WORLD TRADE WT/GC(95)/ST/17
30January 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0301)
Original: English GENERAL COUNCIL
13and15December 1995
CZECH REPUBLIC
Statement byMr.P.Palecka
Minister Counsellor, Permanent Representative
Negotiators haveshown wisdom indeciding onatemporary coexistence oftheWorld Trade
Organization andtheGeneral Agreement 1947. 112accomplished ratification procedures arethebest
evidence ofasmooth transition fromtheGATT totheWTO. Webelieve thattheremaining GATT
1947contracting parties willfollow thisexample andthattheglobal nature oftheWTO willbefurther
strengthened bythesuccessful completion of28accession negotiations.
ThefirstyearoftheWTO wasofextreme importance asitpaved theroadtoaneffectively
functioning organization. Theoverwhelming majority oftheresults achieved ispositive andself-
explanatory and,therefore, Ionlywould liketocomment briefly onsome particular issues related
totoday'sreview.
1. Economic Environment
In1995, afterseveral years ofdecline, theeconomies ofCentral andEastern Europe have
embarked onthepathofeconomic recovery thuscontributing tothegrowth ofworld economy. As
maybeseenfromthereport oftheDirector-General, thetradeperformance ofthesecountries invalue
terms iswellabove theworld averages, bothinrespect ofexports andevenmore inimports. Itis
aproofthatourregionofferstangiblebusinessopportunitiesandthatthesecountriesstandfullyintegrated
intotheworld economy andtrading system.
2. Notifications
In1995wehavebeenfaced withabroad range ofnotification requirements. Thisburden has
beenfeltintensively byallMembers and,inparticular, bysmaller trading nations. Inspiteofthat
theWTO family asawhole hasshown itsreadiness toincrease transparency andpredictability inworld
trade. Although thenotification process isofparamount importance, theexisting overload should not
befurther intensified byrequiring information which insome cases threatens togobeyond whatwe
mayqualify asareasonable scope ofthereview process. Suchanapproach maygenerate additional
dataprocessing andtranslation costs while value added interms oftransparency remains limited.
In1996, theflowofnotifications willobtain newdimensions. Inanumber ofareas theWTO
members arerequired toprovide information onimplementation oftheirspecific commitments. The
practical implementation ofthecommitments should remain themain subject forthereview process
sinceapreliminary assessment of1995notifications revealed thatinsome keyareasthisimplementation
hasnotstarted assuccessfully andunconditionally asoriginally expected.
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3. Organization ofwork
Webelieve thattheyear1996 willfurther improve theefficiency ofourwork intheWTO.
Much isexpected from recently adopted guidelines onthearrangements forscheduling ofmeetings
ofWTO bodies. Wehopethatthisdecision willhelpbothdelegations inGeneva andourcolleagues
incapitals inbetter organizing preparation andparticipation atthemeetings.
Thelatest experience shows thatespecially inthesecond halfofthisyeartheoverload caused
byexcessive frequency andsimultaneity ofsubstantial meetings hasbecome almost unbearable. It
mayproduce rather unhappy situations when well-prepared meetings areattended scarcely, withnegative
consequences andevendegradation ofwork related totheirpreparation. Aninformal andhighly
constructive wayinwhich theGATT 1947hasbeenworking foryears should bepreserved intheWTO.
Wefeelthatanoverload towhich delegations areincreasingly exposed maymake oursessions
tooformal, limited toreading official instructions orkeeping silence sincetimefordetailed preparation
andafreerdiscussion istoorestricted. Inthatrespect, newguidelines andtheirsmooth implementation
should partially release tensions, reduce time-constraints andminimize unexpected changes inthedates
ofmeetings.
4. Singapore agenda
Inyesterday 'sintervention bytheDirector-General principal areasofpre-Singapore, Singapore
andmostprobably alsopost-Singapore activities werehighlighted. TheCzech delegation maysubscribe
toallofthem andwould liketoelaborate briefly ontwoitems.
Mutual relationship between international trade andeconomic competition raises particular
interest tous.Itsimportance continues togrow since traditional trade instruments arebeing replaced
bydomestic economic policies. TheCzech Republic isoftheviewthatcontestability ofthemarkets
measures byreductions oftariff andnon-tariff barriers andfaircompetition inthose markets are
fundamental objectives ofthemultilateral trading system andassuchshould bereflected intheWTO
framework.
Averypertinent issue isalsothecreation ofabroadly recognized international setofrules
intheareaofinvestment. TheCzech delegation supports initiatives tostartnegotiations onamultilateral
agreement oninvestment. Weareoftheopinion thattheroleoftheWTO should bedefined very
carefully andshould besufficiently ambitious since itisfinally intheWTO where attempts tocreate
suchabroad andfar-reaching agreement should bemultilateralized andshould beclosely interrelated
tothesimilar commitments taken intheareaofTRIMS orinservices.