/ 7
PRIME MINISTER
COPY OF PRIME MINISTER'S SPEECH NOTES
CHOGM EXECUTIVE SESSION
FRIDAY 22 OCTOBEF, 1993
paech nok'o œ Ce c. utV
Sc'yior 22 o c\-j
CHOGM 1993
AGENDA ITE1 3 . IULTILATERAL TRADE NEGOTIATIONS
TRADE NEGOTIATIONS IN THE CONCLUDING PHASE
Heads of Delegation, delegates
Gratified to hear so many speakers expressing strong support for the
urgent completion of the Uruguay Round of Trade Negotiations
trade has always been the basis for economic growth and
development
Earlier this wxeek, the Cairns Group, led by Australia, and including
Malaysia, Canada and New Zealand aVgeed on a strongly-worded
communique which set out parameters for concluding the Round by
December and Ministers led by Senator Cook presented this to key
participants in Europe
Completion of the Uniguay Round negotiations is the single most
important task on the economic agenda for national governments
and the international trading community
No other action could do more to revive the hesitant world
economy.
After seven years, the negotiations face a real deadline by 15 December
only 55 days away
The Uruguay Round is not just a bilateral issue between the world's two
largest trading blocs
The Round outcome will encourage the integration of developing
countries into the international trading and financial systems of the
global economy
Recent World Bank/ OECD study, mentioned by John Major and others
yesterday, demonstrates that all countries have a stake in the Round
potential gains for the world economy of USS213 billion by
2002 ( up to USS190 billion of this from liberalisation of
agricultural trade)
developing countries would obtain a direct share of these gains
over USS70 billion from the agriculture package and a
further USS8 billion from the liberalisation of
manufactures
And these estimates do not take into account the Round outcome on
services, the fastest growing area of wrld trade
These potential benefits for developing countries are at least
equivalent to the amount industrial countries annually transfer as
official aid ( around USS55 billion in 1991)
The Uruguay Round has been the mosl ambitious round of multilateral
trade negotiations it has engaged all 111 contracting parties of the GATT
developing countries have been more involved in the
negotiations than in any previous GATT Round in the hope of
obtaining improved access to markets
The outcome will cover sectors of interest to developing countries
such as agriculture, textiles and tropical products
multilateral liberalisation in the Uruguay Round will also remove
the bias against processed exports fiom developing countries
outcomes on intellectual proper. and investment measures will
ensure new technologies and investments are available to share
The result of the Uruguay Round should be a comprehensive,
balanced and coherent set of trade rules to meet the needs of a more
interdependent Nworld
it should deliver significant cuts in the distortions to trade in
agriculture; reductions in tariff and non-tariff barriers to industrial
products, including textiles; and new agreements on services and
intellectual property, embodied in an overhauled legal and
institutional framework
Failure to conclude the Round risks unleashing protectionism and
unilateralism political will is needed to surmount rising populist protectionist
pressures and resist narrow interest groups in some of the world's
major economies
The Round was commenced covering the full range of interests of all
participants and it must be completed this way
reject suggestions of partial or interim solutions for the benefit of
some
Commonwealth countries have, in the past, expressed their strong support
for the Uruguay Round
it is time for us to say clearly tc the world that the Uruguay Round
must be concluded this year and it must be a balanced outcome.
We have an opportunity to put the Commonwealth's name to a separate
statement calling on all participants in the negotiations to show good
faith and stop using their self-interested concerns as an excuse for delay.
A substantive statement on this subject at this critical time, which had the
full support of this diverse group, could have a positive impact on the
negotiations Know extensive consultations have occurred amongst delegations here
over the past few days on the text of a possible statement
which should be in the strongest possible terms and be conveyed in
the clearest possible way to le2ders of the major countries.
National political expediency for some cannot be allowed to stand in
the way of a global result of benefit to all