WORLD TRADE WT/L/194/Add.1
18November 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-4879)
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE WTO AND THE IMFAND WORLD BANK
Addendum
Statement bytheDirector-General
onConsultations andCoherence
These remarks areintended toaddress theconcerns thatanumber ofMembers haveraised
about aspects oftheimplementation oftheAgreements withtheIMFandWorld Bank. Iwould like
toassure these delegations thattheirconcerns aretaken veryseriously bytheSecretariat, asIknow
theyarebytheGeneral Council.
Letmefirsttakeupthematter ofconsultations, under paragraph 10oftheIMFAgreement
andparagraph 8oftheWorld Bank Agreement. There arethree fundamental points:
Firstly, inanydiscussion orexchange ofinformation withtheIMForWorld Bank staffour
firstandonlypoint ofreference willbetheWTO Agreements andDecisions. Your Governments have
taken obligations intheWTO andyouhaveagreed onrules anddisciplines vis-à-vis eachother, in
theUruguay Round Agreements andsubsequently inthenormal course ofwork oftheWTO. Your
contractual andlegalinstruments areourreference, andnothing else.
Second, within thisfirmframework, IamsureMembers willunderstand thatitisnotin
anybody 'sinterest tobureaucratize ourdialogue withtheIMFortheWorld Bank. Your Ministers
wanted tocreate amore fruitful, two-way relationship witheachofthem. TheAgreements achieve
this. Buttoeffectively manage anddevelop thisrelationship ourday-to-day dialogue withtheIMF
andtheWorld Bank must beallowed tocontinue inanatural andnormal way.
Third, andthisiscrucial: theformulation andcoordination ofyourownpolicies, whatsome
ofyouhave called coherence atthenational level,isofcourse inthesovereign domain ofyour
Governments. Inthisregard tooweareheretosupport youasappropriate andasyoumayneedus.
Butattimes inthecourse ofourwork wemaycome upon possible policy measures thattheIMFor
theWorld Bank mayhaveproposed ormaybeadvancing thatmaynotbeobviously consistent with
agreed rights andobligations under theWTO. Thiscould raiserealsubsequent difficulties forthe
Member concerned, andfortheMembership. Iassure youthatinsuchasituation wewillspeak first
totheMember concerned. Onlythen, andwiththeMembers 'agreement, would weaddress theFund
ortheWorld Bank, because wearebound andobliged toprotect yourinterests. TheAgreement provides
themechanism forthat.
Lastly, inrelation toallthese contacts, Iconfirm mytotaldetermination towork inafully
transparent manner withourMembership, although youwillunderstand thatinkeeping youinformed
Icannot mention names orcertain details, precisely because Imust guard yourconfidentiality.
Thisthenbrings metoparagraph 2ofeachofthetwoAgreements, thematter ofGlobal
Coherence. Ourconsultations withtheIMFandtheWorld Bank, which Ihavejustbeendiscussing,
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areessentially acontinuation ofwhatwealways didunder GATT. Incontrast, ourtaskonGlobal
Coherence isnew, andisveryimportant. Your Ministers decided, andyourGovernments ratified,
ourmandate oncoherence. Itakeitveryseriously indeed. Paragraph 2ofeachofthetwoagreements
istherefore initself amajor andcrucially important achievement. Itprovides uswithwhathasup
untilnowbeenmissing, theformal engagement forthethree organizations toaddress thecoherence
issue together.
TheCoherence Mandate thatMinisters havecharged mewithisabsolutely central tomyvision
onhowourrelations withtheIMFandtheWorld Bank willdevelop. Butthiswork simply cannot
proceed untiltheAgreement isinplace. TheAgreement istheessential basis todevelop ourwork
oncoherence.
Andinterms ofthesubstance ofourapproach tocoherence, Icantellyouthataconsiderable
amount ofpreparatory thinking hasbeendoneinternally intheSecretariat toidentify andaddress the
many veryuseful ideas thatwereconsidered intheFOGS group during theUruguay Round. Assoon
astheinstitutional footing isinplace, Iwould intend tomove forward vigorously todevelop the
coherence debate; Itakenoteofthekeeninterest thatmany ofyouhaveforustoreach results as
soonaspossible. Asyouknow, theheads ofthestaffs oftheIMFandtheWorld Bank andmyself
established aWorking Group ataverysenior level toexamine andaddress theCoherence agenda.
TheGroup willreport tousandIwillcertainly keepyoufullyinformed. Ishould addthatparagraph 3
oftheDraft Council Decision thatAmbassador Rossier hasputbefore youcovers thisprocess and
alsomakes itclear thatanyconclusions aresubject toGeneral Council approval.