WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(05)/ST/30 
14 December 2005 
 (05-5995) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Sixth Session 
Hong Kong, 13 - 18 December 2005 Original:   English 
 
 
 
NORWAY 
 
Statement by HE Mr Jonas Gahr Støre  
Minister of Foreign Affairs  
 
 
 I would like to join others in congratulating you upon your election as Chairman for the Sixth 
WTO Ministerial Conference, and I would like to thank Hong Kong, China, for hosting this Ministerial Conference.  Hong Kong, China, being one of the most open economies in the world, with an impressive economic growth-rate over the past deca des, is indeed an excellent choice of venue for 
this Ministerial Conference. 
 
 There are mixed expectations for the outcome ahead of our work this week.  With your able 
leadership and a real effort by us all I am confident that we can take the Doha round one significant step further.  
 The Doha Development Agenda has one overridin g goal:  to ensure that international trade 
can play a major role in the promotion of economic development and the alleviation of poverty.  To 
reach this goal, we need to secure and improv e a strong and fair multilateral trading system. 
 
 Norway has benefited from the expansion of this system - built on rules and regulations and 
mutual advantage.  Now our task and responsibility is to further expand the system and to arrange for 
the inclusion of developing countries in a way th at will offer them real opportunities for trade, 
development and social progress. 
  The stakes are high:  we can succeed with the expansion of a global trading system - securing the interests of all - or we can fail and see the st art of the total disintegration of the multilateral 
system. 
 
 To succeed we need to be inclusive.  The interests of Members and groups of Members vary. 
In a final agreement, these interests and concer ns, across the membership, will have to be duly 
reflected in a balanced way as part of the Single Undertaking.  It will require compromise, respect and 
hard work. 
 
 Norway has clear interests in NAMA and in services.  Our fish experts are in high demand all over the world.  Yet they face numerable hurdles and protectionist measures.  We are determined to strengthen WTO rules in order to prevent that benefits from market access negotiations are 
undermined by trade remedies applied for protectionist purposes. 
 
 Due to harsh production conditions, agriculture is a real challenge for Norway.  Being 
situated close to the Arctic Circle, with a shor t growth season and a mountainous topography, we 
cannot compete on the world market.  We hardly export agricultural products.  We are already 
importing half of what we consume 
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  We are willing to contribute in these negoti ations.  The offer we ar e making with our G10 
partners represents net losses in a ll areas of negotiations.  I note that some partners state that they are 
ready to give on domestic support if they gain on  market access.  For us, the question is all about 
giving.  We are ready to do that, and we are know already that our agricultural sector will have to 
undergo profound changes.  But there are limits.  We need an agreement reflecting that our 
agricultural sector differs from one in Central Europe or in America.  One size simply cannot fit all.  It 
is vital for Norway to maintain a sufficient leve l of protection to be able to sustain a viable 
agricultural sector and our non trade concerns. 
 
 To this effect, Norway's firm view is that a tariff cap should not be part of the solution and that the different tariff structures of Member States  will have to be taken into account.  An appropriate 
number of sensitive products should also be made available for all members. 
 
 We have to make further progress on non-ag ricultural market access in this round of 
negotiations.  Like many developing country Memb ers, 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 countri es, where peaks and escalation prevails. 
 
 We see it clearly;  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 for other developing country members.  We will contribute constructively to viable solutions to these Member s' concerns.  To succeed we must negotiate the 
level of ambition and the flexibility granted to developing countries in an integrated manner. 
 
 Rules is an important part of market access an d should therefore be negotiated in parallel with 
market access issues. 
 
 When it comes to services, they play a crucial role in economic growth, both for developed 
and developing countries.  We have high ambitions for the services negotiations.  And again:  It is 
important to find ways that combine an ambitious re sult with safeguarding the legitimate concerns of 
the poorest members. 
 
 This round has development at its centre.  Most of the development gains will be from 
increased market access.  Given the recalibration of  this ministerial conference and the postponement 
of the end date, it is important at this stage to send a strong development signal 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 as part of such an early harvest.  This 
would be an important message from Ministers that the development round is taken seriously. 
 
 To that effect, Norway welcomes the agreement reached on TRIPS and Public Health in 
Geneva last week.  Then we need to go further.  We need a mandate to negotiate an amendment to the 
TRIPS agreement to require the disclosure of the source  or the country of origin of genetic material or 
any traditional knowledge on which 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 same.  This could be a substantial outcome of Hong Kong and we should not miss the opportunity.  
 We also appreciate the importance of cotton for Africa, and are ready to contribute positively 
in order to promote a viable solution. 
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  Substantial increases in Aid for Trade would be an equally positive si gnal to developing 
countries that rich countries are willing to do thei r share.  We therefore urge all members to pledge 
substantial increases in trade related technical assist ance here in Hong Kong.  Norway will for her part 
make a significant increase in our contribution to the Integrated Framework. 
 
 LDCs are not expected to take on new commitments in this round.  Therefore, the new 
Norwegian Government has decided to withdraw all the requests in services submitted to the LDCs.  
Each country should be able to decide how to or ganize their key infrastructure sectors.  Norway 
knows from its own experience that the developmen t of such key sectors was essential to the 
development of our national economy.   In respect of this we have withdrawn requests with regard to higher education and other 
education services, requests with re gard to retail sale of electricity and the requests with regard to 
water distribution services vis-à-vis  developing countries. 
 
 As we look ahead, beyond this round, we should not shy away from addressing new issues.  Proposals have been put forward to include ILO standards in future WTO negotiations.  Norway 
supports the ideas, backed by labour unions, to promote coherence between what is done in WTO and 
what is done in the ILO. 
 
 Before concluding, I would also like to take this opportunity to welcome Saudi Arabia and 
Tonga to the WTO family.  We trust that the ne gotiations on the applications still outstanding - 
including a major trading partner like Russia, as we ll as Ukraine, Vietnam and others - will be brought 
to a successful end 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 table here in Hong Kong.  Still, I choose to remain 
optimistic.  We all agree that the level of amb ition for the round remains un changed.  We can still 
finish the negotiations in 2006. 
 
 Together we must make Hong Kong a construc tive and dynamic launch of the final step of 
the Doha Development Round. 
 
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