WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/L/358
16 June 2000
(00-2420)
Original:  English
MEETING OF APEC MINISTERS RESPONSIBLE FOR TRADE
Darwin, Australia, 6-7 June 2000
Communication from Australia
The following communication, dated 13 June 2000, has been received from the Permanent
Mission of Australia with the request that it be circulated to Members.
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Statement of the Chair
1. We met here in Darwin, Australia, to discuss the key multilateral and regional trade policy
issues we face collectively as APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade.  Our reference point was the
shared goal of economic prosperity and social improvement through economic cooperation and
strengthened regional integration, aiming to address the needs of the global economy in the
21st century.
2. We reaffirmed the importance of trade expansion to making possible the sustainable
economic growth and development needed to improve people's lives.  We called for an early launch of
a new WTO round to maintain and enhance the momentum of trade liberalization, and agreed on waysto build confidence to that end.  We examined  the interrelationships between the unilateral,
subregional and multilateral trade frameworks th rough which we are implementing the commitment
APEC Economic Leaders made in Bogor to free an d open trade and investment.  We also reviewed
the progress and results of APEC work programmes to date, and requested Senior Officials to further
report to Ministers and Leaders in November.
I. A DECADE OF PROGRESS
3. It is no coincidence that APEC economies have achieved some of the world's most rapidly
rising standards of living.  They have prospered because they have become more integrated into the
world economy through more open trade and investment.  The economic growth this brings is vital to
the alleviation and eradication of poverty.  It also means that business can more confidently take upnew opportunities and government can look forward to a growing revenue base.  It offers expanding
employment and the ability to address the pressing social concerns of those who may be
disadvantaged by economic change.
4. APEC is playing a fundamental role in creating these dynamic outcomes through wide
ranging cooperation, particularly in developing sound policy frameworks and building the capacity tosupport their implementation.WT/L/358
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5. The recent economic crisis has highlighted the need to consolidate and continue the policies
of openness and structural change to meet the challenges ahead and build robust economies capable of
withstanding unforeseen risks.  This will be increasingly important as the pace of globalization and
structural change bring new concerns among parts of our communities, especially where the benefits
are not shared equally.
6. We acknowledge the need to respond to this challe nge.  We need to do more to explain how
stronger integration into the world economy will deliver economic and social progress.  With this in
mind, we welcome the interim report "APEC – a decade of progress" prepared for this meeting.  We
agree that it be made available for interim use pending its further development as a report for
Ministers and Leaders in November.
II. PROSPERITY AND THE MULTILATERAL TRADING SYSTEM
7. The economic prosperity and social development we seek for our economies will flow in part
from the increased openness which broad-based multilateral negotiations in the WTO can help
deliver.  Therefore, we remain firmly committed to the pursuit of multilateral trade liberalization and
to strengthening and improving the rules-based global trading system for the benefit of all economies.
We recognized the need to increase our efforts to broaden community support for these objectives.
8. We reaffirm our strong commitment to the early launch of a new round of multilateral trade
negotiations and to work to achieve our collective objectives with respect to the WTO as articulated
by our Leaders and Ministers in Auckland last year.  We call for renewed efforts to build the global
consensus necessary for the launch of a round at the earliest opportunity.  In this respect, we
appreciated the presence of the WTO Director-General, Mr. Mike Moore, and his valuable input into
our deliberations.  We agreed that building confidence in multilateral trade negotiations is a key to the
launch of a new round, and decided on steps to develop the capacity of APEC developing economies
to implement WTO agreements and to prepare for a new round.
9. We welcome the commencement in Geneva of the mandated negotiations on agriculture and
services.  Recalling the relevant objectives agreed by Leaders in Auckland, we encouraged
meaningful progress in these areas.  This would have a positive effect on multilateral negotiations.
10. We agreed that a new round will require a balanced agenda that is sufficiently broad-based to
respond to the interests of all WTO Members.  Particular attention should be given to the development
needs of developing and least-developed economies.
11. We also agreed that a successful launch, conduct and expeditious conclusion to a round will
require political will and flexibility from all participants, adequate preparatory work and enhanced
capacity building.
12. We commend the confidence-building measures agreed recently in Geneva, including those
on market access for least-developed economies and those addressing concerns over aspects of the
implementation of WTO agreements.  We urge their expeditious and effective implementation, and
the participation of more APEC member economies in the LDC market access initiative.
13. In order to increase momentum toward the launch of a round, we reaffirm our commitment to
the APEC Leaders' Declaration and Ministers' Stat ement in Auckland last year, and also announce the
following elements.
