WORLD TRADE  
ORGANIZATION  WT/MIN(09)/ST/97 
2 December 2009 
 (09-6198) 
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE 
Seventh Session Geneva, 30 November - 2 December 2009 Original:   English/ 
 French 
 
  
HOLY SEE 
 
Statement by Monsignor Silvano Maria Tomasi
 
Apostolic Nuncio  
(Speaking as an Observer ) 
   The current economic crisis has heavily impacted  the poor of the world.  On several occasions 
it has prompted the Holy See to call the attention of States and international organizations to its 
dramatic consequences, high unemployment in partic ular.  This Seventh Session of the Ministerial 
Conference of the World Trade Organization is an important opportunity to renew the commitment of 
the international community for concerted action to  lead developed and developing countries on the 
road to recovery and growth.  The recent social encyclical of Pope Benedict XVI, Caritas in veritate , 
presents an extensive analysis of the present globa l economic environment and offers some practical 
indications for fair solutions.  My delegation would like to invite a thoughtful reflection on this major 
statement and its articulate vision of development.  This document reaffirms that every country has a 
right to define its own economic model, but with in an inclusive and fair globalization where 
solidarity, investments, trade, technology transfer, capacity building and knowledge sharing are put at the service of a development with a new face.  Su ch a new model of development is based on the 
centrality of the person, recognizing that each human  being has a dignity, desire for freedom and 
fulfilment of his/her deepest aspirations in all economic mechanisms.   In today's complex international scene, there are many and overlapping actors and causes affecting both underdevelopment and development.  As a result, difficulties in the functioning of 
multilateral institutions are increasing and particularis tic solutions to a common problem are adopted.  
The current state of trade talks are a clear exampl e of this phenomenon.  The slow progress of the 
Doha Round of negotiations has s purred the growth of several Pref erential Trade Agreements (PTAs) 
as an alternative route for achieving trade liberalization.  It is certainly true that in principle PTAs that 
meet the full spirit of Article 24 of GATT, constitute  a step towards global free trade;  however, it is 
also well known that when PTAs are asymmetric , involving advanced economies and developing 
countries, they could backfire for the latter count ries.  Therefore, given the development goal of 
current trade negotiations, we must recognize that the interests of the poorest countries are better 
safeguarded within the rules of the multilateral trad ing system.  In this respect the present Ministerial 
Conference represents a unique opportunity to  relaunch trade negotia tions.  Moreover the 
confirmation of the centrality of the multilateral system  is a crucial opportunity to  reaffirm that a truly 
pluralistic approach based on the cooperation of eac h single Member could allow the achievement of 
the common good by respecting the dignity of every single person as a member of the one community of the human family.   The multilateral trading system and trade liber alization have stimul ated economic growth 
worldwide, including in least developed countries (LDC s).  But disparities in the level of development 
continue within and among nations.  Besides, the fi nancial crisis is likely to have a considerable 
adverse effect on international trade as well.  Th e Doha Round of multilatera l trade negotiations has WT/MIN(09)/ST/97 
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  not been concluded, jeopardizing a continued dyna mic expansion in the exports of developing and 
transition economies.  However, important positive agreem ents have been reached in the process.  It is 
therefore crucial that every effort is made in order to allow the realization of these benefits so that 
new resources could be made available to the de velopment particularly of the poorest countries. 
 
 "If the market is governed solely by the prin ciple of the equivalence in value of exchanged 
goods", observes Pope Benedict XVI, "it cannot produce the social cohesion that it requires in order to function well.  Without internal forms of solidarity and mu tual trust, the market cannot completely 
fulfil its proper economic function ."  Thus, what kind of "equivalence of value" can propose the 
billion men, women and children who suffer from hunge r and deprivation?  Their income is too low 
to be even noticed by the market; but if the mark et does not see them, it cannot respond to their needs.  
In this case "economic activity cannot solve all soci al problems through the simple application of 
commercial logic ."  The 'bottom billion' cannot be left out of  the picture.  It seems evident that the 
market cannot rely only on itself.  It "needs to be directed towards the pursuit of the common good , 
for which the political community in particular must  also take responsibility."  In this setting, the 
Aid-for-Trade initiative, launched in the last Minister ial Conference, has proved to be able to combine 
market mechanisms with the need of solidarity, making good progress since its launch.  Moreover if 
the promises made during the G-20 meeting held l ast April will be fulfilled, additional important 
resources will be made available.  However several poor countries have  not been able to fully exploit 
the potential benefits of this initia tive.  We should make every effort to extend these potential gains to 
the countries that most need them. 
 
