WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(01)/ST/70
11 November 2001
(01-5659)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Fourth Session
Doha, 9 - 13 November 2001Original:  English
DENMARK
Statement by H.E. Mr Birger Riis-Jorgensen
State Secretary, Ministry for Foreign Affairs
Speaking on behalf of the Kingdom of Denmark including Greenland and the Faroe Islands, I
would like to thank the Government of Qatar and the city of Doha for hosting this historic event.  My
appreciation also goes to you Mr Chairman, to the Director-General of the WTO, Mr Moore, and to
the Chairman of the General Council, Mr Harbinson, for guiding us through these negotiations and for
providing a solid basis for our deliberations.
Today more than ever, the global economy needs a new round of trade negotiations in order
to restore confidence and revive economic growth.  It is important that the international community
stand together to strengthen the multilateral trading system with the aim of improving living
conditions worldwide.
Here in Doha, we thus have an historic opportunity to set aside short-run political
considerations and set the pace for solid long-run solutions to help create worldwide sustainable
growth.  This, in turn, will help to pave the way for peace and prosperity for all – not just for some.We must seize this opportunity.  If we fail to do so, we will all lose out.
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Our objective should be the launch of a development round .  It should not be forgotten, that
often, the poorest countries have not benefited enough from the international trading system.
Currently, developing countries are the hardest hit by the economic downturn.  This
underlines the need for a round with a clear focus on the needs of developing countries.  In this
process we must also take into account the special needs and concerns of indigenous populations as
well as those of small and vulnerable economies.
The EU's "everything-but-arms-initiative" is an example of what is needed.  We should all
move forward along this line.  Lowering the remaining barriers to exports from developing countries
is a must.  It requires opening up markets.  And it requires lowering subsidies.  This means
fundamental changes for some sectors in the developed world, but it must be done.  This will benefit
us all in the long run.
It is, however, not easy for developing countries to make the first difficult steps into the
global trading system.  In general, the opening up of markets will facilitate development throughWT/MIN(01)/ST/70
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investment and production leading to economic grow th.  Those countries that have actively sought to
participate in the global trading system have been more successful.  Concrete assistance should be
rendered to developing countries to enable them to fully benefit from the process of liberalization.  In
this respect, we find capacity building to be a key area.
Likewise, in the area of intellectual property rights, assistance must be rendered and
flexibility must be shown for developing countries in their implementation of the TRIPS Agreement.
The flexibility of the TRIPS Agreement must be fully utilized.
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Trade and investment are necessary – but not sufficient conditions for sustainable
development.
Social protection, gender-conscious standards and environmental measures are key factors to
ensuring sustainable development.  The process of opening up of markets cannot be seen in isolation.
It has to include concerns for environmental and social standards.  Not as a means of protectionism by
creating barriers to trade – but in order to give the necessary balance to the process of globalization
and increasing economic interdependence.  It is a challenge that we have to meet.
Denmark therefore warmly welcomes the initiative by ILO on the social dimension of
globalization.  Furthermore, we would welcome the participation of the WTO in this work.
Denmark would like to see a new round of global trade negotiations as a first leg of a "global
deal".  Another leg will be the UN Conference on Financing for Development.  We should see our
work here in the WTO in the context of the World Summit in Johannesburg on sustainable
development.
One important factor for achieving sustainable development is facilitating the transfer of
environmentally-friendly technologies to the developing world.
Denmark supports the preferential treatment for environmentally-friendly products and
technologies.  The use of various forms of eco-labelling could be a means to promoting this kind of
thinking.
WTO thus needs to work on the establishing of clear relations between multilateral
environmental agreements and the WTO rules.  We also call for the establishment of more precise
conditions for the use of the precautionary principle.
Furthermore, work is needed in order to clarif y the relationship between preferential measures
and the WTO rules of non-discrimination.  It is our hope that advances can be made within this areaduring a new round.
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Another objective for the WTO is that of transparency.  We need openness in trade policy
matters.  This applies to WTO as an organization as well as to the Member States.  We stand to gain a
lot by increased transparency and by further involvement of the public in trade policy matters.  In this
context, I should like to reiterate the proposal for establishing a consultative parliamentary body.
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At this Conference we welcome a number of new WTO Member countries. The conclusion of
the negotiations on accession of several other countries – including China – is a very important stepforward.  Also we extend our warmest welcome to those countries.  We hope to see negotiations
concluded as soon as possible with a further number of applicant countries, including Russia.
Finally, I would like to repeat my most sincer e hopes that this Ministerial Conference will
produce the results the world is waiting for.  Together we must show responsibility and leadership tosecure this.
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