WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/10
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2009)
Original: English MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
DENMARK
Statement Circulated byMr.Niels Helveg Petersen,
Minister forForeign Affairs
Overall perspective andmain priorities
Theimmensely positive impact ofthemultilateral trading system ongrowth, employment and
stability hasbeencrucial totheworld economy overthelast50years. Thedouble occasion ofthe
Second WTO Ministerial Conference andthe50thAnniversary oftheMultilateral Trading System
provides anopportunity totakestock ofachievements sofar.Italsoentails aresponsibility forWTO
Members toaddress thechallenges offuture international tradecooperation. Thisisataskoftremendous
importance -notleastforDenmark asasmall andopeneconomy. Ourcommitment tothemultilateral
trading system isstronger thanever.
DenmarkhasnotedwithgreatsatisfactionthedevelopmentoftheWTOintoastrongandefficient
body ininternational trade policy andrelated matters. Especially, thecontinued reduction oftrade
barriers, theexpanded coverage oftheWTO agenda aswellastheincreased andglobalized membership
underline theimportance andstrength oftheorganization asweapproach thenewMillennium. Also,
thedispute settlement system -anditsearly success -bears proof ofanefficient organization.
However, thisrapid development -closely linked totheglobalization oftheworld economy -
isputting newdemands ontheWTO. Inparticular, itwillbecrucial tosecure continued public support
fortheWTO. Thisrequires meeting complex challenges arising fromtheinterplay between tradeand
topics related toenvironmental, social andequitable development. Notleast forthesakeofthe
multilateraltradingsystemitself,itisimperativethattheWTOagendaissubstantiallyadvancedregarding
environment, corelabour standards, integration ofdeveloping countries andopenness.
Coupled withaveryfirmsupport forfurther liberalization inallareas oftheWTO work
programme, these areDenmark ’stoppriorities forthefuture development ofthemultilateral trading
system. Webelieve thatabroad-based andwell-balanced agenda isnecessary tosecure theinterests
ofallWTO Members. Launching newcomprehensive negotiations withawideagenda would therefore
seem thebestwayforward inorder tomaintain theefficiency andcredibility oftheWTO.
- Advancing thetrade andenvironment agenda...
Theissueoftradeandenvironment isbecoming increasingly important ininternational affairs.
Public awareness andconcern fortheprotection oftheenvironment isgrowing rapidly inallparts
oftheworld.
Against thisbackground itseems unlikely thatamajor package ofeconomic liberalization could
beagreed andimplemented worldwide inthedecade ahead without theexplicit support ofthepublicWT/MIN(98)/ST/10
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inbothdeveloped anddeveloping countries. Itistherefore necessary toprovide newmomentum to
thework ontrade andenvironment intheWTO withaviewtoencouraging concrete results andto
including thetopic infuture comprehensive negotiations asakeyelement.
Denmark isoneofthestaunchest supporters ofcontinued trade liberalization inamultilateral
framework.Denmarkstronglyopposesanyprotectionistuseofenvironmentalissues.Fullconsideration
must begiven tothespecial situation ofdeveloping countries infurther advancing thetrade and
environment agenda.
Atthesametime, WTO rulesshould notstand inthewayofenhancing environmental standards
ateither thenational, regional orglobal level. Thisincludes thattheWTO mustrecognize theuseof
trade measures inmultilateral environmental agreements when necessary toreach globally agreed
environmental objectives.
Insum, theWTO must aimforastronger integration ofenvironmental considerations and
principles withaviewtomaximizing mutual benefits oftrade andenvironment towards sustainable
development.
- Respecting corelabour standards …
Denmark attaches great importance tothepromotion andrespect ofcorelabour standards.
While strongly believing thattheWTO hasanimportant roletoplay,wefirmly reject theuseoflabour
standards forprotectionist purposes. Thecomparative advantage ofcountries, particularly low-wage
developing countries, must notbeputintoquestion.
Onthisveryclearbasis, corelabour standards should beincluded intheWTO agenda. The
Singapore Declaration confirmed thattheWTO hasaroletoplayinpromoting labour standards. We
hopetoseeafurther evolution ofthediscussion tothebenefit ofsocial andliving conditions around
theworld.
- Integrating developing countries further …
Thepursuit offurther multilateral trade liberalization mustfocus onsecuring fullintegration
andparticipation ofdeveloping countries. TheWTO should assign highpriority toenhancing thetrade
opportunities ofdeveloping countries -withparticular emphasis ontheproblems oftheleast-developed
countries.
Theresults oftheHigh-Level Meeting in1997 onthetrade problems oftheleast-developed
countries constituted anencouraging firststepbothwithregard tomarket access andtrade-related
technical assistance. Itisimportant thattheinitiatives launched -aswellasfollow-up efforts byall
WTO Members -aregiven highpriority.
