NEWS RELEASES
30TH QUADRILATERAL TRADE MINISTERS' MEETINGTORONTO, APRIL 30 - MAY 2, 1997CHAIR'S STATEMENT
May 2, 1997 No. 82
30th QUADRILATERAL TRADE MINISTERS' MEETING
TORONTO, APRIL 30 - MAY 2, 1997
CHAIR'S STATEMENT
Minister for International Trade Art Eggleton today issued the following statement
as Chair of the 30th Quadrilateral Trade Ministers' meeting in Toronto. Also
attending the meeting were Charlene Barshefsky, U.S. Trade Representative, Shinji
Sato, Japan's Minister for International Trade and Industry, and Sir Leon Brittan,
Vice President of the European Commission and Commissioner Responsible for
Commercial Policy.
STATEMENT BY MINISTER EGGLETON
Ministers from Canada, the European Union, Japan and the United States met in
Toronto for the 30th Quadrilateral Meeting to review developments in international
trade since the Singapore Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization
(WTO) and to consider future directions in international trade in an evolving
world economy.
We noted that the rules-based international trading system enshrined in the
Agreement Establishing the WTO, has successfully contributed to remarkable growth
in trade in goods and services and in international investment, and thereby to
economic growth and employment in member countries. We therefore affirmed our
strong support for the WTO as a global forum for ongoing liberalization,
consultation and discussion, and examined in detail implementation of the Uruguay
Round agreements, the current work program of the WTO, including both the pre-existing built-in agenda and additional, work assigned to the WTO at Singapore,
and prospects for future progress. We also affirmed our belief that the WTO
should enjoy universal participation; we thus confirmed our support for the early
accession of applicants on commercially viable terms in a manner that preserves
the integrity of WTO rules. We encourage those acceding to move their
negotiations forward as quickly as possible, including on market access for goods
and services.
We agreed that full implementation of existing WTO obligations ensures the
certainty and predictability essential for traders and investors. We discussed
developments that could carry significant implications for the trading system. In
this regard, we look forward to reviewing plans for removal of balance-of-payment
restrictions on imports at upcoming consultations in Geneva, and agreed to
exercise continued vigilance respecting trade-related investment measures of
certain countries that appear to contravene WTO disciplines.
We reviewed the WTO's ambitious built-in agenda for further negotiations, such as
those called for in agriculture and services, and reviews, such as those to be
undertaken on technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary measures,
in accordance with agreed timeframes. We acknowledged that fulfilling this
mandate requires the commitment of all WTO members to engage in the necessary
analysis and exchange of information, and to anticipate developments in commerce
and technology that may affect international trade. Building on our earlier
initiatives in support of transparency, including through de-restriction of
documents and domestic consultations, we invite the Director General to consult
with members regarding appropriate means for encouraging informal dialogue between
WTO working groups and committees to engage business, non-governmental
organizations and other interested parties, in the belief that such dialogue will
contribute to broader understanding of and support for the WTO, and to ensuring
the responsiveness of WTO activities.
Given the importance of financial infrastructure to all economic sectors in
support of growth and development, ministers welcomed the agreement of the WTO
Financial Services Committee on a timetable aimed at concluding the recently
relaunched negotiations by mid-December. To this end, it was agreed that the Quad
should table requests by mid-June and offers no later than the July 14 date
established in the agreed timetable and to work with other countries to encourage
them to do the same. The Quad resolved to work toward a full MFN agreement and
with all participants to achieve significantly improved market access and national
treatment commitments. It was recognized that flexibility may be required on
transition periods for liberalization measures in certain circumstances.
Recalling our commitment at the WTO Singapore Ministerial Conference to the
observance of internationally recognized core labour standards and recognizing the
role of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in this regard, we look
forward to further work in the ILO on core labour standards and on strengthening
promotion, implementation and supervisory procedures. We will encourage
collaboration between the WTO and ILO secretariats and ensure that members of both
organizations are kept informed of such collaboration.
We recalled the important items added to the WTO's agenda at the Singapore
Ministerial Conference:
We agreed that work should begin promptly in the Working Group on Trade and
Competition to examine the interaction between trade and competition, and that a
broader understanding of the benefits and key elements of an effective competition
regime, including through active participation of competition experts and exchange
of information, drawing as appropriate on the useful and complementary work
already underway in the OECD, is an essential first step.
We look forward to beginning a work program in the WTO Working Group on Trade and
Investment this spring. In our view, a review of existing investment agreements
and investment-related provisions of trade agreements and other exchange of
information, drawing on the constructive work of UNCTAD in this area, will
contribute to collective understanding of the direct relationship between trade
and investment.