14. First, we now announce a new strategic plan to build capacity to implement WTO
agreements, enhancing benefits from WTO membership.  The strategic plan aims to provide tailor-
made packages of technical assistance for developing APEC economies that will facilitate their abilityWT/L/358
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to implement WTO agreements.  We ask Senior Officials to coordinate a survey of the needs of
APEC developing economies, to analyse and evaluate existing international cooperation schemes, and
to develop a plan for the improved coordination and effectiveness of capacity-building activities.  The
results of this work will be reported to Ministers in November.  In addition, we applaud the valuable
capacity-building work already done in APEC to aid implementation of the Agreement on Trade-
Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and endorse the Joint Statement at Annex C.
15. Second, recalling our Leaders' and Ministers' agreement in Auckland, we call for preparatory
work on industrial tariffs and other related areas to begin in the WTO, as part of the preparation for
the new round, without prejudice to the overall agenda for negotiations.
16. Third, responding to the needs of the globalized economy, and recognizing the dramatic
increase in e-commerce in the new economy, we announce today an APEC-wide moratorium on the
imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions until the next WTO Ministerial Conference.We encourage others to do likewise. We also call for the continuation of the e-commerce work
programme with better horizontal coordination among relevant bodies in the WTO.
17. Fourth, to aid mutual understanding of the issues and share experiences with investment and
competition policies, APEC will hold seminars on these issues and build on its existing analytical
work on competition and investment issues, with results also to be reported to Ministers in November.
18. We also welcome the substantial progress that has been made over the past year in the WTO
accession negotiations for China and urge WTO Members to work intensively for the rapid
completion of negotiations so that China can join as soon as possible.  We also support rapid
accession to the WTO by Chinese Taipei and the advancement of the accession processes for Russia
and Vietnam.
III. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN SUBREGIONAL TRADE AGREEMENTS
19. APEC economies are pursuing free and open trade and investment through unilateral, regional
and multilateral actions to reduce barriers and to enhance relevant aspects of their domestic policy
frameworks.
20. We discussed subregional trade agreements and their relationship with WTO and APEC
policy frameworks.  We agreed that subregional trad ing arrangements should be consistent with WTO
rules.  We believe that they should be in line with APEC architecture and supportive of APEC goals
and principles.
21. We welcome the proposal to embark on a survey of existing subregional trade agreements and
bilateral investment treaties, and ask Senior Officials to develop it further.
IV. IMPROVING THE APEC BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT
22. We reviewed the progress and results of the well-developed body of work undertaken in
APEC to improve the environment for doing business in the region.  We agreed on the need to make
better known the achievements of APEC cooperation.
23. We launch today "APEC: Getting Results for Business", a new publication, and
"BizApec.com", a new website providing one-stop information for conducting business in the Asia-
Pacific region.
24. We also foreshadow that these resources for busi ness will be strengthened further with the
completion by November of a new web-based reporting format for Individual Action Plans.  This newWT/L/358
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format will facilitate wider, faster and easier on-line access to transparent, comprehensive and specific
accounts of the progress our economies are making towards our shared Bogor goals.
25. We value the advice of our business communities to improve our efforts in areas where APEC
work can be most beneficial.  As articulated by our Leaders in Auckland, we reaffirm that further
dialogue with the private sector, at all levels, is essential to maintain the dynamism and relevance ofAPEC.  The solid progress made in improving Individual Action Plans responds to the APEC
Business Advisory Council (ABAC) call that such reporting be done better.  Our initiative on the
Strengthening of Economic Legal Infrastructure, which will make a contribution to a more certain and
predictable business environment in the region.
26. We therefore valued the briefing we received here in Darwin from the ABAC Chair.  We also
welcome the progress reported on senior level public-private sector collaboration in the Automotive
Dialogue, and encourage our governments to study  their recommendations.  We ask Senior Officials
to ensure that other APEC specialist fora  work closely with the Automotive Dialogue.
27. We also agreed to improve on the results for business already achieved in many APEC
economies through reduced administrative costs and easier ways of doing business with government
using electronic commerce.  Many challenges remain in creating a transparent and consistent legal
and regulatory environment, and technology neutral and interoperable electronic systems.  We ask ourSenior Officials to consider steps towards placing government information services on-line including,
as appropriate, government procurement and trade administration services, and to report on these
issues to Ministers and Leaders in November.  We welcome the offer by China to host a High-Level
Symposium on Paperless Trading in 2001.
V. RECENT RESULTS FROM THE APEC FRAMEWORK
28. Our efforts as Ministers Responsible for Trade are complemented by the results achieved in
other areas of the APEC framework.
29. We recognize that the skills and education of our people are critical to achieving our goals.  In
this respect, we welcome the commitment of APEC Education Ministers at their recent meeting in
Singapore to continue their support for efforts to promote collaborative action in education,particularly to develop learning societies.
30. We also welcome the priority given by Brunei Darussalam to developing human resources in
the theme for APEC 2000, and encourage their initia tive to work with APEC officials in Human
Resources Development (HRD) and representatives of business, training and education to develop a
more focused operational approach to HRD which will be relevant to the growing needs of our
communities.
