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<title>MR. MARCHI - ADDRESS TO THE FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS' CLUB OF JAPAN - TOKYO, JAPAN</title>
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<p><font face="Arial" size="+1"></font><font face="Arial" size="+1"></font><font face="Arial" size="+1">99/34 <u>CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY</u></font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1">NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY</font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1">THE HONOURABLE SERGIO MARCHI,</font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1">MINISTER</font><font face="Arial" size="+1"> FOR INTERNATIONAL TRADE, </font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1">TO THE </font></p>
<p align="CENTER"><font face="Arial" size="+1">FOREIGN CORRESPONDENTS' CLUB OF JAPAN</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="+1">TOKYO, Japan</font></p>
<p><font face="Arial" size="+1">May 11, 1999</font></p>
<p><font size="+1"><strong><em>(3:00 p.m. EDT)</em></strong></font><font size="+1"><em></em></font></p>
<p>I would like to thank the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan for hosting this wonderful luncheon. It is said that there is
nowhere more beautiful than Paris in the spring, but I think Tokyo can make a very strong claim for that honour. I am
delighted to be with you during this most hopeful of seasons.</p>
<p>Today, I would like to speak briefly about Canada's objectives for the upcoming round of negotiations at the World Trade
Organization (WTO).</p>
<p>As you know, I have come to Tokyo to join my colleagues from the European Union, Japan and the United States to
discuss what the members of the Quad can do to ensure the success of the WTO negotiations.</p>
<p>This visit also affords me the opportunity to reassert Canada's strong commitment to Japan, and to restate our confidence in
its ability to make the adjustments necessary to regain its role as the engine of economic growth in Asia.</p>
<p>Let me say that having just come through a substantial period of adjustment in Canada, we have some appreciation for the
challenges that you are facing. But I can also say, without hesitation, that the adjustments were worthwhile, and we have
emerged stronger and more competitive as a result.</p>
<p>Canada and Japan are good friends and substantial trading partners. In fact, Japan is Canada's second-largest trading
partner in the world. Two-way trade now exceeds C$22 billion, and Canadian companies have established a strong
presence in sectors as varied as housing, consumer products and software. </p>
<p>We hope to see this commercial relationship grow even stronger, and that's why, in September, Prime Minister Chrétien
will lead a "Team Canada" trade mission to Japan; a team that will include our provincial premiers, territorial leaders,
municipal representatives and several hundred business leaders. </p>
<p>Our goal is to increase and deepen our trade and investment ties with Japan, and I am confident that we will succeed in
doing just that.</p>
<p>We have also appreciated the valuable assistance provided by the Japanese External Trade Organization (JETRO) to
Canadian companies seeking to enter the Japanese market, and we look forward to continued co-operation with this vital
agency.</p>
<p>So let there be no doubt -- Canada is committed to our relationship with Japan. We are here for the long haul, as a key ally
and trading partner.</p>
<p>Turning now to the WTO negotiations, let me just say that the proposed round comes at an historic moment.</p>
<p>Around the world, barriers are falling down and opportunities are opening up. Distances are collapsing and the conditions
for a truly global trading system are emerging. </p>
<p>While recent economic turmoil has caused some to question the benefits of globalization, I believe that the difficulties of
the past two years make the case for <em>more</em> liberalization in trade and investment, not less. </p>
<p>Freer trade promotes economic growth. Freer trade creates jobs and raises living standards. It offers people markets for
their products, rewards for their labours and hope for their futures. </p>
<p>To lose sight of these benefits behind the clouds of transient events is to deprive ourselves of the best means of dispersing
those clouds.</p>
<p>The Uruguay Round did a great deal to unlock the potential of both people and economies. It strengthened the international
trading system by opening markets, expanding the rules of the game and providing effective mechanisms for resolving
disputes.</p>
<p>But there is still work to do; an unfinished agenda remains. An agenda of both process and substance -- or a matter of
plumbing and poetry.</p>
<p>On the plumbing front, access, for example, is still an important issue. In today's global village, there are still
neighbourhoods we cannot enter, streets we cannot travel and customers we cannot reach. We need to open those doors and
make our village one that is fully accessible to all. </p>
