Madam President,

International trade has increased more than fifteen-fold over the last 50 years. There is little reason to doubt that trade has been one of the main reasons for the increase in prosperity we have experienced since the Second World War.

Norway has one of the most open economies in the world. We have great competitive advantages, such as considerable natural resources, a well-developed infrastructure and a highly educated population. At the same time we are vulnerable to circumstances beyond our control. Thus it has been a priority in Norwegian foreign policy to work for a better organized world. I have previously informed the Storting that a study is being conducted of global markets and governance. It has been an important objective for Norway to strengthen the international trading system to ensure equitable and predictable conditions of competition. The most important instruments in this connection have been the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and later the World Trade Organization (WTO), after its establishment six years ago.

Today the WTO numbers 141 member countries. Over 110 of them are developing countries. About 30 countries are applying to be members, including China, Russia, and several important developing countries that we cooperate closely with. When these join the organization, over 98 per cent of world trade will take place between WTO countries, and all our main partner countries will be members.

Thus the WTO has become a trade policy forum for the whole world community. It has also become one of the most important bodies for the further development of international rules for dealing with the challenges of globalization.

This means that we should all be interested in what goes on in the WTO. This is why I am very pleased to have this opportunity today to brief the Storting on our efforts in the WTO and on the preparations for the WTO Ministerial Conference in Qatar in November.

Madam President,

The overriding goals of the WTO are a higher standard of living, full employment, higher real wages and optimal use of the world’s resources in accordance with the objective of sustainable development. These are goals that we are familiar with from our own political landscape and that we support. The challenge facing us is how to further develop and strengthen the international trading system so as to achieve these goals.

I shall briefly outline six overriding political goals for our work in the WTO.

First, we are supporting the efforts to make the current rules more equitable and predictable. We must avoid a situation where Norway and other small countries are subject to arbitrary actions and unilateral measures, such as protectionism and anti-dumping measures.

Second, we want a trading system that continues to ensure that better and more varied goods and services are available to consumers at favourable prices.

Third, we are seeking to ensure better market access for Norwegian exports. This applies to goods such as fish and industrial and high-technology products, and to services in important areas such as maritime transport, offshore services, energy, engineering, environmental services, telecommunications and information technology.

Fourth, we consider it important to maintain our national room for manoeuvre so that we can develop our public sector as we see fit and pursue an active agricultural policy.

Fifth, we are concerned that the WTO cooperation should take account of environmental considerations. We will advocate that the WTO’s goal of sustainable development is reflected in the mandate for the new negotiations.

And last but not least, we consider that more must be done to safeguard the legitimate interests of the developing countries, with regard to market access, rules and transfers of expertise. The goal must be to make sure that the developing countries are better able to participate in and benefit from the international trading system and thereby lay the foundation for economic growth and development. This is essential if we are to combat poverty and underdevelopment.

Madam President,

I would also like to emphasize that, in its international efforts, Norway attaches great importance to ensuring that all countries respect core labour standards.

In the Government’s view, our goals can best be safeguarded through a new, broad round of negotiations in the WTO. Only in this way can we integrate the developing countries more closely into the international trading system, establish better multilateral rules for trade and achieve better market access for industrial products, including fish and fish products.

It is still not clear whether the WTO countries are prepared to show the necessary flexibility and political will to reach agreement on a new, broad round of negotiations at the ministerial conference this autumn. In my opinion, however, there is a growing understanding among WTO member countries that a broad round is necessary. At the OECD ministerial meeting in May there were signs of willingness to engage in a broad negotiating round, including from the new US administration.

The autumn will soon be upon us, and the most realistic goal for Qatar is to reach agreement on the main framework for further negotiations. Informal consultations are well under way in Geneva and between the capitals, and Norway is taking an active part in these processes. In this connection, it is important to bear in mind that WTO decisions are based on consensus. It is not possible to force through solutions against the will of member countries.

Many developing countries are doubtful about beginning negotiations on new issues such as investment, competition and the environment. If we are to make progress, we must try to meet some of the developing countries’ demands concerning implementation of existing WTO rules. Unless the developing countries’ interests are also safeguarded, it will not be possible to reach broad agreement.

Madam President,

At the beginning of last year negotiations were begun on agriculture and services within the framework of the built-in agenda, as was decided at the end of the Uruguay Round in 1994.

The services sector is the most rapidly growing sector in international trade, and it has a large and growing significance for Norwegian business and industry. Norway’s trade in services constitutes an important share of Norwegian exports. Last year exports of services amounted to about NOK 134 billion, and of these, maritime transport alone accounted for over NOK 71 billion.

The WTO General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) lays down that the member countries have a right to regulate in order to meet national policy objectives, for example in the fields of health and the environment. The member countries may themselves decide what commitments they will undertake during the negotiations, and these commitments may be listed separately in the schedules of each individual country.

