WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/49
10December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5208)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: English
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
ICELAND
Statement byH.E. Mr.Finnur Ingólfsson
Minister ofIndustry andCommerce
Itisdifficult toimagine abetter illustration ofthebenefits thatfreetrade canbring thanthe
evident success andprosperity ofourhostcountry Singapore. Itistherefore singularly appropriate
thatthefirstMinisterial Conference oftheWTO should beheldhere. Asanother small island country
heavily dependent onforeign trade weattach great importance tothework oftheWorld Trade
Organization andareconfident thatwewillhereatthisConference beabletofurther consolidate the
multilateral trading system. Thefirsttwoyears oftheWTO haveshown thattheOrganization will
beabletoliveuptotheexpectations invested initbothintheareas oftradeliberalization andincreased
transparency andlastbutnotleastdispute settlement. What stillremains fortheOrganization tobe
trulyglobal isthesuccessful completion ofaccession negotiations andthefullintegration ofdeveloping
countries intothework oftheOrganization. Werealize thatthiswillnotonlyrequire efforts from
thedeveloping countries themselves butalsomatching efforts fromdeveloped countries inbothopening
uptheirmarkets insensitive products suchastextiles andintechnical assistance.
Theresults oftheUruguay Round wereindeed animpressive achievement buteverything has
aprice andwehavenotescaped noticing thatimplementing theresults requires hardwork. Import
structures havehadtobereorganized andmaking surethatnotifications aredelivered ontimehasat
times caused some strain within oursmall administration. Thenecessary organizational measures have
nowbeentaken toenable ustofullyliveuptoourobligations.
TheUruguay Round cannot besaidtobetrulycompleted untilwehavedealtwithallunfinished
business. Innegotiations onmaritime transport Iceland scheduled firmandliberal commitments as
asignoftheimportance weattach tothesector andtocontribute tothesuccess offuture negotiations.
Ontelecommunications wehavealsotabled oneofthemostliberal offers todateandhopeforresults
intheverynearfuture. Ourparticipation intalksonfinancial services hasbeenlessactive tonow
butinpractice wehaveadopted aliberal stance inthisareaandthiswillbereflected inourposition.
Atthemoment weareobservers intheGovernment Procurement Agreement butfullparticipation has
beenunder preparation forsome timenow. Inthefieldofintellectual property wehavesignificantly
improved protection andstrengthened ourinternational commitments.
Thereisatendencytosetupregionaltradingarrangementsasadangertothemultilateralsystem.
Inourexperience thecontrary hastaken place. Under pressure fromourfreetrade partners wehave
openedupourmarketsinthesectorsIjustmentioned,(maritimetransport,telecommunications,financial
services, government procurement, intellectual property). Thatfirstdecision metinsome instances
withdomestic opposition butthedecision toexpand thatmarket access totherestoftheworld onan
MFN basishasproved tobesimpler toimplement. Therealenemy ofthemultilateral trading system
isprotectionism, notregional trading arrangements.
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Inthepreparations forthisMinisterial Conference proposals weremade tolaunch negotiations
onindustrial tariffs. Unfortunately noagreement onthiswasreached. Suchnegotiations would have
provided anopportunity tofurther liberalize trade infisheries products. Compared tothebulkof
industrial products tariffs onfisheries products. Compared tothebulkofindustrial products tariffs
onfisheries products arestillrelatively highandanumber ofother barriers totrade stillexist. We
havebeenable, through regional trading arrangements, toensure conditions approaching freetrade
infisheries products withmany ofourmostimportant partners. Herewethink themultilateral system
might withadvantage looktotheadoption ofresults achieved onaregional basis.
Themandate oftheWTO asarules-based bodyisclearly defined. Thefocus oftheOrganization
isandshould remain thedefining andtheimplementation oftrade rules. Wehave, however, to
acknowledge thatthetrade environment israpidly changing andtheOrganization hastoevolve
accordingly. Acaseinpointisinvestment. Theriseinforeign direct investment hasblurred thedividing
linebetween trade andinvestment. Thisisclearly anissuethathastobeaddressed andincorporated
intothemultilateral trading system, Useful work hasalready beendonebothinUNCTAD andthe
OECD buttheWTO hastostartaprocess thatwillenable ittofaceuptoitsresponsibilities inthis
fieldinthefuture. Thefirststephastobetoestablish aworking group tolookintotheissue. The
progress made inthatgroup willdetermine thenextsteps. Thisislikely tobeatime-consuming process
anditisdifficult atthismoment topredict theappropriate timeforlaunching negotiations. Themain
thing istostartwork ontheissue. Other areas where WTO work could beexpanded include trade
andcompetition andtrade facilitation. With thegradual elimination oftariffs other trade obstacles
become more apparent andifwewanttoachieve freeflowoftrade these issues havetobeaddressed.
Wewelcome andsupport theinitiative oftheQuad countries toeliminate tariffs oninformation
technology products. Weseethelistthatisnowunder discussion asamajor steptowards liberalization
inthiskeysector. There is,however, stillscope forexpansion. There isaninformation technology
component inanincreasing variety ofproducts andthisshould eventually bemore adequately reflected
intheagreement.
Iceland 'seconomy isbased onfisheries andthedirect economic importance ofaclean
environment istherefore evenmore readily apparent tousthantoothers. Theresponsible exploitation
ofliving natural resources isaprecondition forourcontinued existence asanation. Protection of
theenvironmentisapriorityissueandanissuethathastobedealtwiththroughinternationalcooperation.
Inevitably trade aspects havecropped upranging from trade inproducts from endangered species to
thepossible competitive advantage ofcountries where environmental legislation isslack. Thework
intheCommittee onTrade andtheEnvironment hasbrought outthecomplexities ofthisissue but
alsodemonstrated thattradeliberalization andtheprotection oftheenvironment arenotonlycompatible
butmutually reinforcing. Itisimportant toavoid unilateral action andthecriteria forimposing trade
restrictions onenvironmental grounds havetobebothclearly defined andapplied withthenecessary
scientific rigour. Further work isneeded toclarify therules anddefine mechanisms forsettlement
ofdisputes soastoavoid anypossible clashes between theprovisions ofmultilateral environmental
agreements andtheWTO. Significant progress hasbeenmade within theCommittee forTrade and
theEnvironment butmuch more remains tobedone. ThebasishasbeenlaidandIamoptimistic that
wewillreach aconsensus onsolutions ensuring bothfreetrade andrespect fortheenvironment.
Inconcluding, Iwould liketothank Singapore foritshospitality andexpress thehopethat
thequalities thathaveputSingapore onthemap, i.e.theability tomake people ofdifferent origins
work together inharmony, theability totemper freedom withdiscipline andtheability tomake the
mostofscarce resources willbeahallmark oftheyoung World Trade Organization. TheWTO has
hadhereinSingapore anauspicious start.