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WTO General Council
Geneva, 26 January 2005
Mr. Chairman,
Mr. Director-General,
Distinguished Colleagues,
It is with a great deal of respect and admiration for this
Organization that, having been nominated by the Brazilian Government,
I come to this podium as a candidate for the post of Director General.
I appreciate this opportunity to share with you some of my views and
ideas regarding the WTO and, in particular, the role of the
Director-General.
Let me say at the outset that I believe in
the multilateral trading system and in our capacity to make it work
for all countries, regardless of their stage of development. I believe
in transparency, dialogue and full participation in decision-making. I
think that this can be achieved in this Organization.
The uniqueness of WTO is predicated on the
fact that it is essentially a negotiating forum endowed with a dispute
settlement mechanism. It aspires to establish a balance of benefits
among participants at the highest possible common denominator. It
embodies our collective pursuit for a strong, fair, equitable, rules
based multilateral system that can work for all. It is - and should
remain - a Member-driven, consensus-based organization. As all
intergovernmental organizations, the WTO is a political institution,
in which the processes are just as important as the results.
The DG has a key role to play. He is the
manager of the Secretariat and the trustee of the mandate on which
this institution was founded 10 years ago. He should no doubt be a
leader in the negotiating process. He should assist Members in
arriving at compromises and in translating their shared objectives
into concrete agreement. As a leader, the DG must encourage Members to
move by means of persuasion, by showing them possible new pathways to
follow. The DG must be perceived as an honest broker among the
decision-makers. He should be capable of ascertaining wherein lies the
collective interest of the Organization. His main asset is the trust
he is expected to earn and maintain at all times from the Member
States.
These are the basic premises under which I
would like to address a question which has been often put to me in the
course of the last weeks: what can a Brazilian candidacy bring to the
top post in the WTO?
In trying to answer that question, allow me
to talk about myself and about my country. I think that a candidate
cannot be dissociated both from the perspectives of his personal
experience and from his national circumstances. The WTO is not a
multinational corporation in search of a CEO. It is an international,
intergovernmental Organization about to elect a Director General
originating from, and nominated by, one of its Member States. I am a
Brazilian Foreign Service Officer. I served my country in many
capacities and in many different circumstances. Most recently, as
Deputy Foreign Minister, I was a member of the Brazilian team that
negotiated the Doha mandate. As Brazil’s Representative to the WTO
since 2002, I have been part of the often misrepresented and unfairly
criticized Geneva process. I stand by the positions taken by Brazil in
these negotiations. I am proud of the role we performed, together with
some key partners, in bringing about the G-20 to deal with the central
development-related issue of this round, which is agriculture.
Brazil is a founding member of the GATT and
has had a history of active and constructive participation in global
negotiations. As a medium-sized global trader with a diversity of
partners around the World, we have developed an acute sensitivity to
the different conditions and problems relating to trade in
commodities, in non-agricultural goods and in services. We are
committed to and rely on a strong and fair multilateral system. We
were instrumental in the launching of the Doha Round and in the
adoption of the TRIPS and Health Declaration that, to a certain
extent, made the Round possible. Since Doha, Brazil’s actions have
been geared towards building consensus through intensive interaction
with the different constituencies within the WTO. I am convinced that
we have contributed positively to preserve the integrity of the
mandate we all agreed to in Doha, while emphasizing and promoting the
shared interests of developing countries.
If elected, I shall, of course, be the
Director General of all members and represent the collective will of
the entire membership. I will observe strict neutrality insofar as
national positions are concerned. But I hope everyone will be able to
identify what I stand for: the democratic values to which my country
subscribes; its commitment to multilateralism; the contributions it
has made to strengthen the system embodied in the WTO. Democracy is a
key concept here. It is a value that lies at the core of President
Lula’s domestic and foreign policies, which have the central aim of
promoting the eradication of poverty through sustained economic and
social development. Let us not forget that more than two thirds of the
WTO membership struggle with conditions of chronic poverty.
Although the WTO has been able to maintain
its relevance after its first decade of existence, its continued
preeminence cannot be taken for granted. In order to remain the
central cohesive element of the world trading system, it must deal
with the risks of fragmentation by providing an overarching normative
structure, capable of effectively harmonizing the growing number of
trade agreements that are being concluded throughout the world. It
must also strengthen its coordination with the other major
institutions, with a view to enhancing much needed coherence in
today’s evolving macroeconomic scenario. There are many shortcomings
in the existing rules, much unfinished business which often impact
negatively on international trade. The WTO needs to deal with these
challenges, while improving its rules and its working procedures.