 Given the recent FAO Conference on Food Secu rity and the critical issue represented by 
agriculture in current trade talks, allow me to raise the point that the market, such as it is sometimes 
promoted, cannot answer, for example, the problem of malnutrition and hunger in the world without 
recourse to non-market values like solidarity and trust. 
 
 It is well-known that in several countries the State takes the initiative to acquire foodstuff on 
the market for the most underprivileged.  These produc ts are subsidized and resold at low price, a 
procedure that in a way inserts the poorest people in  the market since their n eed is translated into 
solvent request and becomes perceptible by the ma rket.  This approach, however, represents a high 
cost for the State not sustainable in particular for many of the least advanced countries.  Here 
solidarity between rich and poor countries finds a logi cal role to play.  The ensuing benefit affects 
also the economy because the decrea se of social inequality prevents "the progressive erosion of 
"social capital":  the network of rela tionships of trust, dependability, a nd respect for rules, all of which 
are indispensable for any form of civil coexistence".  
 Indeed, as recently stressed by a WTO report, wo rld agricultural exports have almost tripled 
over the last 20 years and the amount of food that is actually globally produced is technically able to 
satisfy the current demand.  "Hunger is not so mu ch dependent on lack of material things as on 
shortage of social resources, the most important of which are institutional.  What is missing, in other 
words, is a network of economic institutions cap able of guaranteeing regular access to sufficient food 
and water for nutritional needs, and also capable of addressing the primary needs and necessities 
ensuing from genuine food crises, whether due to  natural causes or political irresponsibility, 
nationally and internationally.  The problem of f ood insecurity needs to be addressed … by investing 
in rural infrastructures, irrigation systems, transpor t, organization of markets, and in the development 
and dissemination of agricultural technology that can  make the best use of the human, natural and 
socio-economic resources that are more readily ava ilable at the local level, while guaranteeing their 
sustainability over the long-term as well.  All this needs to be accomplished with the involvement of 
local communities in choices and decisions that affe ct the use of agricultural land."  In this way a 
more generous and appropriate ly diversified Aid for Trade can make a real difference. 
  WT/MIN(09)/ST/97 
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   The increase in agricultural productivity at th e local level of the poorest countries would 
allow not only the increase of the overall supply of food but could also contribute to the stabilization of commodity prices that would be less dependent  on climate change.  This latter aspect could 
significantly reduce the level of uncertainty th at severely harms farmers whose incomes are 
excessively exposed to the high variability in food prices.  The success of this effort would bring 
about an improvement in the income of rural populations where many of the world's poor are 
concentrated, thus contributing to resolve the problem of hunger.   Moreover investing in agriculture will have  a multiplier effect as agriculture plays a 
multi-functional role not only in the pr oduction of food, but also as a place  of life and of socialization, 
an instrument for protection of the environment and sh aper of the landscape.  In all, the attention to 
agriculture and its relationship to trade success come s when primacy is given to the human person. 
  In conclusion, if this Conference signals the political will to make progress in monitoring and 
surveillance to disputes, accessions, Aid for Trade, technical assistance and international governance, 
it will be a decisive step towards the creation of an  international trading system based on the principle 
of social justice.  Indeed social  ethics like transparency, honest y, solidarity and responsibility cannot 
be ignored:  they preserve a person-centred goal in any economic activity, prevent crises caused by 
greedy speculation and provide a comprehensive approach that does not separate the social 
consequences from economic and environmental deci sions.  But there is an additional step that 
ensures success in the long run, the inclusion of th e dimension of gratuitousness and the logic of gift 
as an expression of fraternity and involvement of the entire human family both as a protagonist of 
development and as the primary objective of trade and economic activity.  
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