WORLD TRADE WT/GC(95)/ST/1
29January 1996
ORGANIZATION(96-0285)
Original: English GENERAL COUNCIL
13and15December 1995
UNITED STATES
Statement byH.E. Mr.Jeffrey Lang
Ambassador, Deputy Trade Representative
Introduction
Justtwoyears ago,wecollectively brought theUruguay Round toatriumphant conclusion.
About oneyearago,itbecame clearthatwehadachieved thecritical mass ofratifications needed to
bring theWorld Trade Organization intoforceasfromthebeginning ofthisyear. Now, intheDirector-
General 'sfirstannual report tothemembers oftheWTO, weseethatthecurrent membership ofWTO
hasreached 112countries andcustoms territories. Looking backtoPunta delEste, slightly more than
nineyears ago,howmany ofuswould havethought thistobepossible?
Thisisallthemore incredible when onerealizes thattheWTO, liketheGATT before it,
represents notanorganizational approach based ontheUnited Nations model butrather abinding
contractualarrangementamongmembers,whichcarrieswithitasubstantialpriceofentryandanongoing
obligation toabide byasetofrules which areovertimeapplied equally toallMembers ofthe
Organization. While thehighdrama oftwoyears agoisbehind us,weshould notlosesightofour
collective accomplishment.
Neither should werestonourlaurels. Itisclearthatregional trading arrangements aregaining
inpopularity. Those which theUnited States isinvolved inlooktotheWTO asproviding asolid
foundation togofurther. While wehaveprofound reservations about suchagreements thatdonot
conform totheWTO, webelieve those thatdoarenottobefeared. Onthecontrary, theyshould
beseenaschallenging themultilateral system tokeeppacewiththeinterests andneeds ofMembers.
Wethink thattheWTO canmeetthischallenge, butitwilltakeeffort andhardwork onallourparts
iftheWTO system istocontinue tobeseenasoffering allofitsmembers something oftangible value.
Letmebeverydirect onthispoint. Adynamic, vibrant openmultilateral trading system remains central
inthedevelopment ofUStrade policy objectives.
Sofar,ourprogress hasbeenpositive. Butithasalsobeenfarfrom perfect. Weneedto
remind ourselves asweheadtoward thefirstofourMinisterial Conference meetings nextDecember
inSingapore thatthere isagreat dealofhardwork stillbefore us.
Thehardwork ahead
Iwanttoturnnowtoanassessment ofoursituation todate.
Oninstitutional issues targeted foraction inthefirstyearoftheWTO, Ithink ourrecord is
decidedly mixed. Speaking fromaUSstandpoint, itshould havebeenpossible toplace theWTO on
amore equal footing withother international institutions having responsibilities inrelated areas.WT/GC(95)/ST/1
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Wearealsoconcerned thatithasnotbeenpossible --aftersomany months --todefine our
relations withNGO's,lifttheunhelpful veilofsecrecy surrounding ourday-to-day activities oreven
agree onanethical codeofconduct. Ifwecannot sooncomplete andimplement work inthese areas -
-areas which areallvisible toourpolitical andprivate sector constituencies --theinstitution andthe
system willsuffer.
Turning tounfinished business, wemust ensure ameaningful andimportant outcome tothe
current negotiations onbasic telecommunications services. Thisisasector ofactivity which is
increasingly central toourpolitical, economic andsocial well-being. Telecommunications isthenervous
system oftheglobal economy. Wecannot afford tolosecontrol overourownnervous system.
Telecommunications liberalization --which means competition --isalsocritical todevelopment.
Thenewtechnology issuchthatprivate competition isnowactually themostdirect route touniversal
service forallpeople. IftheMembers oftheWTO show themselves unequal tothetask,thenmany
WTO Members maybeleftwithout access tothistechnology andthereby postpone notonlytheir
development, butuniversal service itself, which isthemain argument forresisting liberalization.
Finally, theagreement intelecommunications isafirsttestastowhether theWTO canbe
adequately begin toaddress theso-called newissues, especially competition policy.
AsweapproachtheSingaporemeeting,theenvironment/traderelationshipisanotherthatdeserves
ourfullattention. IntheDirector-General 'sreport, hestates that"members believe thereisnoinherent
contradictionbetweenupholdingandsafeguardinganopen,non-discriminatoryandequitablemultilateral
system ontheonehandandprotecting theenvironment andpromoting sustainable development on
theother." Weneedtoprove thisvaluable conclusion through ouractions andensure thattheCommittee
onTrade andEnvironment produces concrete results fortheSingapore meeting. Obviously, thisis
nottheendoftheroadfortheCommittee, butitisnevertheless acritical decision point.
Success stories
Letmeturnnowtooursuccesses.