But let us be cautious in approaching
so-called WTO reform. We are confidently engaging in a crucial
calendar year for the Doha negotiations. We have been setting up
foundations for the substantive progress we all expect to achieve at
the Hong Kong Ministerial. Let us concentrate on fundamentals and
avoid distractions.
The future of the WTO and, thus, of the
multilateral trading system itself, is inextricably linked to the
outcome of this Round of global negotiations. As we work towards the
timely and successful conclusion of this Round, we must remain
committed to our mandate and articulate its many components in a
balanced way. We must not lose sight of our collective aspiration to
make this a development round.
The way to do that is very clear: we have to
mainstream the development dimension into the Organization to the
benefit of all developing countries; we have to ensure that the
negotiations will result in specific provisions for LDCs and small,
vulnerable economies designed to safeguard and enhance their national
structures for development; we must look for measures that will
promote the diversification of their productive and export base, as
well as broader duty-free and quota-free market access for their
products; on S&D, we must achieve precise operative procedures capable
of adding value to specific development oriented policies.
The next Director-General of the WTO must be
fully prepared to help Member-States cope with these challenges. In
his capacity as Chair of the Trade Negotiations Committee, the
Director General, working together with the Chair of the General
Council, must ensure that negotiations and technical work proceed at a
pace that allows for the full participation of all delegations, big,
medium or small. No one should be left behind. Let us learn from
experience and not arrive at Hong Kong, as we did in Cancun, with
sharply different levels of preparedness.
The Director General of the WTO cannot be
expected to move the negotiating process single handedly, as though he
had the monopoly of wisdom or the capacity to embody the so-called
systemic values. But he can and should help in finding solutions to
concrete problems with the assistance of the Secretariat. He should be
clearly aware of the fact that effectiveness cannot be secured through
diminished or merely formal participation by the Member States. He
cannot second-guess them, much less circumvent them. But he can listen
to them, assist them and incorporate their legitimate claims into his
working agenda.
Only full participation allows for
equitable, effective and durable consensual solutions to emerge. The
emergence of the G-20, together with other groups like the G-33, the
G-90 and the G-10 has demonstrated that the time of deals negotiated
between the major powers and then passed on to the rest of the
membership for minor adjustments is past. I am convinced that the rule
of consensus can work and lead to fully operational agreements,
capable of better withstanding the test of implementation. Consensus
has to result from inclusive and transparent procedures.
In order to retain its uniqueness and its
legitimacy as the central global negotiating forum, the WTO must
remain, let me emphasize, member-driven. Any attempt to dilute this
fundamental trait of our Organization goes against the rights and
interests of all members. It would not be appropriate — and it would
be particularly detrimental to developing countries — if we were to
apply to the WTO decision-making models such as the ones followed in
the World Bank and in the IMF, which are organizations of a different
nature.
In the same line of reasoning, I firmly
believe that the next Director General of the WTO should come from a
developing country. Developing countries form the majority of the
members of the WTO. We are negotiating the Doha Development Agenda.
Convergence between the trade and the development agendas is essential
for the WTO to retain a pivotal role in the international system of
the XXI century. On top of that, it is hard to accept that, having
control of the Bretton Woods institutions, developed countries should
also be at the helm of the WTO.
In July 2004, we were able to preserve the
integrity and the level of ambition of the Doha mandate which had been
threatened in the Cancun process by the persistence of old practices
of negotiation. We are past that stage now. We must ensure that we do
not backtrack.
Reenergizing a process of trade
liberalization on an equitable basis — and we must do precisely that
in this Round — will require strong political leadership. For my part,
I am ready and willing to provide just that: leadership through
persuasion. I cannot conceive the future of WTO in a dynamic of
confrontation. I see the future as a process of approximation, of
convergence and conciliation. I believe in pluralism. We must engage
in fair and equitable trade-offs. This is the essence of consensus
building. Let us use the upcoming election to consolidate our unity of
purpose and to strengthen this Organization by fulfilling the promises
of the Doha Development Agenda.
Thank you very much.
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