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The Rt. Hon. Baroness Symons of Vernham DeanTrade and its Role in Sustainable Development |
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| Ladies and gentlemen. It is an honour to be speaking here today at Chatham House. As Minister for International Trade and Investment, I would like to concentrate today on the role of trade in sustainable development.
Doha Development Agenda An important step towards sustainable development was achieved at Doha last November. The experience of such a gathering of nations, focused on uniting the global trading community - following the appalling events of 11 September - will not be forgotten quickly. At Doha the UK was represented by the Secretary of State for International Development, the Environment Minister as well as the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry and myself as Trade Minister – a demonstration of the overarching importance the Government attaches to trade and sustainable development. At the Doha meeting, all members of the WTO agreed to an agenda with a strong focus on trade liberalisation and development. The 'Doha Development Agenda' aims to increase the participation of developing countries in the multilateral trading system. That is why there is a great deal of interest from emerging developing economies in joining the WTO and that is why we are giving them every encouragement to do so - 28 countries are currently going through the process of WTO accession. The vast majority are developing countries – including nine of the world's poorest, or, 'least developed' nations. The figures speak for themselves. Studies have indicated that a 50% reduction in protectionist measures could boost developing economy incomes by around $150bn a year, equivalent to three times all current aid flows, and lift 320 people million out of poverty by 2015. All worthwhile goals. Let me turn to what we believe are the major opportunities for progress on sustainable development in the Doha Development agenda. Market Access Market access is a key component. According to the World Bank many of the poorest people, those earning $2 or less a day - which constitutes almost half of the global population - work in the agricultural labour intensive sectors where average applied tariffs are considerably higher than for industrial goods. In the very sectors where poverty is so rife, tariffs are a peculiarly potent barrier to trade and to lifting the poor out of misery. This makes it imperative that WTO members deliver on the promises made at Doha to developing countries – demonstrating a real commitment to opening markets in areas of particular importance to them. And that includes agriculture. We have a great deal to put right in our own backyard. Reform of the Common Agricultural Policy is essential to the success of the Round, and must be a major target. However, developing countries need to improve market access between themselves. Tariffs on trade between developing countries are currently far higher than those in developed countries. And trade between developing countries is a fast -growing part of their total trade – some 40% of developing country manufactured exports are to other developing countries. Agriculture Trade liberalisation in agriculture will generate important new trading opportunities for developing countries, which in turn will help promote their sustainable development. Significant liberalisation in agricultural trade is essential if the final agreement can truly be termed a development round. The EU is taking a strong lead in improving developing country access to developed country agricultural markets. For example, the Everything But Arms Initiative, provides duty and quota free access for all products but armaments for least developed Countries. African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) economies are major agricultural producers - increasing their access to developed agricultural markets will bring substantial development rewards. With this in mind the UK is pushing for the EU to be as generous as possible in its negotiations over economic partnership agreements with ACP countries under the Cotonou Agreement. I have seen a number of developing country representatives recently and there is much ignorance about what is available to them in terms of capacity-building – something I will come back to later on in my talk. Another difficult area in WTO negotiations has been in Services, which are aimed at opening markets worldwide to international competition. Efficient services are crucial to all economies. Basic infrastructure services are absolutely key foundations to promoting development. Without the ability to communicate effectively, without access to sound finances, and without efficient distribution systems, developing countries will find it increasingly difficult to compete in world markets. That is why I am keen to see progress in the services negotiations. I know that some would claim that developing countries are being forced into privatisation and liberalisation. I saw a group of NGOs on this last week and what I said to them is that I do not accept that GATS forces privatisation. Such decisions are for sovereign countries to make for themselves; the services agreement provides a framework for fair market access for foreign supplies should they so decide. New Issues An issue often raised by my opposite numbers in developing countries is their desperate need for inward investment. I can't think of a time when I have met developing country representatives when they didn't raise this concern. A multi-lateral framework for investment should provide greater predictability and certainty for investors; increased coherence on basic principles and greater transparency on investment rules between developing countries; it will also help lock in individual countries' own investment reform efforts. This is likely to produce greater investor confidence - needed to generate the higher investment flows many developing countries desperately want. A multilateral framework on competition will help to tackle international anti-competitive business practices, such as "hardcore" cartels like that in vitamins, prosecuted in the US. The cartel used price rigging, carved up markets and took it in turns to make bids. Preventing anti-competitive business practices will help ensure that the benefits of trade liberalisation are dispersed to the whole economy and support economic efficiency and growth. Elsewhere, procedural barriers to trade cost some $70bn per annum worldwide, and affect SMEs and many developing countries disproportionately hard. Trade facilitation is not about doing away with justifiable regulatory controls. It's about allowing their better enforcement. Inefficient procedures add cost but not value. At best, they act as a tax on the honest trader. At worst they provide scope for illicit trafficking, corruption and fraud, as well as marginalising further the country concerned from the multilateral trading environment, international investment flows and frustrating its own economic development. TRIPs Together with our European partners we were pleased that Doha directed the Trade-Related Intellectual Property (the TRIPS) Council to take account of the development dimension in pursuing its work programme. Effective intellectual property protection is a key factor in encouraging investment into research and development of products which benefit the developing world. We