WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/104
12December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5286)
Original: Spanish MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
HONDURAS
Statement byH.E. Mr.Sergio Nuñez
Vice-Minister ofTrade andEconomics
Speaking onbehalf ofHonduras atthisFirst Ministerial Conference oftheWorld Trade
Organization, Iwould liketoexpress mygratitude tothepeople andGovernment ofSingapore for
thecordial andwarm welcome theyhaveextended toourdelegation andtocongratulate themontheir
excellent organization ofthisevent.
TheGovernment ofHonduras, which Ihavethehonour torepresent, ispleased tobeableto
participate inthisFirst WTO Ministerial Conference, whose main objective istoassess the
implementation ofthecommitments wemade attheMarrakesh Ministerial Conference Establishing
theWTO andtoreview ongoing negotiations aswellastheOrganization 'swork programme.
While negotiations arecontinuing onvarious issues, theUruguay Round ofmultilateral trade
negotiations hasachieved historic results, andsignificant progress hasbeenmade. However, thetime
hascome toreview thescope andeffects ofsome oftheAgreements, andabove alltostress theneed
forscrupulous compliance withandimplementation ofthose Agreements bytheMember States.
Since 1960 Honduras hasbeen committed totheprocess ofCentral American economic
integration which, initsearly days, provided anexample totheworld ofhowsmall countries could
benefit from anexpanded market andachieve higher levels ofwell-being fortheirpopulations. The
processofregionalintegrationhassteadilyadvanced,andmycountryremainscommittedtostrengthening
theprocess anditsresulting institutions.
Asweprogressed withthese regional schemes, andasweimproved ourtrade relations with
third countries, weopted foramodel which, farfrom promoting protectionism, isgeared towards
economic liberalization inaccordance withWTO rules anddisciplines, thereby strengthening the
multilateral trading system.
When Honduras acceded totheGATT in1994, ittookonaseries ofcommitments and
obligations which led,interalia,tothebinding ofatariff universe andtheelimination oftariff and
non-tariff barriers. Ourobjective wastojoinourtrading partners inopening upandliberalizing
markets, inthehopeofachieving ahigher levelofdevelopment andboosting theeconomic andsocial
well-being forourpeople.
Today,asMembersoftheWTO,wearemakingatremendouseffortandsacrificeatthedomestic
level toadapt oureconomy with aview tofulfilling ourcommitments inapplication ofthe
WTO Agreements. Thisshould notbeanisolated effort, andweurgethedeveloped countries to
cooperate inproviding trade opportunities aimed atallowing thedeveloping countries withsmall
economies, suchasHonduras, togainimproved market access forthose products which areofmajor
importance totheireconomic development.WT/MIN(96)/ST/104
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Iwould nowliketoreferspecifically tothefollowing topics:
(a) Agreement onAgriculture
With regard totrade inagricultural products, wenotewithconcern thatthissector hasnot
beencompletelyintegratedintothemultilateraltradingsystem,andthatsanitaryrestrictionsandtechnical
barriers totradecontinue tobeapplied. Markets arestillclosed tonewsuppliers, andexport subsidies
havebeenmaintained inmost ofthedeveloped countries.
(b) Agreement onTextiles andClothing
MyGovernment isconcerned atthefailure toadhere strictly toeither thespirit ortheletter
oftheAgreement onTextiles andClothing. Honduras believes thattheAgreement callsforagradual
liberalization oftrade intextile products leading totheeventual elimination ofquotas imposed under
theMultifibre Arrangement. Iftheintegration oftextile products istobecommercially significant,
itmust include restricted products which areofgreater interest toourcountry.
During thetwoyears sincetheAgreement onTextiles andClothing came intoforce, Honduras
hasbeenonthelistofcountries whose products arerestricted. Ourunderstanding isthatthepurpose
oftheAgreement istoliberalize trade andthatsafeguards should beapplied sparingly. Inourview,
theimposition ofadditional quotas isincompatible withthatliberalizing spirit, andhinders theultimate
integration oftextile products.
Therecord shows thatsafeguards havenotbeenapplied sparingly. In1995, there weremore
than25requests forconsultations. Itwassubsequently shown thatmany ofthese requests could not
bejustified under theAgreement, andalthough some requests werewithdrawn, these actions created
considerable uncertainty astoprospects fortheexport oftextile products.
Norhasmycountry 'sexperience withtheTextiles Monitoring Board beenentirely satisfactory.
Indeed, weurgethatbody toconduct itsactivities onthebasis ofimpartiality andtransparency.
Another areaofconcern forHonduras isthechange intherulesoforigin which threatens to
reduceaccessforourexportsandundermineourtradeadvantages,therebycreatinguncertainty,reducing
investment prospects andincreasing theburden ofcustoms formalities.
(c) Dispute settlement
Theestablishment ofaDispute Settlement Body isanachievement withwhich weshould all
besatisfied. Compliance withandapplication oftherecommendations ofthepanels isacommitment
thatweshould allassume. Wearepleased tonotethatitistothismechanism thatmostWTO Members
resort forthesettlement oftheirdisputes, rather thanapplying unilateral measures which serve only
toweaken theOrganization.
(d) Environment
While Honduras, likeallWTO Members, isaware oftheneedtoprotect theenvironment,
itisconcernedthattherelationshipbetweentradeandenvironmentmightbeusedtojustifytheapplication
ofadditional protectionist measures.WT/MIN(96)/ST/104
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(e) Trade andinvestment
Although thereisalready abuilt-in agenda intheWTO Agreements thatdemand atremendous
amount ofwork andadditional effort onthepartofmycountry, wewould liketotakethisopportunity
toexpressoursupportfortheinitiativecallingforanexaminationandanalysisoftherelationshipbetween
trade andinvestment, provided theresults donotjeopardize thenegotiating process.
(f) Competition policy
Withregard tocompetition policy, wesupport theestablishment ofagroup ofexperts toconduct
astudy aimed atdefining therelationship between competition policy andtradewithin theframework
oftheWTO.
(g) Information technology
Intheareaofinformation technology, wesupport theinitiative toprepare thewayforthe
discussion ofaMultilateral Agreement onInformation Technology, provided thattimetables fortariff
elimination areconsidered andmost WTO Members participate.
(h) Labour standards
Honduras isacountry which respects human rights andtherights ofworkers, andwejoin
theother countries which havestated thattheILOshould betheonlybody authorized todealwith
social andlabour issues. Webelieve thatthetripartite structure oftheILOoffers thebestsolution
fordealing withsuchissues andthattheyshould notbediscussed within theWTO, since theycould
beused asapretext forintroducing protectionist trade measures against countries which enjoy
comparative advantages.
Inconclusion,theresultsofthisMinisterialConferenceshouldshowdueregardfortheprinciples
which gavebirthtotheOrganization, according towhich itsfundamental objectives are,interalia,
to"raise standards ofliving, toensure fullemployment andagrowing volume ofrealincome" inthe
participating countries.