. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/83 
17 December 2011 
 (11-6634) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original: Spanish 
 
  
BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA 
 
Statement by H.E. Mr Germán Mundaraín 
Ambassador, Permanent Representative 
   This Ministerial is taking place as the world confronts a serious economic crisis with far-reaching social and political consequences.  A cr isis born out of the de regulation of financial 
activities and bankers' greed and abetted by the ri sk-rating agencies, the big auditing firms and the 
banking supervisors.   This crisis is generating and has genera ted a decline in economic growth, economic 
uncertainty, greater inequalities between the social  classes, increased poverty, social discontent, 
high levels of sovereign debt, reduced investment  flows, high unemployment, market volatility, 
currency instability, decreased interbank lending, fu nding shortages, and the use of subsidies as 
economic stimulus measur es, among other things. 
  The economic outlook is not encouraging.  It is not foreseen how or when the crisis will be 
resolved.  The solutions proposed to date have  not gone beyond mere d eclarations which have 
generated expectations and fa llen short of the main aim in  terms of implementation. 
  The WTO's customary reaction to crisis is to point the finger at protectionism.  Let us be 
serious and precise on this matter.  Protectionism di d not cause the crisis we are experiencing, on the 
contrary the cause was liberalization;  however, in this Organization it is cons tantly blamed for all our 
ills, despite being incessantly used by those who claim to oppose it. 
 
 We also oppose it, particularly the kind of protectionism used by those who most distort trade, such as production subsidies, quantitative easi ng in the guise of stimulus packages, non-tariff 
measures, and other practices which have not yet b een the subject of an appropriate and cogent 
response on the part of the WTO. 
 
 We take advantage of this Ministerial to draw attention to the fact that for two years we have 
witnessed a strategy of withdrawal from the Doha De velopment Agenda.  It consists in weakening all 
negotiations, seeking to distract attention to other to pics.  The intention is to undermine, erode and 
lower the profile of the Round.  This practice cont ributes to the stagnation of the Round and signals a 
stalemate in the negotiations, all for the purpose of creating space for other subjects. 
 
As part of this strategy, calls are made fo r moving away from the Round and focusing on the 
strengthening of the WTO.  This proposal is presen ted as a vital necessity.  We are all in agreement on 
strengthening the WTO.  Such strengthening imp lies making it multilateral, genuinely inclusive, 
democratic, transparent, particip ative and development oriented.  With that aim of improving the 
WTO, we joined four other Members in subm itting document WT/MIN(11)/W/4, which we hope will 
be referred to in the Chairman's factual report. WT/MIN(11)/ST/83 
Page 2  
 
   
 Under this same strategy of weakening the Round, additional topics are being promoted this 
year as so called 21
st century issues.  This is a cat ch-all phrase;  everything is 21st century.  The 
argument of adapting the WTO to the changing times is used as justification, together with the idea 
that the Round has no prospect of success.  However, what the promoters of this strategy really want 
is not to end the Round but to let it die;  to aba ndon the Doha Development Agenda because of a lack 
of political will.  Because they want to evade th e agreed development commitments.  And because the 
ambitions of some developed countries are now more immoderate than ever. 
  They are similarly promoting the adoption of plurilateral agreem ents, undermining the 
multilateral and inclusive nature of the WTO. 
  The refrain they are now using to justify thei r claims is that the WTO is more than the 
Doha Round.  That is obvious.  We are all in agreement on that point.  But the WTO's word, its existence, is bound up with the Doha Round.  If it  fails to complete the Doha Round, it loses all 
credibility.  The Round is today the raison d'être  of the WTO.  Without the Doha Round, the WTO is 
like a church without a saviour.   In our view, the completion of the Round as a single undertaking is an immediate priority.  That is what was mandated by our Ministers in Doha.  Its results must treat development as a cross-cutting issue and any early harvest must prio ritize the genuine claims of developing countries, 
while safeguarding multilateralism and not abando ning the other elements of the mandate. 
  We want trade to be placed at the service of  development, so that it can contribute to 
eliminating inequalities and building a fairer and more balanced world. 
 
 For the above reasons, we advocate that no ne w horizons should be explored until the issues 
committed to under the Round have been concluded.   Lastly, we welcome Russia, Vanuatu, Samoa and Montenegro as new Members of the WTO.  This important event is undoubtedly a significant step forward in the strengthening and universalization of this Organization. 
 
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