Informal General Council Meeting at Senior Official Level For Preparations for the Fourth Session of the Ministerial Conference

June 25, 2001

Mr. Chairman,

We, for one, appreciate your initiative in convening this meeting at this critical juncture for the launch of a new round. It is high time to take stock of what we have achieved so far, through discussions with senior colleagues from the capital, and clarify what we should do from now until the end of July in order to prepare for the Fourth Ministerial Conference.

I am pleased to note that there is a growing momentum towards the launch of a new round at Doha. Some favorable progress has been made in such areas as implementation, built-in-agenda negotiations, and Chairman Harbinson's preparation process.

As for the implementation related issues, it is essential to promote progress in this area in order to keep momentum towards the launch of a new round. In this regard, we appreciate the efforts made by the group of seven countries in articulating their views on what needs be done; we find the paper still require further clarification, but believe that it is an important contribution for the ongoing effort. Japan is ready to actively participate in the discussions so that the General Council will be able to come up soon with some meaningful package. It is encouraging as well that substantial progress has been made in strengthening the trade related capacity building such as improved Intergrated Framework for the LDCs.

It is also encouraging to see a steady progress made in the built-in-agenda negotiations. Although we are of the view that the meaningful progress in the agriculture and services negotiations can be found through a broad-based round, we believe that the steady progress in those areas is another sign of the WTO being fully functional.

The ongoing preparatory process for the Doha Ministerial based on Chairman Harbinson's checklist is of great value, as we have been able to clarify positions of each Member on important and contentious issues. Informal meetings organized by proponents of each potential subject of the new round have identified the elements for negotiations or clarified the parameters. Such efforts have helped many WTO Members to better understand the issues in question.

Mr. Chairman,

Now, let me move onto the subject matter of the next round; how Japan views it, and how we all should achieve the launch.

The Ministerial Declaration to be issued at Doha should be clear and concise. While avoiding pre-negotiations, we must agree on what to negotiate, and from which perspective we negotiate. The negotiations, as a single undertaking, shall be conducted in an effective and transparent manner and supervised by a trade negotiations committee. The negotiations shall be concluded within a reasonable time frame.

In order to launch a new round and to conclude the negotiations successfully within a fixed time period, the negotiating agenda should be balanced and sufficiently broad to include issues of interests for many WTO Members. In this regard, it would be fair to state that there is already a general sense that the agenda should cover market access as well as rule-related issues.

More specifically, on rule-related issues, almost all Members support the negotiations on anti-dumping, or at least understand the necessity thereof, with a view to improving, clarifying and strengthening its rules. On investment, many Members, including developing Members have expressed their interests in exploring possibilities for negotiating WTO rules, with shared understanding of the need to consider development dimensions, while following a pragmatic GATS approach.

Since Marrakesh Agreement refers to the relationship between trade and environment, it is appropriate for the WTO to address today's environmental challenges based on the existing legal and institutional framework of the WTO. Given the wide and increasing public interests on the environment, global environmental issues and sustainable resources utilization should be considered throughout the negotiations.

Rule-based trade will not prosper without a sound dispute settlement mechanism. In this regard, we are pleased to see many Members support our proposal, which stresses the importance to take decision at Doha on the DSU review.

On e-commerce, we need to further discuss its liberalization and necessary disciplines including applicability of WTO rules to this new way of doing business. Those issues should be appropriately addressed at the next Ministerial.

The WTO should also pay due consideration to the issue of trade and competition as it being closely tied with sound growth of trade. There seems to be a general sense that trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement will be covered by the next round.

Concerning the built-in-agenda negotiations, we believe it is necessary that the negotiations of agriculture and services be recognized as a part of the new round, with the same deadline for negotiations as other agenda of the round. Non-agricultural market access will also be a part of the new round.

Having described Japan's overall view on the new round, Mr. Chairman, I would like to reiterate my strong belief on what needs to be done in months ahead; in order to reach a consensus on a negotiating agenda, all of us need to show more flexibility and try to accommodate concerns and interests of other partners. With this sense of collective responsibility in mind, we have to set our course towards the stock-taking scheduled at the end of July. I cannot possibly overemphasize the importance of Harbinson process. There remains, however, much room for creativity as to find ways in leading this process into end July's "reality check." Proponents' efforts to fill the gap among Members on the negotiating agenda should continue. Outcome of such parallel outreach activities should be effectively incorporated into Harbinson process.

The end of July is not a deadline for building a consensus for the new round. It is rather an opportunity for each Member to reaffirm its commitment for launching the round at Doha and to assess to what extent each negotiating agenda item will have gained support. Based on such assessment, we all need to work during the summer break in order to show more flexibility, if necessary.

As we all know that the clock is ticking, we should concentrate our efforts in devising the most effective and pragmatic approach in launching a global round at Doha.

Thank you for your kind attention.