WORLD TRADE WT/MIN(98)/ST/35
18May1998
ORGANIZATION(98-2005)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE Original: Spanish
Second Session
Geneva, 18and20May1998
CHILE
Statement Circulated byMr.JoséMiguel Insulza,
Minister forForeign Affairs
1. Firstofall,Ishould liketoexpress thesincere gratitude oftheGovernment ofChile tothe
WTO Secretariat forthehardwork carried outtoprepare thisConference andtotheSwiss authorities
fortheircollaboration. Weknow ithasnotbeenaneasytask. Over the17months thathavegone
bysince welastmetinSingapore, theOrganization 'sMembership hasgrown andnowcounts over
130countries with35observer governments. Thislevelofparticipation appeared unobtainable 50years
agowhen 23countries concluded theGeneral Agreement onTariffs andTrade. Chile isproud ofhaving
beenoneoftheoriginal signatories totheAgreement andofhaving participated actively during the
half-century ofexistence ofGATT anditssuccessor, theWTO. AstheDirector-General,
Mr.Renato Ruggiero, recently emphasized, thedevelopment ofthemultilateral trading system makes
itpossible toenvisage thecreation ofatrulyuniversal system thatunites alltheeconomies oftheworld
under mutually agreed andlegally enforceable rules anddisciplines. Inorder tomove towards this
objective, webelieve thattheaccession ofnewmembers should continue tobeapriority forthe
Organization.
2. Inaddition, growing globalization makes theWTO thenatural forum fortheholding of
multilateral talksonmatters ofcommon interest, overandabove regional groupings orthose withmore
limited membership. Inthisrespect, theWTO istheproper arena forpursuing thediscussions on
reaching aMultilateral Agreement onInvestment, thenegotiation ofwhich wasrecently postponed
intheOECD.Thiswouldallowcountriesthatarenetexportersandnetimportersofcapitaltoparticipate
inhammering outaninstrument thatwould afford security andrespect theeconomic sovereignty of
countries.
3. Thegradual consolidation oftheWTO 'sdispute settlement mechanism hasbeen equally
important. Noregulatory framework canbeeffective unless there iscertainty thatitsrules willbe
observed and,iftheyarenot,thatnon-compliance willleadtoconsequences thatmight extend asfar
asretaliation. Relatively small countries suchasChile relyonthisasthemosteffective tooltoallow
them tocompete fairly andeffectively inthegrowing andcomplex global market.
4. Inaddition toitsnegotiating anddispute settlement bodies, webelieve thattheWTO provides
therightenvironment fordiscussing thegeneral outline andcriteria thatcould leadtonewnegotiations
ontrade issues. Inthisrespect, itisimportant nottochange thecharacter ofworking groups by
automatically turning themintonegotiating forums, because thiscould exclude countries withrelatively
lessnegotiating power from thediscussions.
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5. Wevalue thetrade policy review mechanism asawayofstrengthening thetransparency of
Members 'trade policies andproviding information ontheactual trends insuchpolicies, irrespective
oftheircompliance withtheWTO 'sdisciplines. Chile'spolicy wasreviewed forthesecond timelast
yearandthisexercise allowed ustosystematize information onallourWTO-related trade policy.
6. Despite alltheprogress made inthemultilateral trading system, ithastoberecognized that
thereremain deficiencies orlacunae which restrict tradeingoods andservices. Onerecurring practice
istheuseofnon-tariff barriers totrade. These taketheform ofenvironmental measures, technical,
sanitary andphytosanitary barriers, which mayintrinsically belegitimate andnecessary, buttheiruse
forprotectionist purposes seriously impairs theadvantages derived from theAgreements. Inthis
connection, Chile notes withconcern thatcountervailing duties andanti-dumping measures, instituted
asmechanisms toparry unfair competition, haverepeatedly beenusedasprotectionist barriers to
legitimate trade. Wearealsoconcerned bythegrowing useofsafeguard measures, which donotalways
meettherequirements laiddown fortheiradoption.
7. Chile supports theprimacy oftherules ofthemultilateral trading system andrecognizes the
merits andprotection which suchasystem gives tosmaller Members suchasChile interms oflegal
security. Chile nevertheless believes thatthisprimacy isfullycompatible withotherbilateral orregional
agreements towhich Chile hasrecently become aparty, including theassociation agreement with
MERCOSUR and,more recently, theagreements withCanada, Mexico andPeru. Theagreements
withCanada andMexico inparticular donotcover tariff liberalization alone butalsoextend toother
areas essential forfreetrade suchasinvestment, services, ensuring thattechnical barriers donot
constitute obstacles totrade, andtheregulation oftrade protection mechanisms. Chile believes that
themutual exemption fromanti-dumping duties agreed withCanada marks animportant stepforward
inthisnewstage oftrade liberalization. Ittherefore hopes thatthese disciplines canbeexpanded and
amplified intheFreeTrade Agreement oftheAmericas, formal negotiations forwhich wererecently
launched inSantiago, Chile. InMarrakesh weundertook toinitiate negotiations forliberalizing trade
inagricultural products andinservices. Theforthcoming negotiations onagriculture areofparticular
importance toChile andtheyshould leadtoamore equitable andtransparent framework tofoster trade
liberalization inthissector. Chile hopes thatthese negotiations willconclude withatransparent
agricultural agreement thatisfullyintegrated withthedispute settlement mechanism andthatthere
willberealdismantling ofagricultural subsidies, which atpresent aremainly usedbydeveloped
countries, thereby causing serious distortions inrelative prices anddirectly injuring theexports of
developing andleast-developed countries.
8. Ishould liketostatethatChile issurethattheagreements which govern global trade today
canbeimproved, withthecontributions ofall.Webelieve thatitisnecessary toinitiate anewround
ofnegotiations toextend trade liberalization assoonaspossible, including tariff reductions forall
industrialandagriculturalproductsandtheimprovementofexistingrules,withoutreopeningnegotiations
onagreements already reached. Weenvisage anewglobal round inwhich theinterests ofallits
Members, bothdeveloped anddeveloping, willberepresented inabalanced fashion.
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