Translation from the Norwegian

Mr. President,

The terrorist attacks against the US were not only directed at innocent people, but also at fundamental democratic values and open economies.

In the weeks since 11 September we have witnessed economic setbacks and a decline in international trade.

But the terrorists must not be allowed to prevail.

We must join forces to combat fear and adversity. We must join forces to maintain the hope of a better future for all. We must join forces to lay the groundwork for new economic growth and progress in all countries – not least in the developing countries.

This is why we need strengthened international cooperation and more fair conditions for international trade. This is why we need to actively support the World Trade Organization. This is why we need a successful Ministerial Conference in Qatar.

The coalition government will pursue an economic policy whose main goals are employment for all, the further development of the Norwegian welfare society, equitable distribution and sustainable development. A strong, competitive business sector is essential for achieving these goals.

Norway’s economy is well adapted to a global framework, but it is also small and open, and therefore vulnerable. We need strong global rules that can provide the greatest possible predictability and allow Norwegian companies better market access and equal conditions in the world market. For these reasons it is in our interests to strengthen and further develop the multilateral trading system through a new round of negotiations in the WTO.

Mr. President,

On 9 November ministers from the WTO’s 142 member states will come together in Qatar to decide on the basis for a new round of negotiations in the World Trade Organization.

The statement made in the Storting on 1 June on the preparations for the WTO conference in Qatar and the subsequent debate showed that there is broad support in the Storting for the Norwegian positions.

The government will base its further efforts on this broad support. We will be a constructive partner in the further development of the rules for international trade. We will strive for better market access for Norwegian exports, and seek to ensure a good, varied and reasonably priced supply of goods and services to Norwegian consumers. At the same time we will seek to maintain our national room for manoeuvre so that we can pursue an agricultural policy that is in accordance with our needs. We will promote environmental considerations in international trade. And, not least, we will seek to ensure that the needs of the developing countries are safeguarded.

Since the summer break the WTO member states have been conducting intensive consultations on the draft of a final declaration from the Ministerial Conference in Qatar. On 27 October the chairman of the WTO General Council presented a revised draft, which has now been transmitted to the Ministerial Conference and will form the basis for the discussions in Qatar. The Ministerial Declaration from Qatar will be extremely important as it will form the basis for further negotiations.

In Norway’s view the draft is a good basis for discussion. It takes account of a number of important Norwegian export interests, for example in connection with the negotiations on market access for industrial products and services. On certain other points we would have preferred wording that was more in keeping with our national views.

I will now give a brief account of 10 important negotiating issues – in the light of Norwegian views and assessments.

First, market access for industrial products, including fish and fish products, is a traditional negotiating issue in the WTO. This has been satisfactorily dealt with in the draft negotiating mandate. The harvesting and processing of fish and marine resources form the basis for a considerable share of Norwegian external trade, and this is one of the most important factors for ensuring employment and rural settlement. At the same time there is considerable potential for the further development of this industry. Improved market access for a broad range of our export products will be a high priority for Norway in the negotiations.

Second, the developing countries’ demand for better market access. Special measures are being discussed for helping these countries, particularly the least developed countries (LDCs), which have not managed to reap the benefits of a more open international market. Norway’s decision earlier this year – which is in line with that of, among others, the EU – to grant duty-free and quota-free access for all products from the LDCs, except arms, is an important step in the right direction.

Third, as a follow-up to the Uruguay Round, which ended seven years ago, negotiations on trade in services have been going on since 1 January 2000. The service sector is very important to the Norwegian economy and is responsible for a considerable share of the growth in Norwegian exports. Thus the services negotiations will be an important part of a new broad round. The government’s aim is to improve market access for Norwegian exports of services in important areas, such as maritime transportation, off-shore, telecommunications and IT, and energy. We will seek actively to promote Norwegian companies’ offensive interests in these areas in the negotiations.

According to the WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services, the member states themselves shall decide what obligations they wish to undertake. The draft Ministerial Declaration confirms the right of Members to regulate in order to safeguard national policy objectives, for example in the fields of the environment, education, culture and health. We will seek to ensure that this right is not weakened.

