. /.   WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/2 
30 November 2009 
 (09-6051) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English 
 
  
SWITZERLAND 
 
Statement by HE Councillor Doris Leuthard
 
Minister of Economic Affairs  
   It is with great pleasure that I welcome you a ll to the Seventh Ministerial Conference of the 
World Trade Organization here in Geneva.  First of all, I wish to extend, on behalf of the 
Swiss Government, a warm " Bienvenue à la Genève Internationale ". 
  For Switzerland, the WTO represents an importa nt institution.  As you know, Switzerland has 
an open and highly export-oriented economy.  Th e WTO system of developing and monitoring 
multilateral trade regulation provides the necessary fr amework in which our ec onomies can prosper.  
Not only was Switzerland a founding Member of the Orga nization;  we are also proud to be its host 
country.  I feel particularly pleased that the Sw iss Government, with the support of the people of 
Geneva, will soon be able to provide the WTO with renovated and re-designed facilities. 
  We are all struggling with the challenges facing us due to the financial and economic crisis.  
However, the crisis also reminds us of the im portance of coordinated action and the need for 
multilateral rules.  Fortunately, we can rely on the achievements and the proper functioning of the 
WTO:  its rules, its system of tariff bindings, the peer reviews in ordinary committees, the trade policy 
reviews and the monitoring mechanism set up by the Director-General on trade-related developments as well as the dispute settlement mech anism, has served us well as an  effective bulwark against the 
temptation of protectionism.  Yes, the WTO has pr oven its usefulness and importance in these times 
of crisis. 
 
 Containing protectionism and maintaining open mark ets is the key to growth and prosperity in 
all of our countries - today and tomorrow.  In th e short term, we have to  conclude the ongoing 
Doha negotiations.  This is the best and most nece ssary contribution the WTO can offer, in order to 
tackle the economic crisis and support economic reco very.  Our nations and our economies expect us 
to deliver a balanced and comprehensive result from the Doha Round - and this, soon.  My country is 
committed to contributing its fair share to a successful outcome - even though I have to tell you that I am facing very tough resistance at home, in particul ar because of the agriculture negotiations.  Since, 
in Switzerland, the Doha results will be submitted to a popular referendum, my farmers can and will 
vote on the Doha results.  I, therefore, seriously face a NO-vote, which is not an option I can take.  
Indeed, Switzerland is being asked to pay a very hi gh price on agriculture.  At the same time I do not 
see the same degree of progress on all issues of the single undertaking such as, among others, 
Services, NAMA, Trade and Environment or the three TRIPS issues:  Namely GI register, GI extension and TRIPS-CBD.  Discussions and negotia tions in these and other areas should catch up in 
the coming months.  Recalling the common objective of  finalizing the Doha Round in 2010, I invite 
the Director-General to consider a stocktaking exercise early next year. 
 WT/MIN(09)/ST/2 
Page 2  
 
   Let me inform you that we, the G-10 Ministers, met this morning in order to set our priorities 
for the Doha negotiations in the coming months.  We have confidence in the ability of the Chair of the 
agriculture negotiations to help in bridging the remaining gaps among WTO member's positions.  We 
are willing to continue working on the basis of  the December 2008 modalities text.  However, we 
express our concern on the lack of substantial progress in many of the other areas of the Doha Round 
since December 2008. 
  Besides the Doha Round, we have to gi ve some attention to the WTO itself - our
 trade 
organization.  My assessment is that, today, the WTO is, to a large extent, preoccupied with the 
Doha negotiations, whereas the ordinary committees  do not always receive the necessary attention 
from Members.  This is contributing to the perception by the outside world that the WTO is losing its 
relevance, which is a big danger for WTO.  WTO has to remain relevant - not for our negotiators, no - 
for our consumers and our businesswomen and business men, who cannot afford to act with the same 
kind of time spans as we often do in the WTO.  Together with other Members, Switzerland is 
therefore proposing to engage in a process to review the WTO's functioning, efficiency and 
transparency and to consider improvements to the system where appropriate.  The objective should be 
to preserve the achievements of the WTO while ad apting the organization where necessary to the 
challenges faced by its Members - always endeavour ing to seek solutions which serve to liberalize 
trade and not restrict it.   Furthermore and very importantly, we must al so think beyond Doha.  If the WTO is to remain 
relevant, it has to adapt to and embrace new challeng es:  probably the most urgent of these is climate 
change.  In this context, trade is often perceived as a problem.  We  should, however, focus much more 
on how trade can become part of the solution.  This  is a challenge to the WTO.  Its rules have to 
protect Members against trade discrimination but at th e same time its rules must contribute to - and 
not hinder - the implementation of effective measures to combat climate change.  Also, while some 
regulatory issues are being dealt with in the Doha ne gotiations today, many others are not.  Since our 
Meeting in Singapore in 1996 we s till have unfinished business to deal with - on trade and investment, 
on competition policy, and on transparen cy in government procurement. 
  While the WTO must retain its role as guardian of open markets, it must, at the same time, be 
able to factor in other concerns.  In today's globali zed and interlinked world we need more coherence.  
The fragmented architecture of international governan ce resembles a series of isolated pillars.  Our 
task is to transform them into a web of constant interaction and mutual observance.  Trade cannot be 
treated in isolation as it has implications for deve lopment, environment and social matters.  I would 
like to express my gratitude to the Director-Gener al and to convey my respect for his vision in 
bringing up these issues of coherence - be it the Aid-for-Trade initiative, or the joint WTO-UNEP 
report on trade and climate change, or the joint reports of the WTO with the ILO.  It is important that 
the WTO continues to coordinate and collaborate on th ese issues with the other relevant international 
organizations.   Finally, let me once again welcome you all to Geneva, and to the Seventh Ministerial 
Conference of the WTO.  Let us show the world that  the WTO is alive and relevant;  that the WTO is 
part of the solution of today's economic problem s and that we are preparing the WTO for the 
challenges which will be importa nt to our nations tomorrow. 
 
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