RESTRICTED
WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(96)/SR/9
22January 1997
ORGANIZATION(97-0230)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Singapore, 9-13December 1996
SUMMARY RECORD OFTHE NINTH MEETING
Held attheSuntec Conference Centre, Singapore,
onFriday, 13December 1996, at12.15 p.m.
Chairman: Mr.YeoCheow Tong (Singapore)
Subjects: 1. Action byMinisters (Agenda item2)
2. Dates andvenue ofthenextMinisterial Conference (Agenda item3)
3. Election ofOfficers (Agenda item4)
4. Closure oftheSession
1. Action byMinisters
TheMinisterialConferenceadoptedtheSingaporeMinisterialDeclaration(WT/MIN(96)/DEC).
TheMinisterialConferencenextadoptedtheComprehensiveandIntegratedWTOPlanofAction
fortheLeast-Developed Countries (WT/MIN(96)/14).
TheMinisterial Conference then took note ofthereport oftheGeneral Council in
WT/MIN(96)/2, andendorsed therecommendations contained therein.
2. Dates andvenue ofthenextMinisterial Conference
TheCHAIRMANproposed,followingconsultationsheldbytheChairmanoftheGeneralCouncil
andhimself, thatthenextsession oftheMinisterial Conference beheldinGeneva, theheadquarters
oftheWTO. Hefurther proposed thattheGeneral Council beinvited tofixthedateandduration
ofthatMinisterial Conference.
TheMinisterial Conference soagreed.
3. Election ofOfficers
TheCHAIRMANrecalledthattheRulesofProcedureforsessionsoftheMinisterialConference
(WT/L/161) provided fortheelection ofaChairperson andthree Vice-Chairpersons toholdoffice
fromtheendofthepresent session untiltheendofthenextregular session. Following consultations
heldbytheChairman oftheGeneral Council andhimself, heproposed thefollowing: First, thatWT/MIN(96)/SR/9
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Switzerland holdthepostofChairperson oftheMinisterial Conference. Second, thatGuatemala, Korea
andZimbabwe holdtheposts ofVice-Chairpersons.
TheMinisterial Conference elected theabove officers byacclamation.
4. Closure oftheSession
TheCHAIRMAN, inconcluding remarks,1saidthattheMinisterial Conference hadbeenan
outstanding event inallrespects, andpaidtribute totheapplication anddevotion thatallhiscolleagues
hadshown throughout. Duetothelackoftime, hehadregrettably beenunable toconsult witheach
oftheparticipants atevery stage. Theapproach atthismeeting hadbeenempirical, andonewould
needtoimprove theprocedures applied atthenextMinisterial Conference.
Unlike mostofitsGATT predecessors, thisMinisterial meeting hadnotbeenabout thestart
orcompletion ofamajor round ofnegotiations. Indeed, itrepresented animportant pointonacontinuum
inthegrowth andevolution ofthemultilateral trading system. TheMinisterial Conference wasnot
onlythesupreme executive body oftheWTO butalsotheforum toprovide political guidance and
overall coherence forthenewtrading system established justunder twoyears earlier. Inthissense,
theMinisterial Conference, ininstitutional terms, wasthecornerstone oftheglobal trading system.
Itembodied, institutionally, thevision ofMinisters atMarrakesh thattheWTO should function as
acommon institutional framework, bringing allcountries together fromallcorners oftheworld and
from alllevels ofdevelopment.
SincethebeginningofthisMinisterialConference,some129speakershadgiventheirassessments
oftheoperation andfunctioning ofthemultilateral trading system. Theyhadtaken stock oftheWTO 's
activities initsfirsttwoyears ofexistence, andhadarticulated thechallenges ahead andhowthese
could bemet.
Hehighlighted thattheestablishment oftheWTO, thefirstmajor international institution to
becreated inthepost-Cold Warera,hadresulted inseveral important advantages forall.Thebiggest
gainofthepost-Marrakesh erawastheexistence andexpansion ofatrading system based on
internationally agreed andenforceable rules anddisciplines tobothoversee andguarantee progress
intrade.TheestablishmentoftheWTOwasdeservedlyseenastheoutstandinginternationalachievement
ofthedecade towhich allMembers hadmade substantial contributions. Ithadbeenwidely noted that
thecredibility andeffectiveness ofthenewsystem rested onMember governments 'fullcompliance
withtherules, disciplines andcommitments resulting from theWTO Agreement.
Thecentral focus oftheWTO 'sworkin1995and1996hadbeentheimplementation andfollow-
upofcommitments. Thereport oftheGeneral Council provided afullpanorama oftheactivities of
eachofthecouncils andcommittees dealing withtrade ingoods, services andtrade-related aspects
ofintellectual property rights. Itwasbroadly recognized thatcontinual, day-to-day efforts wererequired
byallMembers toconsolidate theUruguay Round results andensure fullcompliance thatwereessential
totheproper functioning ofthesystem. Insystemic terms, theWTO 'sreinforced dispute settlement
mechanism hadproved itseffectiveness andcould bejustly regarded asanoutstanding success ofthe
organizations 'sfirsttwoyears.
1ThefulltextoftheChairman 'sconcluding remarks wascirculated asWT/MIN(96)/9.WT/MIN(96)/SR/9
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Ministers hadanalyzed developments ininternational tradehaving regard tothereport submitted
bytheDirector-General, which confirmed positive ratesofgrowth andcontinued trade liberalization
inmany parts oftheworld.
TheMinisterial Declaration thathadjustbeen adopted hadanumber ofverysignificant
components which provided thenecessary balance ofinterests. Alltheissues reflected intheDeclaration
were equally important. Nevertheless, hefeltcompelled tounderline certain elements.
