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Mike
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WTO Director-General Mike Moore, on 27 February welcomed the decision by
European Union Trade Ministers to give the world's forty-eight
least-developed countries access to EU markets for all products except
arms by the year 2009. He said this would substantively improve
trading conditions for the world's poorest nations.
Mr.
Moore congratulated Mr. Pascal Lamy, EU Trade Commissioner, for the
tangible contribution to global trade and for firmly placing EU trade
policy in the interests of development concerns. He also hailed the
decision as a concrete demonstration of the EU's goodwill in the
context of preparations for a new round of WTO trade negotiations, and
preparations for the Third UN Conference on LDCs to be hosted in
Brussels in May this year. Mr. Moore praised the leadership by
Sweden, currently holding the rotating presidency of the EU, and
expressed appreciation for the timely intervention of the UN
Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan.
Mr.
Moore noted the European Union decision follows significant measures
for improved market access taken or proposed by many other WTO Members
including Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Norway and the
United States. He expressed hope that other countries will also move
to improve market access within the framework of a new Trade Round.
Mr.
Moore has expressed hope that necessary complementary trade-related
capacity-building measures, such as in the Integrated Framework for
Least-Developed Countries, will be supported by development partners,
including the G-8 countries at their forthcoming Summit, to assist
poor countries to take advantage of improved market access
opportunities.
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