With thenewWTO, wehaveenlisted anewDirector-General. TheWTO, liketheGATT,
mustcontinuetobea"member-drivenorganization."Thankyourforyourefforts,Mr.Director-General,
inhelping ustomaintain thisimportant aspect oftheWTO. Wealsoapplaud therecent decision on
thenaming oftheWTO 'sDSU Appellate Body. While itmayhavetaken usalongtimetoconclude
onthisissue, theendresult isanAppellate Body thatreflects thehighest caliber persons wecould
name tothatposition andagroup inwhich wecaneasily place ourfulltrustforhearing eventual appeals
ofdispute settlement panel findings.
Ifeelweshould infactalltakesome comfort fromthesituation which exists broadly inrespect
oftheimplementation ofsubstantive obligations under theWTO. There aresome problems, andnot
every Member hasyetmetallitsimplementation obligations --aprime example being thesatisfaction
ofoverly numerous notification requirements. Nevertheless, whether wearelooking atagriculture
orindustry, services orgoods, important progress hasbeenregistered across-the-board.
TheheartoftheWTO isthenewdispute settlement system. Many expected thattheintroduction
oftheDSU earlier thisyearwould leadtoaloadofnewdispute settlement actions which thesystem
would findhardtoabsorb. Wedohavemore cases tocopewiththanbefore, butwehavefound that
thenewsystem hashadapositive impact indissuading thelodging ofsuitswithaquestionable legal
justification andencouraging thebilateral resolution ofproblems short ofapanel report. Howbetter
could wedemonstrate thevalue oftheruleoflawandourrespect forthesystem?WT/GC(95)/ST/1
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Looking ahead toSingapore
Thenextyearwillbring newchallenges totheWTO, particularly inareas suchasTRIPS,
where many Members willfinditdifficult tocomply withthesubstantive obligations oftheAgreement.
Innegotiating theUruguay Round Agreement, wewisely agreed thatmore regular involvement of
Ministers wasneeded intheoperation oftheWTO andimplementation ofitsmandate. Thefirstof
suchregular opportunities willbeinSingapore nextyear. Thismeans wehavetotakeasomewhat
different approach toministerials thenwepreviously tookintheGATT. Webelieve thatthepreparations
forSingapore needtobedone withgreat careandrealism inorder toavoid setting unreasonable
expectations forthefirstinaseries ofregular ministerial meetings. Weareheartened bytheconsensus
thatappears tobeemerging thatthepriority forSingapore mustbeonimplementation oftheUruguay
Round Agreements. But,wecannot afford totakeanarrow approach toimplementation.
Animportant change resulting fromthetransformation oftheGATT system totheWTO was
theestablishment oftheWTO asanongoing negotiating forum andavenue todealwithnewissue
areas. Oneneedonlylookattheimpressive "built inagenda" toseethatwedoindeed haveconsiderable
work ahead ofusinfollowing thecourse setoutbythecompletion oftheUruguay Round. Atthe
same time, however, wemust continue tolooktothefuture. What direction andcourse should be
setastheWTO looks beyond Singapore andpursuit ofthebuilt-in agenda?
Likeothers, wehopeoverthecourse ofnextyeartoengage indiscussions about thefurther
agenda fortheWTO andthedevelopment ofwork programs toassure thattheWTO remains vibrant
andatthecutting edgeoftrade liberalization. Astraditional trade barriers arereduced, wewillhave
toconsider howtheWTO cancontribute toreducing corruption intrade. Independent organizations
nowtelluscorruption maybethesingle greatest non-tariff barrier totrade today. TheUnited States
haswhatwebelieve aresome constructive ideas tosubmit onthissubject.
Wemust alsodiscuss theinteraction oftrade andlabour standards. Itisnowobvious such
aninteraction exists, andthatwecandiscuss thisissuewithout risking establishing anexcuse forimport
protection.
These issues, taken together, willpresent theGeneral Council withaformidable taskfor1996
inbalancing theneedtoassure effective implementation ofthework already identified foruswhile
beginning tooperationalize aWTO vision forthefuture. Itisourviewthatsolidpreparations inGeneva,
aided bywork athome andincreased attention from officials incapitals, istheonlywaytoensure
thatSingapore maintains WTO 'sroleinthetrading system.
Conclusions
Ihavetriedtostress ourassessment ofgeneral trends. IfIhavenotreferred toanyparticular
issue, itdoesnotmean thatissue isnotanissueofconcern totheUnited States. TheWTO isfartoo
complicated tobefullyencompassed inoneshortstatement intheGeneral Council, andallofusknow
details matter intrade. Nevertheless, ifthere isonelastareatowhich Ifeelcompelled torefer, it
would bethatoftheaccessions process. Given thatentry intoWTO iscostly fortheapplicant --in
more ways thanone--whywould more thantwenty important countries andcustoms territories be
seeking entry intoWTO atthispoint oftheydidnotthink wewere ontoagood thing? Letusnot
prove them wrong.