Fourth, the agricultural negotiations. Like those on trade in services, these negotiations have been going on since last year, on the basis of the mandate set out in Article 20 of the Agreement on Agriculture. In connection with a new round of negotiations, agricultural exporting countries – including a number of developing countries – would like to have a new mandate in which there is a stronger commitment both to greater market access and to reductions in domestic support and export subsidies in the industrialized countries.

The Cairns Group, a coalition of 18 industrial and developing countries, has put forward extensive demands for further liberalization and wants trade in agricultural products to be regulated in the same way as trade in industrial products. A number of other developing countries and the US largely support the Cairns Group’s demands and include better market access and substantial reductions in export subsidies and domestic supports to agriculture among their main demands in the forthcoming negotiations.

Norway is proceeding on the assumption that there is still a need for a separate agricultural agreement in the WTO that gives the member states sufficient room for manoeuvre to pursue an active agricultural policy that allows for a geographically decentralized agricultural sector with a diversified structure in terms of farm size, in keeping with our needs. It must be possible to maintain an agricultural sector under difficult climatic conditions and to safeguard non-trade concerns such as rural development, food security, preservation of the agricultural landscape and biological diversity. In the WTO Japan, Korea, Switzerland and the EU are among those that share Norway’s views, and we have cooperated closely with these countries in the preparations for the Ministerial Conference. We intend to continue this cooperation in Qatar, where we will take part in arranging a ministerial meeting in the margins on non-trade concerns, to which a broad range of developing countries and industrialized countries have been invited.

In Norway’s view, the Qatar Declaration should be based as far as possible on the present mandate for the agricultural negotiations. The draft submitted by the chairman of the General Council goes further than Article 20 of the Agricultural Agreement, but also seeks to balance the various negotiating interests. However, it does not go as far as the proposal that was tabled at the end of the Ministerial Conference in Seattle. We should, however, in cooperation with other countries that have corresponding interests, make an active effort to achieve, if possible, a better balance in the text.

Mr. President,

Fifth, the government will advocate making the rules more stringent in order to restrict the use of anti-dumping measures. The Norwegian fisheries industry has repeatedly been unjustifiably subjected to competition-distorting mechanisms, such as countervailing and anti-dumping measures. Thus, better and clearer rules for the use of anti-dumping measures would clearly be in our interests.

A number of developing countries, led by Chile and Brazil, and countries such as Japan, Korea and Norway, are demanding negotiations on stricter discipline as regards the use of the anti-dumping rules. On the opposite side, the US is relatively alone in its scepticism about amendments, and suggests a two-step approach: first an analysis and then, if appropriate, negotiations on various points. Norway will seek to ensure that the text is as far-reaching as possible.

Sixth, the government will seek to ensure that environmental and sustainable development considerations are incorporated into all relevant WTO negotiations. This should be a basic principle in a new round of negotiations. This is largely taken into account in the draft Ministerial Declaration, but it could probably be reflected even more strongly. It is also important that the WTO’s work on issues relating to trade and environment and development is coordinated, and that this is reflected in the Ministerial Declaration.

Most of the developing countries are still sceptical about including the environment as a separate negotiating issue in the WTO, for fear that environmental considerations could be used as a reason for excluding their goods from the industrialized countries’ markets.

In the draft declaration it is proposed that the member states consider the need to clarify in the period until the next Ministerial Conference the relationship between the WTO and multilateral environmental agreements and the effect of environmental measures on market access.

It is also proposed that the member states consider the environmental aspects of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS agreement), the importance of labelling and how greater trade liberalization would benefit environment and development. Norway supports such an approach. We feel it is important that these issues are discussed in the WTO and that it would be an advantage to clarify whether it is necessary to initiate new negotiations in these areas. The same applies to proposals on a closer clarification of WTO rules in relation to the precautionary principle.

Seventh, Norway will advocate the development of multilateral rules for investment and competition. These areas should be included in a new round of negotiations.

Rules on investment must safeguard both the host country’s right to regulate and foreign companies’ need for a predictable, non-discriminatory framework. Multilateral rules of competition would also help to enhance cooperation between national competition authorities and to ensure that efforts to eliminate trade barriers are not undermined by monopolies and cartels. The negotiations in these areas must also take particular account of the developing countries’ needs and interests.