must ensure that we safeguard this investment in research and development of future products. But we must also recognise the genuine concerns of the developing world to their access to life-giving medicines. I would like to make two points: First, international patent rules do not enable global companies to patent the biological resources and traditional knowledge of the developing world. Second, we support the programme of work in the TRIPS Council looking at issues such as the relationship with the Convention on Biological Diversity and the protection of traditional knowledge and folklore. I hope this provides some reassurance to those who have expressed concern. We also recognise the gravity of public health problems afflicting many developing countries, especially diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria. We fully support the declaration that the TRIPs Agreement does not and should not prevent members from taking measures to protect public health. To tackle the issue of Access to Medicines, the Government has set up a High Level Working Group chaired by the Secretary of State for International Development, Clare Short. I am a member of this group, which also includes representatives of the pharmaceutical industry; international organisations; and a developing country representative. This is being taken very seriously across Whitehall. This group is looking at options for bringing about widespread sustainable and predictable differential pricing of medicines for the poor, as well as increasing R&D into medicines and vaccines for diseases prevalent in developing countries. Environment It is in the inclusion of environment into Doha Development Agenda where Sustainable Development can be seen most clearly seen. These are the first ever negotiations within the WTO on trade and environment – an objective the UK and EU have been pursuing since 1994. But this is not straightforward. Many developing countries regard our stance as trade protectionism dressed up in the respectable guise of environmental concern. They are deeply suspicious and in that they are supported by a number of very advanced economies - the USA, Canada, Australia and the rest of the Cairns Group. Let me stress today that the UK's and the EU's agenda on the trade and environment interface is not "eco-protectionist". This is a point on which we have to engage directly and openly with those who have doubts about our motives – and we will do so. The rules of the WTO and the Multilateral Environmental Agreements are two separate but equal bodies of international law. Where MEAs establish frameworks for trade in specific commodities and products, for example trade in endangered species, ozone-depleting substances, or genetically-modified organisms – the relationship of these systems to the WTO rulebook needs to be considered. The UK believes that the two systems are mutually supportive, but this needs to be spelled out. We need a clarification of this relationship which everyone can support. Another essential provision is to keep everyone in touch - both those drawing up the environmental rules and those drawing up the trade rules. It is a fundamental and simple point, but it does not happen systematically and it should. Better informed policy making will, we believe, further add to the mutual supportiveness between these two bodies of international law. One of the major breakthroughs – or potential breakthroughs – at Doha was the agreement to negotiate liberalisation of trade in environmental goods and services. This has the potential to promote sustainable development through the more efficient use of natural resources and the dissemination of cleaner technology. I also welcome the mandate for work to be undertaken in the WTO Committee on Trade and Environment (the CTE) – reporting to the 5th WTO Ministerial in 2003 on. This will cover a range of issues including: eco-labeling and the effect of environmental measures on market access and will include recommendations for future work. Despite this, I am aware that some doubt our commitment to the Doha environment agenda. Let me make it clear today that - having fought hard to achieve results at Doha – the EU is fully committed to taking forward these negotiations. But we must convince our negotiating partners that environmental issues can be tackled in ways that provide opportunities rather than barriers. I recognise this will be a lengthy and difficult discussion. World Summit on Sustainable Development Let me turn to how this plays into the World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg this August. The World Summit for Sustainable Development, or WSSD as it has become known, provides the opportunity to focus the efforts of governments, international institutions, business and civil society on delivering the sustainable development necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals and other international targets. Poverty Eradication Poverty eradication through sustainable development will be a top priority for the Summit. The UK will be seeking to promote a greater understanding of the links between poverty reduction and environmental issues such as:
Resource Efficiency Greater resource efficiency is another key area for the UK at WSSD and we shall concentrate on working for sustainable prosperity in all countries by using resources more efficiently to benefit both the environment and the economy. Sustainable Energy We will also be looking to enhance access to sustainable energy at WSSD: working towards providing energy services to the two billion people who do not have access to modern energy. Water and Sanitation Today, 1 billion people in the world lack drinking water, 2.4 billion people lack sanitation. In the real world away from international fora, conferences and negotiations, people die for want of clean water. We are committed to halving the proportion of people without access to appropriate sanitation by 2015. Capacity Building In all of these initiatives, there is an underlying issue: the capacity of developing countries to argue their case. The Doha Development Agenda provides a commitment to building developing countries' capacity to adjust to WTO rules and disciplines, implement obligations and gain from an open multilateral trading system. The Second White Paper on Making Globalisation Work for the Poor commits the UK Government to doubling support for trade-related capacity building - from £15m over the three-year period from 1998 to £30m over the three-year period from 2001. In November 2001, Clare Short announced a package of £20m, bringing our total commitments in this field since 1998 to £37.8m, well on the way to meeting the target set by the White Paper. We are, for example, providing funding for training programmes designed to build the capacity of developing countries to participate in WTO negotiations. The challenge now is to ensure that developing countries are able to take full advantage of this support with our assistance. Doha represented just the beginning of the process – if we are to make a success of the Doha Round developed countries around the world must now deliver on the promises we have made. For the sake of both the developed and developing world, the British Government believes that we should. |
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Other speeches by The Rt. Hon. Baroness Symons of Vernham Dean
(the following are available from the archive) |
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