WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(99)/ST/113
2 December 1999
(99-5312)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Third Session
Seattle, 30 November - 3 December 1999Original:  English
EGYPT
Statement by H.E. Dr. Youssef Boutros Ghali
Minister of Economy and Foreign Trade
I would like to start by expressing our sincere thanks and appreciation to the Government of
the United States for hosting this important Conference, and for the hospitality they have extended to
all delegations in this regard including my own.
Although it has only been five-years since the signing in Marrakesh the Agreement
establishing the WTO;  the organization has assumed an unprecedented clout and responsibilities.
This obviously stems from the challenges and opportunities it offers. Those challenges and
opportunities make the Seattle Conference all the more important in guiding us in the years to comeand in enabling us to focus our future agenda in the multilateral trading system.  The success of the
multilateral trading system and the World Trade Organization can only be measured through the full
participation of the developing countries in shaping and formulating the rules of this system and
ensuring the equitable sharing of gains and benefits.
We, as yesterday's contracting parties within the GATT's framework, and today's Members of
the WTO had settled a basis which we thought fair and equitable for a multilateral trading system toguide us all, developing and developed countries, towards the next millennium with prosperity for all
peoples achieved and with integration of our economies enhanced.  Egypt as a developing country has
exerted every possible effort to attain and pursue the goals of open markets and liberal trade policies,
yet the unbalanced scale between the rights and obligations within the framework of the Uruguay
Round Agreements had resulted in an unfair distribution of benefits.
It is therefore imperative to take the necessary decisions to rectify many of the asymmetries
arising from the implementation of the Agreements under the World Trade Organization since its
entry into force in January 1995.  We believe that this Ministerial Conference provides a good
opportunity for such decisions.
Egypt is of the view that the structure for future work as set out in the Geneva Ministerial
Declaration should be adhered to.  Following this structure will ensure that the balance of Members
rights and obligations is maintained.  To this end, implementation issues raised legitimately by many
developing countries including my own in the preparation process for Seattle should be addressed and
resolved satisfactorily by our Conference. The unresolved issues by the time this Conference
concludes should be dealt with under the aegis of the General Council.  I would like to take this
opportunity to stress the great importance we attach to address the shortcomings we are facing in the
implementation of the agreements whether in the form of substantive obligations we cannot tackle,
but more importantly with regard to the developed countries unfulfilled obligations under the Special
and Differential Treatment provisions, its increased resort to contingency protectionist measures as
anti-dumping, use of standards in the TBT and SPS Agreements, the manner in which the Agreementon Textiles and Clothing is implemented, the inadequacy of technical assistance, and market accessWT/MIN(99)/ST/113
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restrictions hampering the flow of our exports to their markets.  And last but by no means least the
total non-implementation of the Marrakesh decision for net food importing developing countries.
We are committed to the mandated negotiations in agriculture and services.  In the upcoming
negotiations on agriculture, Egypt firmly believes that the negotiations should consider binding and
operationalizing Special and Differential Treatment for developing countries in order to render it more
meaningful and effective and to take into consider ation the differences in the levels of development
and to assist in the facilitation of the development of the agricultural sector in developing countries,
and expanding wider market access opportunities for their agricultural products.  Genuine efforts
should be geared towards the activation of the Net Food-Importing Developing Countries Ministerial
Decision by laying out concrete operational measures and programmes to render it more effective and
responsive to the needs of those countries.
As regards services, we reiterate that negotiations should mainly aim at increasing
participation of developing countries in world trade in services, and are to be conducted within the
existing architecture of the GATS and under the principle of progressive liberalization.  Specific
commitments should be based on the request and offer approach and have to secure the overallbalance of rights and obligations, maintain the flexibility for developing country Members, respect the
national policy objectives and take into consideration the level of development of individual
Members.  Negotiations should ensure that services sectors of export interest to developing countries
are significantly included in the schedules of commitments of developed countries.
As regards the future work in the WTO, Egypt fails to see the rationale at this moment in time
to negotiate trade rules for investment and competition. We believe that the educative and exploratory
process should continue regarding trade and investment, competition, transparency in government
procurement and trade facilitation, without prejudging whether negotiations will be initiated in the
future.
As concerns transparency in government procurement, Egypt believes that such a subject falls
squarely within the mandate of the Singapore Declaration so as to pursue the conduct of the study on
Transparency in Government Procurement practices, taking into account national policies and aiming
at developing elements for inclusion in an appropriate agreement, which should not be expanded to
include market access or dispute settlement mechanisms.
We also have a firm point of view as regards the new issues such as trade and environment,
and core labour standards, we oppose the inclusion of those issues in the new trade negotiations, as
this would lead to new disguised barriers to trade and would further minimize market access
opportunities for developing countries, thus adding to their economic and social suffering.
In our view, core labour standards do not belong to trade negotiations.  We believe that the
ILO is the competent body to deal with this issue and it should stay this way.
I would like before I conclude to refer to the accession process to the WTO and its importance
for achieving the universality of the MTS.  But before doing that I would like to extend a warmwelcome, and congratulate the new Members that have joined the WTO since our last conference in
Geneva, namely:  Kyrgyz Republic, Lavia, Estonia, Georgia and Jordan – welcome amongst our
midst, and we hope that we are very soon able to congratulate others in the acceding process.  I need
not stress more that this process should ensure the speedy, smooth, and transparent procedures for
accession, and avoiding discrimination against new applicants.  In this context I would like to expressEgypt's deep regret to the objections raised on the request submitted by the League of Arab States for
observer status to this Third Ministerial.  The League of Arab States, of which Egypt is a Member
along with 22 Arab States is an intergovernmental organization of which ten are presently full-fledged
Members to the WTO and six are either observers or in the process of accession.  Needless to say that
it has a considerable work driven from its mandate and competence on economic issues particularlyWT/MIN(99)/ST/113
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trade.  I sincerely hope that this matter is rectified when the General Council considers the issue of
observer status to the WTO in the future.
Let me conclude by stating that as long as there is good faith and political will to enhance
"MTS" to achieve its objectives, this system will allo w all participants to gain its fruits and benefits.
Having said that, I cannot but repeat a sentence mentioned in a speech of Mr. Mike Moore who was
quoting President John F. Kennedy and I quote "If a free society could not help the many who were
poor, it could not save the few who were rich".
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