WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/ST/25
9December 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-5191)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
NEW ZEALAND
Statement byTheHonourable Dr.Lockwood Smith
Minister ofAgriculture
Deputy-Minister ofFinance
Thisfirstofthebiennial meetings oftheWTO isvitally important forusall.Itisimportant
thatitisasuccess.
Inpreparing forthismeeting Director-General Ruggiero hasdone great service inkeeping
ourdelegations focused onthefundamental importance oftheWTO tothemultilateral trading system
asawhole, andontheimportance oflooking ahead aswellasback.
Fundamental tolooking ahead inanyorganization istheneedtoensure itsobjectives are
articulated clearly. WeintheWTO needacleargoal. Wemustcommit ourselves toachieving aworld
wheretradeflowsfreely:totheprogressiveliberalizationandeliminationoftariffandnon-tariffbarriers,
totherejection ofallforms ofprotectionism, andtotheelimination ofdiscriminatory treatment in
international trade relations.
Insuchaworld theopennon-discriminatory provisions ofthemultilateral trading system will
apply infullmeasure totheproducts andservices ofallmembers oftheglobal economy: aworld
offreeandopentrade atthemultilateral level.
Sotheground hasbeenprepared. Success nowdepends onus.Forourpart,NewZealand
isclear onwhatwehavetodo.
Wehavetobeddown andlockinthose commitments weagreed toduring theUruguay Round.
Their effective implementation isessential totheprocess weareengaged in.NewZealand hasfulfilled
itscommitments andwelooktoallourtrading partners tofulfil theirs too.
Wemustlookforward aswell. ThatiswhyNewZealand hasplaced somuch emphasis on
thebuilt-in agenda. Thevarious agreements concluded during theUruguay Round telluswhen the
nextnegotiations orreviews arescheduled tobegin. Most arenotdueuntiltheturnofthecentury.
Werespect those agreements fully, anddonotpropose anynegotiations bebrought forward.
Buttoensure thattheWTO 'snegotiating process ismore efficient thantheGATT 's,andto
show thatwehavelearnt from thepast, theanalysis andinformation exchange thatprecedes any
negotiation cannot beleftuntiltheyear2000. Itmustbegotunder waynextyear. Thatiswhatwe
Ministers hereinSingapore must mandate.
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Wealsohavesome unfinished business fromtheUruguay Round thatwemustconclude; the
sectoral negotiations inservices, inparticular basictelecommunications, financial services, andmaritime
services. NewZealand hasputforward fullandcomprehensive MFN-based offers inallthree areas
buthasbeenfrustrated thatnegotiations haveeither beendeferred orareincomplete. Let'sresolve
tofinish them off.
Andwhile weareabout it,let'sresolve tomake some realprogress ontheissue oftrade and
environment too.Webelieve thattraderulesandprotection oftheenvironment should notbeinconflict
witheachother, thattheyshould bemutually supportive. In1997 weneedtobeabletoconvince the
people oftheworld thatthisissue isstillbeing dealtwithseriously.
Some issues thatwearediscussing thisweek -likeinvestment andcompetition policy -are
referred tooccasionally as"new". Buttheyarenotnew. Bothareencompassed inexisting WTO
agreements andaretherefore partofthebuilt-in agenda already. Nooneissuggesting negotiating
disciplines atthisstage. Butopen educative discussion would, wethink, beofbenefit toprepare
ourselves forthenegotiations andreviews towhich weareallalready committed. Let'smake further
progress here.
Finally, forNew Zealand, asacountry withglobal trading interests, theprimacy ofthe
multilateral trading system isfundamental. Open regionalism should inspire ustoensure thatthe
dynamism oftheWTO ismaintained.
Butitisimportant thatregional trade arrangements becomplementary toandconsistent with
themultilateral trading system. Forourpart,weintheWTO should seektobroaden andglobalize
thebenefits ofregional arrangements through further liberalization atthemultilateral level.
ForusintheAsia/Pacific region itissymbolic thatwearemeeting hereinSingapore -symbolic
ofthisregion 'scommitment tothemultilateral trading system.
Mr.Chairman,throughyoumythankstotheGovernmentofSingaporeforhostingthisimportant
meeting; andmythanks forthecommitment youhavemade tomaking itasuccess.
Youmayhavenoticed thatIhavenotusedtheword "agriculture" once. Ithasnotbeeneasy
asIamaMinister ofAgriculture. ButIhavenotneeded to:wehavestarted tobring agriculture
fullyintothemultilateral trading system. Itispromoting thefurther development ofthatsystem that
hasbrought allofustoSingapore. Wehavemade agood start. Now let'sgetonwithit.