In the negotiations on services Norway has put forward proposals in a number of areas for improving Norwegian companies’ opportunities in the world market. The proposals cover six service sectors where we are interested in better market access: maritime transport, energy services, telecommunications, financial services, air transport and important business services.

So far only Norway and 36 other countries have committed themselves as regards maritime transport. Among those who have not are the USA and the EU. One of our main goals is therefore to have maritime transport fully included in the GATS and to ensure that more countries undertake commitments in this area.

Another important sector is energy services. Norway has one of the world’s most open markets in this sector. We have considerable expertise in this area, and we would benefit if other countries opened up their markets. We have proposed broad and open market access for all energy-related services. I should mention in this connection that these negotiations do not cover ownership of natural resources or our concession legislation.

We have noted a favourable trend in the export of business services. In this area the Government has put forward negotiation proposals that could help Norwegian companies in their export efforts.

The Norwegian market for information technology and telecommunications is an open one. These services are important for the economy in every country, not least developing countries. This is therefore a key area for negotiations, and one in which every country should be interested in more open markets.

We also have open markets in other service sectors in Norway. We would like to see other countries open up their markets in the same way.

The question has been raised whether the GATS could restrict our national right to organize our public sector as we see fit. The answer is no. There is nothing in the WTO rules that prevents member countries from deciding themselves how they should organize their public services, such as education and health. This right is clearly set out in the agreement. We also have the right to continue to pursue a policy that will enable us to achieve our national cultural goals.

Madam President,

In January we put forward the Norwegian proposal in the agricultural negotiations. In the proposal we advocate that account should be taken of the many functions fulfilled by agriculture in addition to producing food.

In the agricultural negotiations we are cooperating especially closely with the EU and Japan, but also with other countries that have much the same views as regards safeguarding the non-trade concerns of agriculture, such as the viability of rural areas, food security and the cultural heritage. Our view is that future rules must give each member country sufficient room for manoeuvre so that it can develop a policy that will ensure domestic production and that will also safeguard non-trade concerns.

The Norwegian proposal also points out that countries with comparative disadvantages, for example due to climatic conditions, must continue to be able to pursue a policy that requires the use of production-related measures. Provided non-trade concerns are adequately safeguarded, our proposal signals a flexibility as regards future reductions in export subsidies. This is an important signal in relation to giving developing countries more equitable market access for their agricultural products.

The Norwegian proposal recognizes that better market access is a key element in agricultural reform. However, we have emphasized that new commitments relating to market access must be formulated in such a way as to allow member countries to make only limited tariff reductions on so-called key agricultural products.

As regards domestic support, such as production-related support, Norway intends in the main to continue the current arrangements so that certain types of support are not subject to reduction commitments.

The proposal also has a focus on the developing countries. Norway recognizes that improved market access for agricultural products is of great significance for many developing countries, and is an important means of achieving economic growth and poverty reduction.

Madam President,

In addition to agriculture and services, increased market access for industrial products, including fish and fish products, will be particularly important for Norway in a new round of negotiations.

Through the GATT and EFTA/EEA, Norway has eliminated most of the tariffs on trade in goods and, with the exception of processed fish products, most of our products enjoy duty-free access in the rest of Europe today. Fish and fish products are also subject to trade restrictions in very many countries outside Europe, and this applies to both tariffs and non-tariff barriers to trade.

Given the very great importance of the fisheries industry in the Norwegian economy and its considerable development potential – which is extremely important in terms of safeguarding jobs and settlement along the Norwegian coast – the best possible market access for fish and fish products will be of the greatest importance. At the same time we wish to reduce various subsidies and support to the fishery sector, which distort trade and lead to overfishing. We are also advocating more stringent rules as regards the use of anti-dumping measures.

Madam President,

Improved market access is also very important for the developing countries. Many developing countries are dissatisfied with the results of the Uruguay Round – especially as regards market access for textiles and agricultural products – and what they regard as a lack of balance in the existing rules. It is important that these issues are clarified in the preparatory process leading up to the Ministerial Conference in Qatar. Norway supports the developing countries on a number of these issues.

The least developed countries in particular have had very little benefit from a more open international market, and special measures are being considered to help these countries. In this connection the decision by Norway and the EU to grant duty- and quota-free access to all products, except arms, from the least developed countries is an important step forwards.

Madam President,

I would also like to say a few words about some of the other important aspects of the WTO negotiations, such as the relationship between trade and the environment, investment, labour standards and intellectual property rights.

One result of the Uruguay Round was the agreement on the protection of trade-related aspects of intellectual property rights (TRIPS), such as trademarks, patents and copyright.

The TRIPS agreement is essentially based on existing international conventions. The patent provisions seek among other things to strike a reasonable balance between the aim of encouraging research and the development of new products and the aim of providing access for existing products.

