Opening Address by Mr. Tom Kitt, T.D., Minister for Labour, Trade and Consumer Affairs at the Oxfam Ireland/Trócaire Roundtable Seminar ‘The WTO Post Seattle – Opportunities for Change’ on Tuesday, 30 May 2000 in Buswells Hotel, Dublin.

I would like to thank both Trócaire and Oxfam Ireland for the invitation to your roundtable today, which is the first in a series of sessions you are organising on the role of multilateral organisations in tackling poverty and promoting sustainable development. I am delighted to have the opportunity to outline my views in relation to developments within the WTO and, in particular, on development and the interests of developing countries.

As you are all aware, the main objective of the Third WTO Ministerial Conference, which took place in Seattle from 30 November to 3 December 1999, was to launch of a New Round of trade liberalisation negotiations. The failure to achieve this was a great disappointment. While it was foreseen that agreement on a New Round would be extremely difficult, it was hoped that, in the final analysis, the meeting would be successful and it would be possible to agree an agenda and timetable for a New Round.

There are several reasons why the Ministerial did not succeed. Primarily, it was the case that the ground was inadequately prepared in Geneva in the run-up. There were differences in positions across a whole range of issues. There was also a complete lack of clarity on how to deal with issues of concern to the general public, such as the relationship between trade rules and the environment and consumer safety policies. Another difficulty was the attempt to meet the concerns of developing countries and bring them more effectively and productively into the multilateral trading system.

Along with our EU partners, Ireland was, and is, committed to the launch of a comprehensive New Round of trade negotiations. It is our belief that a comprehensive Round of negotiations involving a broad range of issues, is the best way to address the challenges resulting from rapid and farreaching economic changes, to manage properly and effectively the globalisation process, to promote equitable growth and development and to respond in a balanced manner to the interests of all WTO members, in particular the developing countries.

Since Seattle, the European Community has been undertaking an intensive process of consultations and alliance building with other WTO Members to prepare the ground for a new Round of negotiations. In this regard, the Community has recently launched, in conjunction with other QUAD members (the US, Canada and Japan) a ‘short term’ package of measures for developing countries. This package aims to address the implementation concerns of developing countries (that is, the problems which LDCs have in putting in place the structures agreed in the Uruguay Round and in having the capacity to benefit from the agreements in the way in which they were meant to). Technical assistance and the extension of implementation periods are ways in which this can be addressed. The EU’s proposal of duty and tariff free access for products from LDCs is also included in the package.

In addition, Ireland and the rest of our European Union partners have been considering proposals for initiatives aimed at WTO institutional improvements. The proposals cover improvements in the organisation of Ministerial meetings; priority in WTO technical assistance for LDC participation; simplification of WTO working methods; and enhanced transparency and consultations with civil society.

In the longer term, there is a widely held view that, in order to reinforce the WTO, a number of institutional questions should be considered, which could include looking at means of improving decisionmaking; the establishment of an Executive Committee; reviewing the role of the DirectorGeneral; the establishment of a WTO Parliamentary Assembly; improving cooperation between the WTO and other international organisations; and the establishment of an Eminent Persons Group, which could be asked to consider all possible institutional improvements and proposals.

On the subject of developing countries, I would like to mention one initiative which it was possible to bring to fruition in Seattle. I was very happy, en marge the Ministerial meeting, to be able to sign on behalf of Ireland, the agreement establishing the WTO Advisory Law Centre. Ireland is one of a small group of countries who have developed this project. It is designed to provide free and independent legal advice to developing countries to enable them to pursue their concerns within the WTO and in the context of WTO agreements. The Centre will be located in Geneva and Ireland has committed itself to participating in the funding of the start-up and operating costs of the Centre, to an amount of approximately $2.5 million dollars.

Ireland has also allocated over $200,000 to the LDC Trust Fund in the UN Conference on Trade and Development in recent years. This Fund is used to assist the poorest countries build up their capacity to trade. We have given over $100,000 to the Joint Integrated Programme of Technical Assistance to Selected African countries which is operated jointly by the WTO, UNCTAD and the International Trade Centre. This programme helps six African countries to strengthen their institutions involved in trade and to participate in multilateral trade negotiations. We have also given over $1,000,000 to specific trade capacity building projects in the South Pacific and the Caribbean operated by UNCTAD.

