WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(99)/ST/22
1 December 1999
(99-5220)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Third Session
Seattle, 30 November - 3 December 1999Original:  English
MOROCCO
Statement Circulated by H.E. Mr. Mohammed Benaissa ,
Minister for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation of Morocco
President of the Ninth Ministerial Meeting
The Ninth Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77 and China, which was held in Marrakesh
from 13 to 16 September, was an historic occasion that allowed the Members of the Group of 77 tocome together in a spirit of solidarity, cooperation, and shared perceptions of development.  The
meeting also represented the culmination of a long period of reflection conducted in Geneva.  The
Ministers of the G-77 countries set out their positions on a whole range of issues in the field of trade,
finance and development.  In doing so, the Gr oup was constantly aware that the international
community is about to embark on a series of vital meetings, which could and should result in a newvision of the global economy and a new approach to development as a whole.  And of course one of
the most important of these meetings is the WTO Seattle Ministerial Meeting, and in fact a significant
part of the Marrakesh Declaration was designed as a self-contained "message to Seattle", in which the
Ministers of the Group of 77 and China set out their views on the specific issues to be taken up at the
WTO meeting.
Let me try to encapsulate in a few words the main thrust of the outcome of the Marrakesh
meeting.  In their declaration, the Ministers set the context in which their views, concerns and
objectives should be seen.  They emphasize the complex relationship between globalization and
development and the inherent imbalances in the structure of the international systems governing
development, trade and finance.
They show that many developing countries have faced difficulties in their efforts to integrate
effectively into the world economy, and have suffered the consequences of globalization.  At the same
time, however, the Ministers take the view that gl obalization, if it is properly harnessed and managed,
can help lay the foundations for enduring and equitable growth.  This then, is the Ministers basic
approach to globalization – it should be a positive force, provided that it is managed.
Now let me give you a brief overview of the highlights of the Message to Seattle.  The
Ministers declare at the outset that they see the liberalization of international trade under WTO rules
as a powerful and dynamic force for accelerating growth and development.  They emphasize their
strong commitment to the pursuit of liberal and open trade policies, while also underlining that thesepolicies must integrate the development dimension and that, in the resulting open international trading
system, the benefits must be equitably distributed.
Implementation
A major concern of the developing countries is that the benefits of the existing multilateral
trading system continue to elude developing countries, and that progress towards full liberalization insectors of particular interest to developing countries is lagging behind.  The danger the Ministers seeWT/MIN(99)/ST/22
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here is that the confidence of developing countries in the multilateral trading system could be eroded
and the temptation to retreat into misguided protectionist policies could grow.  For the G-77
Ministers, the non-realization of benefits by many developing countries in areas of interest to them
has resulted from the failure of major trading partners to fully and faithfully meet their obligations,
particularly in respect of textiles and clothing.  They therefore urge that the question of theimplementation of Marrakesh Agreements and Decisions be addressed and resolved at Seattle by the
Third Ministerial Conference of the WTO.  In particular, the special and differential provisions in the
WTO multilateral trade agreements, many of a "best endeavour" nature, which have largely remained
unimplemented, must be operationalized if the developing countries are to derive the expected
benefits.
In short, the developing countries want the Marrakesh agreements to be implemented in full,
in letter and in spirit, and they would like measures to this end to be taken immediately, beginning
with deliverables at Seattle.  It may be emphasized in this connection that they also welcome the
proposed mechanism for the review of the implementation of the agreements.
Agriculture
In the field of agriculture, the Ministers' objective is to incorporate the sector within normal
WTO rules, while addressing the particular problems of predominantly agrarian and small island
developing economies and net food-importing developing countries.  And it cannot be emphasized
enough that the crucial question here is access.  In the real world, integration means access.  TheMinisters therefore call upon developed countries to demonstrate a firm and unequivocal commitment
to opening their markets to the exports of developing countries, and to provide duty free and quota
free access for the exports of the least developed countries.  This should be done without affecting
WTO Members' existing commitments  relating to preferential schemes.  Any future negotiations
should address the elimination of tariff peaks and tariff escalation and should introduce furtherdisciplines to prevent the abuse of measures such as anti-dumping, countervailing duties and
safeguard actions, sanitary and phytosanitary regulations and technical barriers to trade, as well as to
prevent the apparent revival of the use of voluntary export restraints.  The work programme on the
harmonization of non-preferential rules of origin should be achieved rapidly, to attain simplified,
harmonized and more transparent rules.
Special and differential treatment
In the context not only of agriculture but also of trade in general, the Ministers also expressed
their conviction of the need for differential and more favourable treatment of developing countries.
This would include providing assistance to developing countries to help overcome transitional costs
and to allow time for achieving development goals and enhancing competitiveness.
The concept of special and differential treatment itself should be reviewed and strengthened
to take account of the changing realities of world trade and of globalized production, and it must be
accompanied by capacity-building, enhanced market access and measures taken by industralized
countries to encourage their enterprises and institutions to transfer technology and know-how and toinvest in developing countries.
Positive agenda and new issues
As you know, the developing countries have played a proactive role in the preparations for
Seattle, and this is no accident.  At Marrakesh, the Ministers declared that they will collectively
pursue a positive agenda for future multilateral trade negotiations and that such negotiations should
also pay particular attention to such issues as transfer of technology, appropriate safeguards for
developing countries, credit for autonomous liberalization, export finance, commodity markets and
the integration of the developing countries into the multilateral trading system on equitable terms.  WT/MIN(99)/ST/22
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The Ministers further declared that negotiations should make operational the provisions under
the TRIPS Agreement relating to the transfer of tech nology, to the mutual advantage of producers and
users of technological knowledge, and seek mechanisms for a balanced protection of biological
resources and disciplines to protect traditional knowledge;  they should enable developing countries
under the TRIMs Agreement and the Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures to usemeasures necessary to implement their policies for development and export diversification and
upgrading.
Labour standards
Let me make clear at the outset that the Members of the Group of 77 and China are
unanimous in recognizing the importance of labour standards and the welfare of workers in generalthroughout the world.  This is clearly an importa nt feature of development.  The Group of 77 is
therefore ready and willing to discuss these issues.  However, two things must be emphasized.
Firstly, and as explicitly stated at Marrakesh by the Ministers of the G-77 and China, the
developing countries are firmly opposed to any lin kage between labour standards and trade.  And
secondly – and this follows on logically from the first point – the question of labour standards should
be dealt with by the competent international organizations and not by the WTO.  And in this we are
simply endorsing the position established in the Singapore Ministerial Declaration.  Let me just recall
that, on the question of core labour standards, the Declaration stated unequivocally that the
International Labour Organization is the competent body to set and deal with these standards.  This isthe position of the Group of 77 and China.
And of course, when we do discuss labour standards in the ILO, we will base ourselves on the
principle, also agreed upon at Singapore, that the comparative advantage of countries, particularly
low-wage developing countries, mu st in no way be put into question.
Other issues
Concerning the WTO itself, the Ministers call for a universal Organization and for assistance
for developing countries seeking accession.  They stress that developing countries should be offered
terms that neither exceed not are unrelated to the commitments of developing country and LDC
Members of WTO.  They emphasize that the accession process should be transparent, streamlined andaccelerated and that it should be in keeping with WTO rules and disciplines.
Finally, the Ministers recognize the importance of regional and subregional integration.  They
consider that such arrangements facilitate trade and investment flows, economies of scale, economic
liberalization and the integration of their Members into the system of international economic relationswithin a framework of open regionalism, enabling progress towards a more open multilateral system.
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