WORLD TRADE WT/GC(95)/ST/21
19March 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0305)
Original: English GENERAL COUNCIL
13and15December 1995
ISRAEL
Statement byMr.E.F.Haran
Senior Economic Adviser, Ministry ofForeign Affairs
Thepostponement ofthedebate untilthismorning hasgiven usamuch-needed "pause de
reflexion" onhowthework ofournewOrganization should becarried forward in1996. Without
wishing inanywaytobelittle theactivities carried outinthemany existing foraorintheonescreated
since Marrakesh, Ishallconfine myself inthisintervention tothree specific issues: (i)accession;
(ii)regional arrangements; and(iii)preparations forSingapore.
Asfarasaccessions totheWTO areconcerned wehavenoted thatafurther twenty-six countries
orcustoms territories arecandidates formembership. Weregret thattheannual report oftheDirector-
General, while giving usquite extensive details onnotifications, disputes andother measures, does
notcontain alistofcountries which haveapplied, thedateofapplication, ortheirpresent status.
Thefactthatsomany countries stand inlinetobeaccepted intoanOrganization dedicated
firstandforemost totheprinciple ofnon-discrimination istous,ofcourse, asource ofgreatsatisfaction.
More so,since twoleading Members oftheWTO, namely theUnited States andtheEuropean
Community, haveonlyrecently, within theframework oftheTrans-Atlantic Declaration renewed their
callfortheremoval ofallforms ofdiscriminatory treatment.
Asfarastheaccessions areconcerned, Iwishtomake twocomments. Inthepast,newmembers
wereexpected topayan"entry fee"--destined tocompensate forthefactthattheexisting membership
hadalready negotiated amongst itself tariff reductions andother trade liberalization measures. Now
intheUruguay Round allofushereagreed toevengreater tariff concessions andother forms of
liberalization, particularly inthefieldofagriculture. Yetsome oftheacceding countries donotseem
aware ofthefactthattheytooarenotonlyexpected totakeupon themselves theobligation ofthe
Marrakesh Agreement andallthatitstands for,butalsotocontribute their"obolus" toourvoyage
towards freerworld trade. Thefactthatthedelegate ofaleading candidate country findsitappropriate
tosaythathiscountry hadtaken nostandstill obligation upon itself seems toindicate thatthisbasic
GATT principle seems tobeunknown tosome ofthecountries thathaveapplied formembership.
Thisleadsmetomysecond comment. Given thattherearesomany countries seeking accession, would
itnotbewisetoarrange forsomesortofaccession round ofnegotiations where alltheacceding countries
would tabletheir"entrance fee"offers instead ofconducting individual negotiations which constitute
aheavy burden onourdelegations hereinGeneva.
Mysecond point refers tothedecision taken thedaybefore yesterday establishing acommittee
onregional trading arrangements. Icanassure you,Mr.Chairman, thatwefullyaccept yourstatement
made onthatoccasion andsupport theestablishment ofthatcommittee. Asfarastheterms ofreference
forthecommittee areconcerned, Icannowtellyouthatwehavenoobjection forthecommittee to
examine therelationship between regional trading agreements andthemultilateral trading system.
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Wewould onlywishthatthisexamination would takeplace atayearly special session ofthecommittee
--preferably withtheparticipation ofsenior officials from capitals.
Idonotwishtolimitmyself asfarasregional trading arrangements areconcerned onlyto
questions ofprocedure. Asacountry thatinthepasthasbeendeprived ofmostoftheprivileges and
advantages ofregional integration, 1995 hasbeenparticularly fruitful asfarasIsrael isconcerned.
TheDirector-General mentions inhisreport therecent Barcelona conference which envisaged, inter
alia,thecreation, bytheyear2010, ofaMediterranean Free-Trade Area. Well, wearefarbeyond
that. Since 1975, wemaintain afree-trade areawiththeEuropean Community andsince 1993 with
theremaining EFTA countries. Only lastmonth wesigned animproved association agreement with
theEuropean Community which induecourse willbenotified totheWTO. Notonlythat,lastAugust
wesigned forthefirsttimeatrade andeconomic cooperation agreement withourneighbour, the
Hashemite Kingdom ofJordan, andIwishtotakethisopportunity toexpress oursatisfaction andour
support fortheirapplication tojointheWTO.
Yeteventhatisnotall.Only yesterday there tookplace, hereinGeneva, ameeting ofthe
Trade Committee oftheRegional Economic Development Working Group (REDWG) established as
partoftheMiddle Eastern peace process. Thismeeting, chaired byIsrael, hasbeenconvened atthe
initiative ofnoother thanMr.Arthur Dunkel, theformer Director-General ofGATT, towhom we
expressed onlytwodaysagoourgratitude forhaving guided usthough themaze oftheUruguay Round
negotiations. Thetrade committee wasconvened toholdaround-table discussion reviewing studies
concerning trading opportunities inourregion. Wehopethatthecommittee willagree onpractical
recommendations onhowthese trading opportunities canberealized.
Iwould liketoasktheSwiss delegation toconvey ourthanks totheSwiss Government for
having made Mr.Dunkel, asdirector oftheSwiss tradeinitiative fortheMiddle EastandNorth Africa,
available toREDWG --ournewforum forregional economic cooperation.
Lastly, asfaraspreparations fortheSingapore Ministerial meeting areconcerned, Icanat
lastbebrief. Weshare theDirector-General 'sbelief thattheSingapore agenda should essentially be
non-confrontational. Inthesame veinwefullyendorse thestatement made bytherepresentative of
theEuropean Community, when hesaidthatitisattheWTO, inGeneva, thatthepreparation for
Singapore must bedone.
Inthiscontext itisessential torecall thatsinceMarrakesh, consensus hasbecome thestatutory
basis oftheWTO 'sdecision-making procedure. Consensus indecision-making doesnotonlymean
theconsensual adoption ofdecisions --itmeans assuring participation inthemaking ofthedecisions.
Weareconfident thatintheWTO thisprinciple willberespected onalloccasions.