. /.  WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION   
WT/MIN(11)/ST/2 
15 December 2011 
 (11-6536) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Eighth Session Geneva, 15 - 17 December 2011 Original:   Spanish 
 
  
MEXICO 
 
Statement by H.E. Mr Bruno Ferrari García de Alba 
Minister of the Economy 
   The global economic outlook is marked by a high degree of uncertainty as 2011 draws to a 
close.  World economic and trade growth forecasts have been adjusted downwards. 
 
 Labour market pressures and the persistent ec onomic slowdown in much of the world have 
led many governments to introduce protectionist trade measures.   It is our collective duty to prevent the repetition of the errors of the 1930s and the Great Depression. 
 
 On the contrary, it is crucially important to keep markets open, to promote free trade and to resist protectionism with a view to stimulating economic recovery and employment.   Free trade is a powerful tool to enhance social welfare.  It is the path we have embarked upon 
that will lead to a future of greater prosperity for each of our countries. 
  The commitment made by our Ambassadors in the Elements for Political Guidance  - which 
Ministers are endorsing at this Conference - is an im portant step in the right direction, but it is not 
enough.  
 All Members of this Organization, the headqua rters of world trade, should subscribe to a 
more forceful commitment than that of merely main taining the status quo, in order to avoid imposing 
any type of trade restriction or distor tion at this time of great uncertainty. 
  President Calderón made this commitment in othe r forums and, as Chairman of the G-20, will 
seek to have it endorsed in the course of 2012. 
  Even in the midst of a crisis and with the forms of domestic resistance which are bound to occur, Mexico has continued reducing its le vels of protection and facilitating trade. 
 
 In January 2011, we implemented a new phase of the Trade Simplification Programme:  the 
average applied tariff on industrial products, which was a little more th an ten per cent in 2008, today 
stands at only 4.7 per cent.   This programme also contains a wide range of  trade facilitation measures geared to generating 
better conditions of competitiv eness for our production sector. 
 WT/MIN(11)/ST/2 
Page 2  
 
   Nevertheless, if trade opening is to continue to be the rule, the necessary confidence must be 
generated so that the various economic acto rs can continue to support free trade. 
  As we open up our markets, our producers must imperatively have a guarantee of "fair play", 
with protection from predatory practices such as dumping, sectoral production and export subsidies, 
and under-invoicing of goods. 
  Some countries even use State enterprises to impose utterly unreasonable market conditions 
on national producers.  
 Our exporters call for the elimination of tr ade-distorting practices, such as non-automatic 
import licensing and extremely slow sanitary certification processes, which impede market access.   If we fail to strengthen and improve the WTO disciplines, the banner of free trade will be increasingly discredited and the credibility of th e multilateral trading system will be eroded. 
 
 The WTO embodies the rules-based multilateral trading system and is the main guarantor of fair, just and orderly world trade.   For that reason, it is urgently necessary to conc lude the Doha Round as quickly as possible, as 
there can be no doubt that this would provide a major boost to the world economy in these uncertain 
times. 
  The outcome of this meeting should provide a clear mandate for preparing the ground for approaches that enable progress to be made  in the negotiations as from next January. 
 
 However, Mexico reiterates that, in order to achieve greater trade liberalization, we must 
rebuild confidence by ensuring that all Member c ountries respect the rules of our multilateral trading 
system, and contribute to its improvement.  Only in  this way will its operati on be strengthened and its 
relevance preserved.   This is an historic Ministerial conference.  Not only are we celebrating the accession of the 
Russian Federation to the WTO, but this year also marks the tenth anniversary of China's entry into 
the Organization.   We appreciate the efforts made by China durin g the last decade, and I wish to take this 
opportunity to acknowledge the Chinese Governme nt's willingness to address the various trade 
concerns expressed by Mexico and its industries;  I am  confident that it is taking expeditious steps to 
move forward resolutely in that direction.  
__________