WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/83
11December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5255)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: English
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
Statement byTheHonourable Mervyn Assam
Minister ofTrade andIndustry
Mr.Chairman, firstofallIshould like,through you,tothank theGovernment ofSingapore
forthewarmth ofitshospitality andforhaving made suchexcellent arrangements tohostthisimportant
Conference. ThisFirstMinisterial Conference oftheWorld Trade Organization isindeed important
because itmarks thesecond anniversary ofourcommitment tothisrule-based multilateral trading system
andgives usthisopportunity forreview andreflection andthepossibility tomake refinements tothe
system within theconfines ofthose undertakings which wegavealmost twoyears ago.
Itwasinthatspirit thatTrinidad andTobago approached thisevent. MyGovernment hasbought
intothesystem byopening upitseconomy totheforces ofcompetition inthefullexpectation thatwe
shallreapthereward ofsustained economic growth through enhanced access totheglobal market place.
Weseethemultilateral trading system notasanantiquated institution trying tokeeppacewithamodern
changing world butasayoung, vibrant experiment inneedofconstant nurturing toensure itscontinued
relevance andviability.
Ihavelistened withgreatinterest tothenumerous statements made bymycolleagues andhave
found thattheysayessentially twothings: first, thattheWTO isimportant andhasachieved much
during itsfirsttwoyears, andsecond; andherethere isadifference ofviews, some saying thatthe
Organization should gofurther, faster anddeeper intotheprocess ofliberalization; others saying that
theprocess isalready toofastandshould beslowed. Allagree ononesalient factanditisthatthe
WTO candonomore thanprovide anopportunity; anopportunity tofishinalarger pond, toparticipate
inaglobal rule-based system which strives tobring greater transparency totrading systems worldwide;
anopportunity tochallenge eventheGoliaths ofinternational trade, bywayofdispute settlement
mechanisms, when theyappear tofailtoliveuptotheletter ofthelawformulated inMarrakesh, two
short years ago.
Countries which areabletotakeadvantage oftheseopportunities wish, naturally, toaccelerate
theprocess ofliberalization while others which havehadtoapply severe structural adjustment measures
inthecontext ofserious social dislocation merely toexploit theopportunities currently available, have
opted foraslower path.
Trinidad andTobago finds itselfsomewhere inthemiddle ofthisdebate. Thus, onthedetail
ofwork which isstillbefore us,mycountry cangoalong withanyreasonable consensus thatisreached
onthese difficult matters. Theonefactor onwhich wecanafford noflexibility isonthematter of
consensus itself. There canbenoagreement ifallofuswhoshare inthisexperiment donotfeel
confident tomove forward atafaster pace; foritismyclearunderstanding thatthose among uswho
wishtoslowthepace-orsteady theship, depending onyourpoint ofview, Mr.Chairman, -doso,
notbecause ofalackoffaithinthemagic oftheglobal market place; norisitbecause theyseekto
deprive others from enhanced opportunities. They seekaslower pacemainly because oftheriskofWT/MIN(96)/ST/83
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losing thedelicate balance which wasstruck inMarrakesh aftermany years ofnegotiations -abalance
which derived from having opportunities fortrade-offs overthebroad spectrum ofsectors covered
inthe27,000 pages ofAgreements thatwillsoononlybetwoyears old.
Today, thesituation isdifferent. Thesectors identified forfurther, faster liberalization do
notprovide a"balance" ofopportunities, across theboard, forthisbroad spectrum ofcountries which
constitute themembership ofWTO. Infactthereisclearimbalance deriving fromanumber offactors
nottheleastofwhich, istheimbalance inourstages ofdevelopment.
Information technology, important asitis,hashadmuch attention andwilllikely bethesubject
ofaplurilateral agreement hereinSingapore. Wewishitwell. Butwhile itisnodoubt veryimportant
toputaphone inevery village, many ofusrepresented heretoday havefargreater responsibilities
toourvillages. Wemustputaschool, putaroad, putahealth office, sometimes startacooperative
andputasewing machine, putanotice advising oftheuseofpesticides soasnottojeopardize market
access forexportable goods. Andgiven thefactthatwe,governments, withthehelpofourlocalprivate
sector andourgains from trade must, increasingly, doitallourselves, there remains thatobvious
disparity intheimportance which weattach toavillage phone -which wedonotmanufacture and
inwhich wedonothaveanexport interest -andaplethora ofcompeting demands.
Itwillbeuseful toseewhether thesuccess which willattend discussions oninformation
technology willbeduplicated insectors which areofimportance totheexport trade ofdeveloping
countries: textiles andclothing, agriculture (including thespecial interests ofnetfood-importing
countries), toname afew;andwhether inthefurther consideration ofservices under thebuilt-in agenda
asmuch consideration willbegiven tothetrade inallfactors ofproduction, including themovement
ofnatural persons -labour, asthatwhich hasbeendevoted toinvestment andother "new issues".
Iamfullyaware thatsome might argue thattheWTO provides more thanjustanopportunity.
There is,afterall,atechnical assistance programme andspecial provisions fortheleastdeveloped
countries. Wewelcome these, butthebudgets forthese activities aresmall; minuscule interms of
theirownstated aims; andsuchtechnical assistance thatisprovided seeks more sotoassist developing
countries inmeeting ourweighty obligations under theterms ofthose 27,000 pages ofAgreement,
thantoprovide uswiththemeans toexercise ourrights ortoexploit those opportunities.
IhadhopedthatMinistersherewouldhaveexploredmorefullytheroadaheadunderthecrowded
built-in agenda oftheOrganization andwould havegiven toourrepresentatives clearguidelines, within
theenormous ambit oftheirremit, onpriorities forthecoming biennium. However, wehavebeen
constrained bytimeandthetideofinterest tothecontrary tolimitourfocus, sofar,toconsider the
so-called "newissues" which somefeelweshould addtothe27,000 hardly digested pages ofAgreement.
Ourposition onthesubstance ofthese matters should notbemisunderstood. Trinidad and
Tobago hasgreatly liberalized itsfinancial services sector, hasconcluded anumber ofbilateral
agreements, haswelcomed foreign direct investment, andwould further embrace anyopportunity to
attract therightkindofforeign direct investment toourshores. Amultilateral agreement oninvestment
inarule-based setting, however, isadifferent matter; onethatrequires study. Itwasforthatreason
thatMinisters ofTrade -we-wenttoMidrand inSouth Africa andagreed thatUNCTAD should first
conduct suchastudy. We,likeothers, hopethattheimpasse which hasbeencreated intheUNCTAD
overthisissue willsoonberesolved.
Oncorelabour standards, Trinidad andTobago understands thesensitivities involved onboth
sidesofthedebate. Itisbecause ofthose verysensitivities thatthesubject oflabour mustbediscussed
inaforum which isnotcompetent todealwiththeissue. TheInternational Labour Organization with
itstripartite structure remains theproper organization foremployers, workers andgovernments tomeetWT/MIN(96)/ST/83
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oncommon ground. Involvement ofthisintergovernmental organization withitslimited mandate and
membership, restricted ofnecessity togovernments, islessthanuseful.
However frustrating itmight betocountries which donotgettheirwayinthis,theshort term
ofthelifeofthisOrganization, itisclearthatthestruggle forcommon ground inthesearch forconsensus
istheonlywaytomove thework oftheOrganization forward. Much greater effort musttherefore
bedevoted toaddressing matters ofrealconcern todeveloping countries inthebuilt-in agenda ofthe
Marrakesh Agreements before there canbeanymeaningful deepening orwidening ofthescope of
thecurrent 27,000 pages.