In April of this year, the European Commission issued a Communication on the European Community’s Development Policy. This document which was requested by the Development Council was prepared after a dialogue with civil society. It sets out, for the first time, an overall EU policy which is designed to govern all of the EU’s development activities. This Communication will form the basis of a Council statement on development policy, which should be agreed before the end of the year.

The Communciation proposes the streamlining of the operational activities of EU development aid by focussing on a number of priority areas. The first area of concentration suggested by the Commission is trade and development.

There is a strong argument in favour of an emphasis on trade and development in the Community’s aid programme. This is not to say that the integration of developing countries, particularly the Least Developed, into the global economy is a recipe for development. I share the view that an ability to trade goods internationally is a necessary, but not a sufficient, condition for sustainable development. It is a key ingredient in an overall development strategy, particularly in a world which is rapidly globalising.

The rapid advance from poverty of the economies of East Asia would not have been achieved without their huge success on international export markets.

I know that later this morning you are discussing the new EU-ACP Partnership Agreement, but I would just like to say a few words in that regard. In my view, the most important innovation in the new Agreement is the decision that there should be free trade arrangements put in place between the EU and regions in the ACP by 2008. This means that the current Lomé preferences, providing the WTO agrees to their extension, should remain until 2008 when they will be replaced by a series of free trade arrangements.

This Agreement makes clear that no ACP country will be coerced against its will into entering a free trade agreement with the EU. The Community has given a commitment to exploring all possible means of preserving existing Lomé preferences for any ACP country unwilling or unable to enter into a free trade arrangement. In addition, the Community has also committed itself to providing duty free access to the Community market for essentially all products from LDCs by 2005.

Throughout the negotiations of this new Agreement, Ireland strongly supported the need to provide duty free access to the EU market for LDCs. We also wanted to ensure that the move to free trade between the EU and regions in the ACP States is taken with the full cooperation and participation of the States concerned.

In the absence of a general Round of trade negotiations, the immediate focus within the WTO is on issues already agreed for negotiation, most importantly Agriculture and Services. Negotiations in these areas are being conducted through the existing WTO groups in Geneva under the direction of the General Council. As no negotiating guidelines emanated from Seattle, the negotiations are being based on existing WTO legal texts and are without specific time deadlines. It is expected that negotiations should be concluded within three years. They are now at a very preliminary stage and the EU is participating actively in the discussions.

The issue of globalisation worries many of you here today. The influence of multinational businesses has been with us for a long time and indeed Ireland, as an example, has gained significantly from Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in very many ways including more and better quality jobs and faster industrial development. Unfortunately, the same beneficial impact of FDI has not been experienced in all developing countries to the same extent. This has been a concern of Governments, international businesses and their representative bodies for many years and has brought about a growing number of corporate and international codes of conduct.

Recognising the importance and influence of multinationals in international investment, the OECD as far back as 1976 compiled their own Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. These are recommendations from Governments to help ensure that multinational enterprises act in harmony with the policies of countries in which they operate and with the broader expectations of society.

While the Guidelines were updated in 1991, you will be interested to know that they are being substantially revised to bring them up to date with international conventions such as those agreed at the International Labour Organisation and with important environmental concerns such as sustainable development.

There are other fundamental changes such as recommendations on the protection of whistleblowers and the expectation of OECD Governments that the Guidelines will be respected by their firms, not only in OECD countries but also in other countries in which they operate. In other words they will have worldwide applicability. This is especially important given the growing number of small and medium enterprises that are creating transnational affiliates. Given the progress of negotiations to date, I expect that they will be agreed to shortly and you will be able to find out more about them on my Department’s website towards the end of July.

As I mentioned already, one of the lessons from Seattle was the need for increased consultations with civil society. The European Union prepared itself very extensively for the Ministerial meeting and Ireland was heavily involved in those preparations. We were particularly concerned to see that the EU position reflected an openness to the expectations of developing countries and of civil society. As you are aware, in the course of preparations I consulted with representatives from across the whole spectrum of possible interest - industry, farming, trade unions and development NGOs. As a result of these consultations, I was in a better position to participate in the discussions.

These consultations with civil society must continue and I feel your seminar to-day has been the perfect opportunity for me to update you on our thinking regarding the WTO and a New Round of trade negotiations.