Many developing countries have been opposed to starting negotiations on multilateral investment and competition rules. This is partly due to the fear that international rules would prevent them from pursuing a national industrial and development policy.

The current draft Ministerial Declaration outlines an approach we should be able to endorse. It proposes among other things that the member states should clarify in the period until the next Ministerial Conference what should be included in negotiations on new rules for both investment and competition. The draft declaration refers among other things to the development policies and objectives of host countries and their right to regulate. It also notes that the developing countries must be provided with technical assistance to ensure that they have a real capacity to negotiate.

Eighth, in connection with the TRIPS agreement – which sets out rules for trade in products that are protected for example by patents, trademarks and copyright – a separate ministerial declaration on the relationship between patents and public health is envisaged. The aim is primarily to clarify some of the rights provided by the TRIPS agreement to individual countries – especially the developing countries – to gain access to reasonably priced patented medicines. Norway will support this aim.

Ninth, Norway has worked actively to put the relationship between trade and labour standards on the WTO agenda. However, most of the member states, including all the developing countries, are opposed to discussing labour standards in the WTO for fear that this will pave the way for restrictive measures against countries where the wage level is low. Because of this considerable opposition, Norway will seek to ensure that the Ministerial Declaration includes a specific reference to labour standards, while at the same time emphasizing that the International Labour Organization (ILO) ought to play a leading role in this field. Other international organizations, including the WTO, must be actively brought into the work of ILO.

And last but not least, the government will advocate that high priority should be given to the particular problems of the developing countries in the new round of negotiations.

The majority of the 142 WTO member states are developing countries. A large number of these countries have expressed their dissatisfaction over the fact that their particular problems and interests are not reflected strongly enough in the existing WTO rules. In our view it is important, both out of consideration for the developing countries themselves and for the WTO’s legitimacy, that the developing countries’ interests are better safeguarded in the forthcoming round of negotiations.

Trade is essential for economic development. Our aim must therefore be to enable the poorest countries to participate to a greater extent in international trade and benefit from its positive effects. We can facilitate this by, for example, providing better market access for important products and drawing up rules that better safeguard the developing countries’ needs. It is especially important to increase technical assistance to the developing countries.

The developing countries’ demands as regards the interpretation, implementation and amendment of existing agreements have been discussed since the Ministerial Conference in Seattle in 1999. In all probability some of these demands will be met at the Ministerial Conference in Qatar. The rest will have to be incorporated as an integral part of the negotiating mandate to be adopted at the conference.

Mr. President,

China and Chinese Taipei have concluded their accession negotiations and are expected to become members in the near future. And the accession negotiations with Russia have taken on a new dynamism. Thus, the WTO will, not only in word but also in deed, be a truly global trade organization.

The WTO is becoming an increasingly important tool in the efforts to combat poverty and promote social development and political stability. This requires, however, that the WTO rules are further developed. We must ensure that the WTO is in a position to meet new challenges.

We must bear in mind that the main goal in Qatar is not to achieve final results, but to agree on an agenda for further negotiations – a platform for proceeding. We need to agree on a broad, comprehensive round of negotiations, so that all interests can be heard and considered.

We have a far better basis for achieving agreement in Qatar than we had in Seattle. The current draft Ministerial Declaration has a more realistic level of ambition and seeks to safeguard the member states’ combined interests in the best possible way.

The WTO has made a great effort to regain the confidence of the member states and create a better climate of cooperation within the organization. These efforts have been stepped up partly because of what happened at the Seattle Conference. Changes have therefore been made to ensure internal transparency in the negotiating processes and to give all countries an opportunity to express national views.

Mr. President,

Today world trade is in need of a vitamin injection. We need more trade, not less. More countries must be given the opportunity to participate fully in the global economy. At the same time particular account must be taken of the least developed countries.

A great deal is at stake. If we fail to reach agreement in Qatar, we risk undermining the entire multilateral trading system. That would benefit no one. Least of all the developing countries. Therefore, all countries – Norway included – must be willing to demonstrate the necessary political will and flexibility during the negotiations in Qatar.