SPEECHES
December 14, 2005
HONG KONG, China
2005/44
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NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY
THE HONOURABLE JIM PETERSON,
MINISTER OF INTERNATIONAL TRADE,
AT THE SIXTH WTO MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE IN HONG KONG:
PLENARY STATEMENT
Canada congratulates and extends deep felt thanks to our Chairman, John Tsang, and
to Hong Kong, China, for your outstanding preparations as host of this ministerial
conference. We welcome to the WTO those members that have acceded since the
Cancun Ministerial Conference—Nepal, Cambodia, Saudi Arabia and Tonga.
If we are to succeed in delivering the ambitious outcome we set for ourselves in Doha, it
is here in Hong Kong that members must demonstrate our resolve. It is up to us as
ministers to overcome our differences, to achieve meaningful progress and to provide
direction on the way forward.
As a trading nation, Canada understands clearly what is at stake. Trade is equivalent to
some 70 percent of Canadian GDP [gross domestic product] and is linked to one in five
jobs in our country. Canada knows the value of clear, predictable and enforceable trade
rules, and the importance of the WTO in ensuring that these rules are applied equally to
all members, regardless of size or economic might.
Canada’s goals for this round are clear. In agriculture, Canada seeks to rein in
subsidies and to achieve major improvements in market access. This high level of
ambition can only be achieved if countries have some degree of flexibility to
accommodate their different domestic policy approaches and sensitivities. Canada
strongly supports both our supply-managed sectors and our broader community of
agricultural exporters, including the Canadian Wheat Board.
If we are to achieve our objectives in the agriculture negotiations, Hong Kong must
underscore the critical importance of agriculture to the development goals of the [Doha]
Round and contribute to progress across all three pillars of the negotiations.
In NAMA [non-agricultural market access negotiations], we seek real improvements in
market access. Hong Kong should provide the outline of a deal, including a tariff-cutting
formula, agreement on the treatment of unbound tariffs, and flexibilities for developing
countries commensurate with their needs. We also believe that sectoral approaches on
a critical-mass basis will contribute to achieving the Doha mandate.
On services, our officials need political direction on how best to raise the quality of
commitments and level of ambition. Canada feels that a multilateral negotiating process
can improve the quality of offers in this area and we urge members to support such an
approach in Hong Kong.
On trade rules, we will not be successful until there is an agreement that provides
significant clarification, greater predictability and enhanced compliance.
An agreement on trade facilitation will support good global governance and significantly
reduce transaction costs. Ministers must provide enough direction on this issue to let
officials move to text-based negotiations soon after the Hong Kong Ministerial.
Most importantly, this must be a development round. Nearly three billion people live on
less than two dollars a day. Success means addressing the concerns of developing
countries, including preference erosion, revenue loss, special products and special
safeguard measures. We understand their need for special and differential treatment,
including less than full reciprocity. We must support development through trade-related
technical assistance and capacity building. Canada is pleased to chair the task force on
an enhanced integrated framework to find ways to deliver effective mechanisms
through aid for trade.
Countries must also act outside the WTO to support development. Canada recently
untied a significant portion of its food aid and was among the first nations to pass
access-to-medicines legislation. Since January 1, 2003, we have provided duty-free,
quota-free access for virtually all goods from least developed countries [LDCs], along
with generous rules of origin, and imports from LDCs have doubled in two years. To
date, Canada has provided more than $2.3 billion in debt relief to poor countries, and is
committed to a further $1.3 billion. The Canadian Investment Fund for Africa is
providing $200 million in equity capital. All of us, including Canada, must do more for
development.
Early in the morning of August 1, 2004, we completed the script that was supposed to
lead us to modalities here in Hong Kong. Since then, there has been progress in some
areas. But in spite of outstanding leadership from our new director general, Pascal
Lamy, many are still treating Hong Kong as a dress rehearsal, hoping that we might
make up later for our lack of convergence.
Let us be clear. We are not here for a dress rehearsal. We have already had it. We are
now on stage. It’s opening night. And we’d better be good. The world is watching.
Each one of us here has a unique opportunity and a unique responsibility to make this a
better world, a world in which barriers to trade can be battered down and new
opportunities created for both developing and developed countries alike. We have an
opportunity to deliver on the promise of the Doha Development Agenda and make the
World Trade Organization a more meaningful and relevant force for progress.
We have time left. It is up to us to make Hong Kong a success. With more hard work,
driven by ambition coupled with flexibility, I know we can succeed. I know every
member will do its part. The world expects nothing less of us.
Thank you.
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