31. We welcome the pro-competitive and market based approach taken by APEC Ministers
Responsible for Telecommunications and Information Industries in adopting, in the Cancun
Declaration, APEC Principles on International Charging Arrangements for Internet Services;  APEC
Principles of Interconnection;  and Issues for Consideration in the Preparation of Electronic
Authentication Policies.  This progress towards a more open and competitive environment will give a
significant boost to trade in telecommunications and IT services.
32. We note and welcome the commitment by APEC Energy Ministers at the Fourth Energy
Ministers Meeting to focus on implementation of energy policy, regulatory reform, and technology
cooperation initiatives.  These initiatives include principles and best practices for independent power
producers, natural gas development, and industry-initiated principles setting out criteria for reform of
the energy sector in the APEC region, while strengthening policy dialogue among member economiesWT/L/358
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on issues such as energy security, energy infrastructure, energy market reform, energy efficiency and
energy and the environment.  We further welcome the innovative strategy adopted by Energy
Ministers to facilitate implementation of these initiatives through visits by teams of experts to provide
practical advice, and we encourage APEC economies to make use of this valuable assistance.
33. We also welcome the good progress made in work by the Transportation Working Group,
including in the study of the benefits and difficulties of implementing the eight recommendations for
more competitive air services and identification of additional means of liberalizing air services.  We
encourage all economies to participate fully in the study, as a resource on which economies can draw
in considering the pace and direction of changes they wish to make in the regulation of their
international air services.
34. We also welcome the Agricultural Technical Cooperation Experts Group (ATCEG) report on
the work already done in APEC in the area of agricultural biotechnology, and endorse the useful workprogramme developed for the year 2000 and the medium term.  We reaffirm the statement by
Ministers in Auckland on the importance of transparent and science-based approaches to the
introduction and use of biotechnology products, and of technical cooperation, exchanging of
information on new technology and capacity building in this area.  Such activity should take into
account WTO rules, as well as consumers' interest in food safety, environmental quality, and facilitatethe realization of the potential benefits of this technology.
35. Ministers from Australia;  Brunei Darussalam;  Canada; Chile;  the People’s Republic of
China;  Hong Kong, China;  Indonesia; Japan;  the Republic of Korea;  Malaysia;  Mexico;  New
Zealand;  Papua New Guinea;  Peru;  the Republic of  the Philippines;  Russia; Singapore;  Chinese
Taipei;  Thailand;  the United States of America;  and Viet Nam participated in the meeting.  The
APEC Secretariat was present.  The Association of  Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat, the
Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC) and the South Pacific Forum attended as observers.WT/L/358
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ANNEX C
Joint Statement on the WTO/TRIPS Agreement Implementation
36. All the APEC member economies recognize the important role of the Agreement on Trade-
Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement) administered by the World Trade
Organization (WTO) based on the understanding that the extension of an adequate protection to
intellectual property rights contributes to the economic development of the APEC member economies
as well as to the promotion of sound trade and investment in the APEC region.  Thus, the APEC
member economies established as a goal of the Action Agenda adopted at the APEC Economic
Leaders' Meeting held in Osaka in November 1995 that the APEC member economies would fully
implement the TRIPS Agreement by 1 January 2000 at the latest.
37. The APEC member economies have formulated the Collective Action Plan within the
Intellectual Property Rights Experts Group to promote technical cooperation with the aim of
implementing the TRIPS Agreement and to ensure sustainable benefits to the member economies
through the dynamic use of intellectual property rights.  Each of the APEC member economies hasalso improved its intellectual property system under the Individual Action Plan.
38. APEC economies remain firmly committed to the goal of full implementation of the TRIPS
Agreement throughout the APEC region in 2000, and look forward to the final stages of ensuring
complete adherence to TRIPS standards and provisions by all WTO APEC Members.
39. APEC economies acknowledge the considerable pr ogress that has been made in the APEC
region to bring about the development and strengthening of intellectual property administration and
enforcement systems in line with TRIPS standards, noting that this has entailed major legislative and
infrastructure development in many economies in a relatively short space of time.  They reaffirm their
commitment to continuing technical cooperation to bring about full and sustained TRIPS
implementation in such a way that the protection and enforcement of intellectual property rightsshould contribute to the promotion of technological innovation and to the transfer and dissemination
of technology, to the mutual advantage of producers and users of technological knowledge and in a
manner conductive to social and economic welfare, and to a balance of rights and obligations.  They
also reaffirm their commitment to ensure that the necessary skills are developed to enable the
realization of the potential economic and social benefits of intellectual property rights in all APEC
economies.
40. Recognizing the general need for greater public awareness of intellectual property rights, and
broader dissemination of practical information on the effective use of the intellectual property system
in the APEC region, APEC member economies have resolved to undertake greater cooperation within
the APEC region on the planning, development and delivery of public education programmes
concerning intellectual property.
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