WORLD TRADE WT/GC(95)/ST/10
30January 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0294)
Original: English General Council
13and15December 1995
BRAZIL
Statement byH.E. Mr.S.Rego Barros
Ambassador, Secretary-General, Ministry ofExternal Relations
Inreviewing thedevelopments ininternational trade andtheWTO activities, Iwould liketo
share withtheotherMembers inthismeeting some remarks onthefirstyearoftheWTO andtoreaffirm
Brazil 'scommitment totrade liberalization.
Mycountryattachestheutmostimportancetothestrengtheningofthemultilateraltradingsystem.
Thishasbeengreatly achieved bytheresults oftheUruguay Round andthesubsequent implementation
byMembers oftheagreed provisions, which required theintroduction ofnewlegislation orthe
amendment ofexisting domestic rules. Itisourbelief thatweneedtoenhance WTO 'smoral authority
andcredibility inorder topreserve thebalance ofrights andobligations reached attheUruguay Round
package ofagreements anddecisions.
WTO 'sfirstyearofexistence hasdemonstrated thecomplexities ofimplementing aseries of
newrules. Different agencies orministries inourcapitals andboththeSecretariat andthedelegations
inGeneva havehadtocopewithchallenging tasks. AstheDirector-General summarized inhisannual
overview ofdevelopments ininternational trade andthetrading system, theimplementation process
comprised three categories ofactivities:
1. Thefulfilment ofnotification requirements;
2. theimplementation ofsubstantive commitments tobring legislation intoconformity
withWTO obligations andtocomply withthetariff reductions scheduled along the
linesofthemarket access Marrakesh Protocol; and
3. thefulfilment ofvarious tasks (such asannual reviews) laiddown intheWTO
agreements.
Thefulfilment ofthose obligations included, inter alia,215notification requirements and
compliance with74WTO provisions forreviews, further negotiations andcooperation aswellaswith
other decisions anddeclarations related totheimplementation oftheresults oftheRound. Many
countries havehadtoconsider andapprove domestic ruleswhich simply didnotexistintheirlegislation
before, suchas,inthecaseofBrazil, legal provisions andregulations onsafeguards. Particularly
fordeveloping countries, allthose obligations seemed tobeharder tofulfil, since theirgovernments
often lackfinancial andtechnical resources tomake useoftrade remedies through appropriate new
legislation.
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These tasks were supplementary toothers incourse related tothetransaction ofunfinished
business from theRound, suchasthenegotiation ofagreements ontrade insome services sectors.
Ifweaddtothose duties theexamination ofentry conditions for36newMembers, wecanrealize
thesizeoftheworkload wehavehadtofaceinthisfirstyearofoperation.
TheimplementationofWTO'snewobligationshascoincidedwithsometrendsoftheinternational
economy which havereduced governments 'capacity toregulate andcontrol thedomestic economy,
suchastheincrease ofcapital volatility andother realities resulting from theglobalization process.
From theBrazilian perspective, theimplementation oftheUruguay Round hasalsocoincided with
thenegotiation andtheentryintoforceofMERCOSUR, acustoms union thatrequires growing attention
andinvolvement from ourtrade policy authorities.
Themagnitude ofthose responsibilities should not,however, divert usfrom themain goals
oftrade liberalization expected fromatrustful multilateral trading system. Insome WTO meetings,
Brazil hasreferred tothesustainability oftradeliberalization. Webelieve thatmoderation andcarefully
taken steps arenecessary toavoid internal counter-productive effects resulting from hasty actions.
Thatword ofcaution isbased ontheexperience ofmany economies thataregoing through
tradeliberalization programmes, concurrent withfiscal adjustments, budget cuts,privatization, fiscal
reforms etc.Itisimportant tonotethatthose reforms tendtoreduce thehuman andfinancial resources
available ingovernments toabsorb andapply newinternational trade rules. They often require
constitutional changes which involve political discussions andmedia exposure. Some ofthenew
institutions andconcepts brought about bytheUruguay Round arenotyetfullyunderstood domestically
andareovershadowed byother national priorities.
Inspiteofthenatural difficulties found during WTO 'sfirstyearofexistence, itistheview
ofmycountry thatallefforts should bemade toovercome those initial stages andputinoperation
allthemechanisms foreseen fortheOrganization.
MyGovernment isengaged inthetaskofimplementing WTO 'sdecisions withaspirit of
cooperation andasense ofrealism thatderives fromthisfirstyearofexperience. Wearefullyconscious
ofthedifficulties toembark onnewprojects when thereisstillsomuch tobedone. Atthesame time,
wearewilling todiscuss andexamine withanopenmind thenewideas thathavebeenputforward
regarding WTO 'sfuture.