thirds of all the poor living in developing countries work  in the agricultural sector and 
depend on agriculture for their livelihood.  In de veloped countries, on the other hand, less than 5 per 
cent of the population depend on agriculture. 
 
 For Panama, the primary sector is an essential cornerstone of its economic structure as it represents the livelihood of thousa nds of Panamanian families living in rural areas in hope of a better 
future.  This sector generates 17 per cent of jobs in Panama and sustains some 40 per cent of the 
Panamanian population.  Our Government has identifie d itself with the concerns of other developing 
countries in relation to rural development, food secu rity and secure means of subsistence, and fully 
supports the contributions and proposals of the G- 33 on special products and the agricultural special 
safeguard mechanism. 
 
 As far as non-agricultural products are concerne d, we believe it is important to lower the 
tariffs bound in the WTO and to encourage all Member s to bind their respective import tariffs in order 
to conduct effective negotiations on a common basis.  Nevertheless, we must move ahead with the 
Doha programme, which lays down negotiating moda lities based on the princi ple of "less than full 
reciprocity" and "special and differential treatment" pr ovided in the July 2004 package.  It will be on 
the basis of these "flexible provisions" that developi ng and least developed countries will decide and 
undertake the required reforms of our trade policies in order to achieve sustainable development. 
 
 Regarding trade in services, Panama has always  supported, and will con tinue to support, an 
effective negotiating process with a view to making progress in efforts to open up this sector, of vital 
importance to our country. 
 
 We urge all Members to ensure that the ne gotiations on services are intensified, in accordance 
with clear guidelines on how to make the nego tiating process more effective, as well as fixed 
deadlines that will give impetus to the process of achieving an expansion of trade in services under 
conditions of transparency and gradual liberalizat ion, taking into account sectors of interest to 
developing countries and the size of their economies. 
 
 I should like to conclude my statement by ca lling on all Member countries to pursue together 
the work on reaching agreement on a declaration so that the interests of all our countries are positively 
reflected in the results of the Doha Round and all countries can enjoy to the full the benefits of the 
multilateral trading system, but above all what we ag ree here must be an effective tool that helps 
developing countries to achieve the economic and soci al development to which we aspire.  It is only 
by turning words into deeds that we will be able to say that global trade will play its proper role at this 
stage of history and that this really was the Development Round.  
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