With regard toparagraph 4-Core Labour Standards -atexthadbeenagreed onwhich set
outabalanced framework forhowthismatter should bedealtwith. Thetextembodied thefollowing
important elements: First, itrecognized thattheILOwasthecompetent body tosetanddealwith
labour standards. Second, itrejected theuseoflabour standards forprotectionist purposes, which
wasaveryimportant safeguard forthemultilateral trading system, andinparticular fordeveloping
countries.Third,itagreedthatthecomparativeadvantageofcountries,particularlylow-wagedeveloping
countries, should innowaybeputintoquestion. Fourth, itdidnotinscribe therelationship between
trade andcorelabour standards ontheWTO agenda. Fifth, there wasnoauthorization inthetext
foranynewwork onthisissue. Sixth, theWTO andtheILOSecretariats would continue theirexisting
collaboration, aswithmany other intergovernmental organizations. Thecollaboration respected fully
therespective andseparate mandates ofthetwoorganizations. Some delegations hadexpressed the
concern thatthistextmight leadtheWTO toacquire acompetence toundertake further work onthe
relationship between trade andcorelabour standards. Hewished toassure these delegations thatthis
textwould notpermit suchadevelopment.
Inagesture ofsolidarity withtheleast-developed countries, Ministers hadrecognized theneed
topayspecial attention totheinterests ofthese countries ineachofthenewissues. They hadfurther
recognized theneedtoprovide predictable andfavourable market access conditions forleast-developed
countries 'products, tofoster theexpansion anddiversification oftheirexports tothemarkets ofall
developed countries, andinthecaseofrelevant developing countries inthecontext oftheGlobal System
ofTrade Preferences. Inthisregard, Members would organize ameeting withUNCTAD andthe
International Trade Centre assoonaspossible in1997, withtheparticipation ofaidagencies, multilateral
financial institutions andleast-developed countries tofoster anintegrated approach toassisting these
countries inenhancing theirtrading opportunities.
During theconference, anumber ofMembers hadagreed totariff elimination fortrade in
information technology products onanMFN basis. Ministers hadwelcomed thisinitiative which,
inhisopinion, represented animportant steptowards trade liberalization inoneofthemostdynamic
sectors oftrade ingoods.
Overall, atthisfirstMinisterial Conference, thesurvey oftheachievements ofthefirsttwo
years oftheWTO 'sexistence andthediscussion ofthechallenges faced inthefuture hadmade clear
theimportance oftheissues thathadbeenonthetable. TheMinisterial Conference hadprovided a
strong political message underlining opportunities inthenewglobal economy while notignoring the
challenges thatalleconomies faced. Themessage thismeeting hadsentwasoneofconfidence inthe
multilateral trading system asitapproached itsfiftieth anniversary in1998andinitsability topromote
growth andguarantee stability.
Inallrespects, thisfirstMinisterial Conference hadbroken newground. Bybuilding onthe
tremendous amount ofwork carried outinGeneva bytheDirector-General andtheAmbassadors of
Member governments, andwithenthusiasm optimism andbonhomie, allhadaccomplished thetask
before them andsetouttheframework fortheactivities oftheWTO inthenextfewyears. Hepaid
tribute toalltheparticipants fortheirselfless cooperation indealing witheachother inanexemplaryWT/MIN(96)/SR/9
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spirit offriendship andgoodwill, thusmaking theconference asuccess. Heexpressed gratitude also
totheobservers whose presence hadgiven theconference atouch ofuniversality.
Hewasveryproudtosaythattheparticipantshadcollectivelydelivered.Theyhadaccomplished
thetasksetupon them atthebeginning oftheconference. Allwerenowready tocarry outthetasks
thattheMinisters intheircollective wisdom hadentrusted totheWTO inpursuance ofitsmandate
toliberalize tradeandpromote development, employment, stability andprosperity inalltheMembers.
Ithadbeenagreathonour forSingapore tohostsuchanimportant ground-breaking conference.
HisGovernment hadendeavoured tomake surethatthephysical arrangements hadbeenwelltaken
careofandthatallparticipants hadhadachance toknow Singapore. While many might nothave
hadthechance topartake ofSingapore 'shospitality outside thisconference, hehoped theywould come
backagain soon.
TheDIRECTOR-GENERAL saidthatatthismoment ofcelebration ofamajor success ofthis
firstMinisterial Conference andofthemultilateral trading system, hefeltobliged torecall theimperative
needtoestablish theWTO Secretariat asanindependent unitassoonaspossible. Thiswould beonly
alogical consequence ofhaving created theWTO asalegally independent andsuigeneris Organization.
Twoyears hadalready gonebysince thecreation oftheOrganization, andthetimehadcome totake
thisdecision which hadnofinancial implications butwascrucial forthefateofclose to500staff
members. Thestaffdeserved recognition fortheirdedication andoutstanding contribution, andthe
bestwaytodothatwasforMembers todecide assoonaspossible ontheestablishment oftheSecretariat.
TheDirector-General thenpresented theChairman withthegavel oftheConference.
TheCHAIRMAN,inclosing,saiditwashisunderstandingthatsomedelegationshadstatements
tomake fortherecord inthecontext oftheMinisterial Declaration onTrade inInformation Technology
Products made thatdaybyMinisters representing anumber ofWTO Members andother governments
intheprocess ofaccession. These statements were being circulated ascommunications from the
respective governments andwould form partoftherecords ofthismeeting.2
TheSession oftheMinisterial Conference closed at1.30p.m.
2Thecommunications were subsequently circulated asWT/MIN(96)/10 -NewZealand; WT/MIN(96)/11 -
Norway; andWT/MIN(96)/12 -Switzerland.