At this stage the developing countries have pointed out some areas where they feel the rules should be changed, such as the relationship between the TRIPS agreement and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity. According to the latter, access to genetic resources should generally be subject to prior informed consent by the contracting party providing such resources. One way of safeguarding this principle would be to amend the TRIPS agreement so that an application for a patent must state the country from which the genetic resources originate. Norway will give this thorough consideration.

Drugs is another field in which the developing countries’ interests are affected by the patent provisions of the TRIPS agreement. The price and availability of drugs are crucial in the efforts to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic. We must therefore make sure that the patent rules do not prevent the poorest countries from gaining access to drugs on reasonable terms.

During Easter week Norway hosted a workshop for experts arranged by the WTO in cooperation with the World Health Organization on the differential pricing and financing of essential drugs. The preliminary conclusions of this workshop indicate that the developing countries will be able to gain access to essential drugs at reasonable prices on the basis of the current TRIPS agreement. At the TRIPS Council meeting later this month, one day will devoted exclusively to these issues.

Madam President,

Another issue that is becoming increasingly important is the relationship between trade and the environment.

One of the overriding goals of the WTO is, as I have mentioned, sustainable development. Here an open trade regime is a necessary, although not sufficient, tool. The Government will seek to integrate environmental concerns more closely into the multilateral trading system. Environmental impact studies have been initiated in Norway and other countries in order to determine how a further opening up of world trade would affect the environment. We intend to make use of the findings from these studies in our work.

The developing countries have expressed scepticism in the WTO about integrating environmental considerations into the multilateral trading system, in particular because they fear that environmental rules could keep goods out of the world market. However, although the discussion in the WTO has revealed considerable disagreement both between industrial and developing countries and between the industrial countries themselves, it has also given them a greater appreciation of the various viewpoints. Today there is also closer cooperation between the WTO and the UN Environmental Programme. We will seek to further strengthen this cooperation.

The USA and many developing countries have been sceptical for various reasons about negotiating on investment within the framework of the WTO. However, many countries – including a growing number of developing countries – would now like multilateral rules in this area to be established in a new round.

Norway’s view is that both the host country’s right to regulate, for example in the field of the environment and labour, and investors’ need for predictable conditions must be safeguarded. Clearly, WTO rules that provide predictable, non-discriminatory conditions will make it easier for developing countries to attract foreign investment, which in turn will promote these countries’ economic growth and development. Multilateral rules for investment in the WTO must safeguard the developing countries’ interests, and will thus be essentially different from the agreement that the OECD countries once attempted to negotiate.

Madam President,

Norway has long given high priority to efforts to promote human rights, including core labour standards. In recent years we have sought to encourage a dialogue in the WTO on this issue. Our aim has been to promote the view that trade must be based to a greater degree on respect for such basic rights. However, a number of countries, including all the developing countries, are opposed to developing rules on core labour standards within the WTO.

The reason for this is that the developing countries are afraid that if the WTO adopts rules on labour standards, this will make it possible to implement trade policy measures against developing countries that have low wage levels. In order to make progress on this issue, the EU – which has the same basic attitude as Norway – has proposed that trade and social standards should be seen in a broader perspective. In addition to the WTO and the International Labour Organization (ILO), the intention is to involve other organizations, such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund and the UN Development Programme, in an ongoing dialogue on labour standards. Norway supports this proposal.

In addition the ILO’s director general recently took the initiative to establish a working party on the social consequences of globalization, where issues connected with labour standards will be discussed. This is a very positive step.

Labour standards are also a central issue in our bilateral and multilateral development cooperation.

Madam President,

The further development of the trading rules in the WTO not only involves working for freer trade. The Government will also seek to promote a more equitable trading system that takes particular account of the developing countries’ situation and of qualitative aspects of trade that are linked with the environment, development and social rights. These are common challenges, which can only be resolved by common solutions. Norway intends to contribute to these efforts.

Norway is a technologically advanced country which is heavily dependent on external trade, and as such has a great deal to gain from globalization and a more open world market. At the same time, we must be aware that while these factors provide opportunities for growth and prosperity, they do not in themselves guarantee them. Increased globalization can also lead to greater disparities and can mean that many countries are unable to keep up. The market forces therefore need to be subject to political control. We need to strengthen the current global systems, such as the WTO rules, and to develop them further. The Government has therefore taken the initiative for a comprehensive study on ways to improve control of international market forces.

Since the Ministerial Conference in Seattle, where it proved impossible to agree on a new negotiating round, we have noted a growing interest in bilateral and regional trade agreements. Such a tendency could undermine the world-wide trading system. This could have particularly negative consequences for small countries like Norway, and not least for the developing countries. This is yet another reason why it is so important that the WTO Ministerial Conference in Qatar is a success.

In closing I would like to stress that both in relation to the negotiations already under way on services and agriculture, and in relation to the efforts to launch a new, broad round of negotiations, the Government will emphasize the greatest possible openness and dialogue. We have therefore established a broad-based consultation arrangement with representatives from a large number of Norwegian organizations and industries.