WORLD TRADE WT/GC(95)/ST/19
30January 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0303)
Original: English GENERAL COUNCIL
13and15December 1995
NORWAY
Statement byH.E. Mr.T.Johannessen
Ambassador, Permanent Representative
Statements made Wednesday bytheDirector-General, yourself andthedifferent chairmen of
theCouncils andCommittees, made itclearthattheWorld Trade Organization hascome alongway
initsfirstyearofoperation.
AlltheAgreementsareoperational,thedisputesettlementsystemisfunctioningwell,andrecently
wehaveputtheAppellate Body inplace. Letusalsoremember thatonlythisWednesday anewand
important body wascreated inthesetting upinprinciple oftheCommittee onRegional Trading
Arrangements.
Although theimplementation oftheUruguay results hastaken place inareasonably efficient
manner, weought tobecareful nottotakethistomean thatimplementation isbehind us.Inasense
implementation never endsandweshould therefore never allow ourselves torelax.
Norway attaches great importance totheopenness oftheWTO asaglobal organization. The
lackofapositive result oncirculation andderestriction ofdocuments, holding upthepublication also
oftheguidelines forrelations withnon-governmental organizations istherefore tobedeplored. When
99percentofthetextinquestion isagreed on,letusshow flexibility ontherest. Thisispartofthe
challenge tobeseenasrelevant bytheworld around us,notleastthebusiness community.
ThefactthattheGATT/WTO hasgrown overtherecent years, andcontinues todoso,isthe
assurance thattheWorld Trade Organization livesuptoitsname. Thisserves tounderline thatin
spiteofthemuch commented growth ofregionalism, multilateralism isatthebase. Thestrong and
vitalmultilaterally anchored global trading system, withitsbuilt-in disciplines, provides theoverall
guidelines andcompass.
TheWTO hasthisyearbeen theforum forimportant negotiations invarious fields. An
agreement wasreached infinancial services. Forthiswehavereason tobehappy. Wecannot hide
thefact,however, thattheresult should beseenasanundesirable aberration, notasamodel forfuture
negotiations.
Important negotiations remain. Rightly, ithasbeenpointed totheimportance ofthenegotiations
onbasic telecommunications services. Wrongly, ithasbeen neglected bysome tounderline the
corresponding importance ofthemaritime transport services negotiations. Iwillliketorefer to
statements bytheEuropean Communities, Australia, NewZealand andJapan which havestressed the
importance alsoofthelatter. Wehavestillalongwaytogo.Aselective approach --picking the
raisins outofthebun--isnotconducive toapositive overall result.
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Finally, afewwords about theSingapore Ministerial.
Wetalkeloquently andatlength about theneedforabalanced agenda forSingapore --and
rightly so.Itis,however, alsoaneedforestablishing arelevant agenda forSingapore. Andbyrelevant
Imean relevant notonlytouswhowork onaday-to-day basis withWTO matters, andpossess the
required WTO-ortodoxy andconviction, butalsorelevant tothepeople outside theCentre William
Rappard. Ifweneglect thiselement ofrelevance, ourSingapore preparations risktobecome
uninteresting.
Tominimize sucharisk,theSingapore agenda mustmeettherequirements notonlyofWTO
experts, butalsopoliticians, media andbusinessmen. Onlythenwillwe--andtheSingapore meeting--
berelevant.