VER
TAMBIÉN:
Comunicados
de prensa
Noticias
Discursos:
Renato Ruggiero
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“Our
wheels have been spinning for some time but we're getting
traction again,” Mr. Moore said. He expressed
confidence that other outstanding issues will be resolved
soon.Earlier
in the day, the General Council agreed to meet in special
sessions to address “outstanding implementation
issues and concerns, particularly those raised during the
preparations for the Third Session of the Ministerial
Conference”. These special sessions, which should be
held no later than June 2000 and the process completed
not later than the next Ministerial Conference, will
“assess the existing difficulties, identify ways
needed to resolve them, and take decisions for
appropriate action.”
The
Chairman, Ambassador Amb. Kåre Bryn (Norway), suggested
that the first special session discuss a number of
implementation-related issues and concerns that have been
raised by delegations as needing urgent action and draw
up a programme and calendar for its work in the coming
months. He also emphasized that the decision would in no
way prejudice the position of members on any possible
further multilateral trade negotiations.
On
measures in favour of the least-developed countries, Mr.
Moore reported to the General Council that the results of
his consultations are “encouraging…and a
significant first step in a continuing process of
improvement”. He said that the four largest trading
entities--Canada, the European Union, Japan and the
United States--have proposed “to implement both
tariff-free and quota-free treatment, consistent with
domestic requirements and international agreements, under
their preferential schemes, for essentially all products
originating in least-developed countries”.
In
addition, he said that the following members have
indicated that they have taken or are intending to take
measures to improve LDC access to their markets: Chile,
Czech Republic, Hungary, Iceland, Korea, Norway, New
Zealand, Slovenia and Switzerland. The “Quad”
members plus these countries account for about 70% of
total world imports.
Mr.
Moore said that “these measures are beginning to add
up to tangible and meaningful market access improvements
in favour of the LDCs…there is of course more that
can and should be done in improving LDCs' market access,
but this is a good starting-point”.
Go
to the Director-General's report
Go
to the General Council's Decision
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