Secretary Domingo,
Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and gentlemen,

Thank you for this opportunity to address you today — especially in this beautiful setting.

I'm always pleased to be here at APEC — not least as you are such strong supporters of the WTO and the multilateral trading system.

I have been very grateful for this continued support from your delegations in Geneva particularly over recent months.

When I last spoke to you all — in Beijing in November last year — I reported that we were fighting to save the Bali Package due to the major impasse which we had hit in July.

Well, as you know, we succeeded in breaking that deadlock.

In doing so, members clarified the decision on public stockholding to say that the peace clause agreed in Bali will remain in force until a permanent solution is found.

They also adopted the protocol of amendment which formally inserts the Trade Facilitation Agreement into the WTO rulebook. This also meant that the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility became operational. This is the Facility which we established last year. The Facility will ensure that developing and least-developed countries get the help they need to implement the agreement.

And finally — but crucially — members agreed to immediately resume our post-Bali work.

This means engaging constructively on the implementation of all the Bali Ministerial Decisions. And it means agreeing a work programme on the conclusion of the remaining DDA issues by July this year.

This was a big moment in the history of the multilateral trading system. Our task this year is to build on this by delivering further successful results at our 10th Ministerial Conference which, as you know, will be held in Nairobi in December.  

This is a big challenge — and discussions in Geneva are already showing the complexities that will be involved in finding convergence — but I am convinced we can get there if you and all other WTO members of course want to do it. If not, there is no miracle that will get members there.

And let's not forget that we have real momentum in taking all of this work forward.

Our implementation work is progressing well.

Members have begun to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement — led by APEC members.

We need two-thirds of the membership to ratify the Agreement for it to enter into force. So I urge those members who haven't yet completed this process to please do so as soon as you can.

In this connection, I wish to congratulate Secretary Domingo and the Philippines, in its role as APEC Chair, on initiating the Boracay Action Plan to Globalize, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), which was endorsed at the meeting. Such an initiative, combined with the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, will no doubt support MSMEs for their global integration. 

We have also been moving forward on implementing other Bali decisions.

Discussions on public stockholding are ongoing, and we are also seeking to put a particular focus on the LDC issues.  Work in these areas will need to intensify in the coming months as they will be important for a successful Nairobi. 

For such success at MC10, we’ll need to work even harder to advance the Doha Development Agenda work programme.

 

DDA

Using the momentum that we regained at the end of 2014, we intensified our negotiating work into the new year.

Since then, I have been consulting with and listening to members. We have been holding meetings in a range of different configurations depending on the issue under discussion as well as regular meetings of the full membership. And the Chairs of the various issue-specific negotiating groups have been running their individual cycles of consultations.

So far I have drawn three main conclusions from the progress made to date.

First, a lot of work is being done, particularly in the three core areas of agriculture, non-agricultural market access and services.

I think it is clear that achieving outcomes in these areas will be essential to the success of these negotiations. They are essentially gateway issues for the whole endeavour — and so they require a special focus. 

However, we need to make sure we are advancing work in all areas, trying to avoid any kind of de facto sequencing. If we let some areas fall behind then we will simply run out of time — as the July deadline is quickly approaching.

My second conclusion is that it remains very clear that development and LDC issues remain central to this work.

My third conclusion is that while it is clear we still have a long way to go, and that some areas are proving very problematic, there is no doubt in my mind that we are making progress.

Here, progress translates into more intense and frank interaction among the players.

The discussions have not been easy — we know that there are big issues at stake — but engagement is there.

We have moved from a finger-pointing mode to a solution-finding mode. But this solution-finding mode is proving to be tough. We should not expect it to lead to immediate convergence, or to produce instant results.

Members are still at odds on some major issues, and some big differences remain.  And I have had to keep reminding Ambassadors — like I want to remind you today — that credible, substantive outcomes will be needed in all of the key areas, particularly the three pillars of agriculture, NAMA and services.  

Some are still repeating old positions, or taking more time to move to a solution-finding approach.

Again, this is to be expected.

We do have engagement. But what this engagement is telling me is that to achieve our objectives this year, every single member must be prepared to move from their current negotiating positions. In doing this — the balance between doability and ensuring a substance based outcome will be the key.  What is doable cannot mean it’s meaningless. It has to be meaningful.

The draft negotiating texts for agriculture and NAMA from 2008 continue to be very helpful guides in this regard and need to remain a key reference point. My consultations, however, have shown that for a number of members — both developed and developing — some of the key elements in one or both of those texts are simply not doable anymore, if they ever were. 

Whether we like that or not, it is a political reality that we need to be prepared to face up to. So finding convergence in these areas is the key challenge that lies ahead.

One last important point: if we can figure out the substance because the gaps exist there, we can move forward. Otherwise, we cannot.

So it is good that some have been putting forward fresh thinking, making proposals and putting forward papers. Moreover, members are discussing these proposals.

This is a big change from what we've experienced before.

In the past, discussions had been limited to entrenched positions, with nothing new on the table. Now we have ideas and proposals to discuss. This is real progress.

After all, the instructions from ministers remain very clear. We are working to conclude a “clearly defined” work programme on the remaining DDA issues by July this year.

We are getting close to July now. And therefore we have to be realistic about just how specific and modalities-like the work programme can be. That is a question which only the members can answer. And the earlier we find conceptual solutions for the big, tough issues before us, the better the end product will be.

And let us be clear that the stakes are indeed high. Bali gave us a new life, but it is just a step along a road — not an end in itself. 

We agreed that the decisions taken in Bali, including on trade facilitation, were part of a plan to deliver an outcome on Doha after many years of frustration. And success in Nairobi can and must be the next major step along that road. 

Those that are true believers in the importance of a strong multilateral trading system as a tool for economic growth and development — which I know all APEC members are — will need to play their part.  

So whatever the nature of the work programme we get by July, clearly it will have to fulfill certain criteria:

1. First, it will have to be substantive and meaningful.
2. Second, it must give us guidance on how to conclude the negotiations.
3. And third, it must be a springboard towards a successful 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in December.

Please keep this at the forefront of your minds in our discussion this morning.

 

ITA & EGA

And, of course, while we push this work forward, there is important other work going on at the WTO in some specific negotiating areas — including areas where APEC has a key interest.

This includes efforts to eliminate tariffs on environmental goods which were launched last July, and in which APEC was in many ways the catalyst.

And, although the environmental goods negotiation is being taken forward by a group of members, the benefits would apply to the whole WTO membership.

This crucial point also applies to efforts to expand the Information Technology Agreement.

The expansion of the ITA is another issue on which APEC's role has been crucial. Reaching a final agreement as quickly as possible is very important and I have been working to facilitate these negotiations in every way I can.

We are very, very close to a deal but, right now, some members — APEC members — hold the key to a successful conclusion of that ITA deal.

The WTO’s difficulty to conclude multilateral deals has been often cited in connection to the size and diversity of the membership. Regardless of whether or not such connection is valid, the impasse on ITA 2 cannot be attributed to that. Less than a handful of APEC members hold the key here. They can bring these negotiations to a successful conclusion.

The world — and the private sector — will not understand if we fail.

The WTO will not be the only loser. International trade and the global economy will suffer as well.

So please think long and hard.

I strongly urge members to take the final steps needed to reach agreement.

 

Conclusion

The July deadline for the DDA work programme is a very important moment for the WTO.

We have just over two months before we hit that deadline. We have enough time to advance this work and deliver a substantive outcome. But we must use that time to the fullest.

We are approaching the stage where political calls will need to be made.

So I trust that I can rely on your support in the crucial weeks that lie ahead.

Thank you for listening.