<p>In addition, we need to encourage others to take the steps that we have taken -- to become open, outward-looking
economies and to explain the benefits of doing so.</p>
<p>We also need to find ways to advance participation in the global economy by less-developed countries. To marginalize
these countries now would not only deprive them </p>
<p>of their greatest hope for their own future prosperity, but it would deprive us all of the significant contribution that they can
make to the global economy. </p>
<p>One way to achieve that objective would be to better co-ordinate policies among the WTO, the World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund and other multilateral organizations responsible for global economic policy-making.</p>
<p>And if we are to make the trading system truly universal, we must include in the WTO, sooner rather than later, such major
economies as China, Russia, Chinese Taipei and Saudi Arabia.</p>
<p>Another challenge facing us at the WTO is to ensure that the rules of trade themselves keep pace with the changes taking
place in business practices, technology and social systems. We cannot proceed into the next millennium with old rules that
don't reflect the new realities.</p>
<p>And, I believe that we need to make the whole WTO process more transparent. Secrecy serves no one and risks alienating
everyone.</p>
<p>Indeed, in order to build and maintain public support and understanding for international trade, I believe that policy makers
need to do three things, both internationally and at home:</p>
<ul>
<li>First, we need to make international institutions more open and accountable. In the case of the WTO, more liberal
access to documents and better efforts at outreach would go a long way toward building support.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Second, we need to be more inclusive. Trade is about <em>people</em>, not numbers, so it is important that we provide
opportunities for the public to have input into the process. In Canada, we have launched an extensive series of
consultations through Parliament and by the government itself, so that Canadians from all walks of life can have a
say in our policies.</li>
<li>Third, we need to be more responsive. When we are presented with concerns about labour standards or
environmental issues, for example, we need to respond with hard facts, not soft answers. We need to provide
evidence, not excuses.</li>
</ul>
<p>So while freer trade may be an idea whose time has come, it is not an idea whose success is assured. And we need to stop
assuming that everyone agrees with the wisdom of our actions. We need to bring people in, not shut people out.</p>
<p>Turning to the poetry, or the content side of the upcoming negotiations, our view is that they should be broadly based, both
to attract support and to satisfy a wide range of interests. As results are achieved in individual sectors, these could be
grouped together for early implementation. This will make for a more manageable, digestible and timely approach that has
something for everyone, rather than another seven-year marathon journey.</p>
<p>Ideally, this means that negotiations will extend beyond this year's mandated areas of agriculture and services. Let me
suggest the following areas that governments might consider:</p>
<ul>
<li>further reducing tariffs on industrial goods, including the possible elimination of so-called "nuisance tariffs" --
those below 2 percent;</li>
<li>addressing non-tariff barriers, including issues dealing with standards, customs valuations and rules of origin;</li>
<li>curbing the abuse of anti-dumping and countervailing duty actions; </li>
<li>bringing agricultural trade more fully under the rules, including eliminating all export subsidies;</li>
<li>extending the rules on services in trade, with a particular emphasis on professional services;</li>
<li>exploring <em>new</em> issues such as intellectual property, electronic commerce, transparency in government procurement,
investment and competition policy, as well as culture, environment and labour; and finally,</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>ensuring that governments <em>retain </em>the ability to regulate for reasons of public health, consumer safety, social policy
or other legitimate public interests.</li>
</ul>
<p>We believe that such a package of issues could attract widespread support and would provide important momentum at the
launch of these negotiations.</p>
<p>As I close, let me say that Canada is under no illusions about the challenges before us. In many cases, the issues are
sensitive, the differences serious and the consequences significant. </p>
<p>However, as the Japanese proverb reminds us, "there is nothing that cannot be achieved by firm determination." And I
remain optimistic that a consensus <em>can</em> be reached; that nations <em>will </em>make the necessary compromises, and that the world
trading system will emerge stronger, freer and fairer than it has ever been before.</p>
<p>That is Canada's hope, that is our resolve and that is our firm determination.</p>
<p>Thank you.</p>
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