Inaddition, further initiatives arenecessary onbothmarket access andassistance. Thework
oftheWTO -aswellasindividual members -mustbecarried forward inaconcrete manner toenhance
theroleofleast-developed countries ininternational trade. Denmark willsupport every effort inthat
direction.
- Making theWTO more openandtransparent …
Withincreased public attention oninternational tradepolicy, criticism relating totransparency,
openness anddemocracy hasalsogrown inforce. Needs arerapidly growing fortheWTO tofind
awayoftackling theincreased public interest initsdecisions anddecision-making process. Apart fromWT/MIN(98)/ST/10
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shielding theWTO from criticism, greater transparency could playakeyroleincommunicating the
benefits oftrade liberalization. Inturn, more public support fortheWTO would begenerated.
Denmark istherefore committed tomaking theWTO more transparent andopen. Atthesame
time, itisimportant tostress thatnoinitiative onopenness mustputtheeffectiveness oftheWTO at
risk. From ourperspective, there isnoinherent conflict between openness andeffectiveness.
While recognizing thesteps already taken bytheWTO, Denmark stands ready topromote
further theissue ofopenness intheWTO. Inorder toestablish anon-going process addressing this
important question, onewayforward could bethesetting upofaWTO working group onopenness
andtransparency.
- Addressing thechallenges ofglobalization …
GlobalizationhasputnewdemandsontheWTO.Asaresult,investmentandcompetitionaspects
ofinternational tradearebecoming evermore important. Today, competition andinvestment practices
areperhaps more relevant totheflowofinternational goods andservices thanactual trade barriers.
Denmark fully supports theon-going work onthese matters intheWTO. Both investment and
competition topics must form integral parts ofthefuture agenda ofthemultilateral trading system -
alsointheshape ofcoming negotiations.
Electronic commerce isanother contemporary subject inneedofWTO attention. Work on
thesubject should therefore beaccelerated andformally included intheWTO agenda.
Similarly, globalization andtechnological development haveincreased boththeneedandscope
fortrade facilitation. TheWTO isbeing called upon tosteerthemodernization andsimplification of
customs andtradeprocedures. Considering thehugepotential benefits involved, theWTO should speed
upwork ontrade facilitation.
- Continuing progress inallareas…
Anumber ofother issues andareas ontheWTO work programme must beadvanced in
accordance withtheagreed time-frames. Denmark willparticipate constructively inthescheduled
negotiations arising from the“built-in ”agenda regarding agriculture andservices -notleastinthe
maritime sector where substantial liberalization isofcrucial importance. TheSPSandTBTAgreements
areotherimportant areasoftheWTO agenda asisworkonrevising theGPAandtheTRIPS Agreement.
Inasimilar vein, Denmark welcomes theresults achieved since theSingapore Conference,
notably theliberalization agreements oninformation technology products, financial services and
telecommunications services. Expanding thecoverage oftheinformation technology agreement isan
important taskahead ofus.
Another crucial challenge totheWTO liesinexpanding themembership oftheorganization.
Denmark attaches weight tothesmooth andrapid accession ofapplicant countries -notleastwhen
considering theenormous political andeconomic importance fortheapplicants. Itisclearthough that
accession totheWTO should bebased onrespect forWTO standards regarding tradepolicy behaviour
andsubstantial non-discriminatory market access commitments.WT/MIN(98)/ST/10
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- Implementing existing commitments …
TheUruguayRoundandtheSingaporeMinisterialConferenceresultedinfar-reachingagreements
andliberalization commitments. Thefullimplementation ofthesecommitments byallWTO Members
within theagreed time-frames isofutmost importance.
Developing countries mayencounter special problems inthisregard. Denmark willsupport
initiatives infavour ofhelping developing countries intransitional periods through technical, financial
orother forms ofassistance.
- Initiating newcomprehensive negotiations …
Meeting alloftheabove challenges isofcourse anenormous task. Itisinourview atask
thatcanonlybesolved byestablishing abroad andbalanced agenda forfuture negotiations where
interests ofallWTO Member countries arerepresented.
Denmark isafirmbeliever inlaunching global, comprehensive negotiations -preferably anew
Round -in1999. ThisMinisterial Conference isacrucial stepping stone inpreparing theground for
suchnegotiations. Adecision onfuture negotiations would provide momentum forafurther deepening
andwidening oftrade policy cooperation intheWTO.
Reaching jointcommitments towards further multilateral trade liberalization would alsobe
themost convincing pledge against protectionism. Theworld economy could notaskforamore
constructive andcredible tradepledge thanthatofnewcomprehensive tradenegotiations intheWTO.
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