We pledged to work together to moving WTO work forward on transparency in
government procurement, and again agreed that a full exchange of information and
analysis will provide an essential foundation for broad participation in this
exercise.
We affirmed our commitment to trade facilitation. In this regard, we agreed to
intensify our efforts to complete work in the WTO Committee on Rules of Origin on
non-preferential rules of origin and regarding customs valuation and pre-shipment
inspection within the existing timeframes, of ensuring close co-operation between
the WTO and the World Customs Organization, and of beginning analysis on
simplification of trade procedures with a view to streamlining border requirements
in a manner responsive to the needs of importers and exporters. We noted that
complementary work underway under the auspices of the G-7 and in regional fora
will also make an important contribution to ensuring that customs procedures
facilitate access to markets.
We noted as well the significance of the Information Technology Agreement (ITA)
and the Agreement on Basic Telecommunications, which together liberalize
approximately $1 trillion in trade in goods and services. On the ITA, we will
work together to broaden participation in the agreement, including by countries
acceding to the WTO. We will jointly pursue, in consultation with our private
sectors, expansion of product coverage and review of non-tariff measures in the
context of this fall's review of the agreement ("ITA II"), as well as problems of
forced technology transfer that impede trade in technology-intensive products. On
basic telecommunications, we urge all WTO members to ensure full and effective
implementation of these agreements. We will work together with applicants for
accession to the WTO in the development of their schedules of services commitments
in this sector.
We intend to build on the momentum of the basic telecommunications services and
Information Technology agreements by exploring all opportunities for further
tariff liberalization and harmonization, including through acceleration of
reductions of Uruguay Round commitments. We have asked our officials to consult
with our private sectors on these issues, including possible coverage and
definitional issues, and to report back to us on the results of their
deliberations by mid-July.
We discussed the important role of the OECD in support of trade and investment
liberalization and rule-making. Recognizing that a number of outstanding issues
will require further work, we confirmed our commitment to concluding negotiations
on a Multilateral Agreement on Investment (MAI) by the time of the 1998 OECD
Ministerial Meeting. We will continue to work together at the OECD to address the
issue of bribery of foreign officials, which distorts markets, hinders economic
development and undermines the democratic accountability of the rule of law
essential to the effective functioning of the global economy. We look forward
later this month at the OECD Ministerial Meeting to taking further steps in
criminalizing foreign commercial bribery and to assure enforcement to accompany
national efforts to eliminate the tax deductibility of bribes paid to foreign
officials and commitments undertaken in other fora, including the UN, to address
this problem. We support fully the work of the OECD on regulatory reform, with
its focus on good regulatory practices, and endorse peer review of regulatory
policies in the interest of greater transparency. We encourage increased dialogue
and collaboration between the OECD, the WTO and the International Standards
Organization to reduce the rapid expansion of technical barriers to trade.
We exchanged views on the contribution that the WTO can make for the benefit of
the least developed countries, and agreed to participate actively in preparations
for the high-level WTO/UNCTAD/International Trade Centre meeting later this year
to increase the capacity of those countries to enjoy the benefits that flow from
increased trade and investment, including through increased co-ordination of
technical assistance among national donor agencies and international institutions.
We also discussed current programs, policies and proposals related to the least
developed countries, including work in the G-7 aimed at further integrating the
economies in Africa into the trading system. We welcomed our respective
commitments to exploring favourably opportunities to increase market access for
the least developed countries through different means, and call on the most
advanced developing countries to participate in this effort.
We also exchanged views and information on the various regional initiatives in
which we are engaged. We reaffirmed the primacy of the multilateral trading
system and our commitment at Singapore to ensuring that regional trade agreements
are complementary to and consistent with WTO rules. We welcomed the constructive
work undertaken to date by the WTO Committee on Regional Trade Agreements, and
agreed to work together to expedite completion of it examination of agreements
notified and to support further work on the systemic dimensions of regional trade
agreements.
In an increasingly global economy, where the world trading system provides an
essential vehicle for economic growth and jobs through increased exports of goods
and services and investment opportunities abroad, and increased efficiency through
foreign direct investment and increased competition at home in support of our
national economic objectives, we affirmed our commitment to political engagement
in the WTO at the ministerial level on an ongoing basis. We look forward to
commemorating the 50th anniversary of the GATT -- the predecessor of the WTO -- in
the first half of 1998, and to using that occasion to take stock of further
progress and to reflect on future directions at a ministerial conference.
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For further information, media representatives may contact:
Nicole Bourget
Director of Communications
Office of the Minister for International Trade
(613) 992-7332
Media Relations Office
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade
(613) 995-1874
This document is also available on the Department's Internet site:
http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca
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