Seattle trade round needs
ambitious objectives
This letter
was published in the Financial Times, 31 August 1999
From the International Chamber
of Commerce and other business organisations.
Sir, Politicians and trade
diplomats should be made aware that a vast constituency of business interests
is convinced that a new broad-based trade round is just what the doctor ordered
for the world economy.
Governments should set ambitious
objectives for the round, however much the atmosphere may have been soured by
recent transatlantic trade disputes and the prolonged leadership squabble in
the World Trade Organization.
To avoid a repetition of
the eight-year marathon of the Uruguay Round, governments should set a strict
three-year deadline for completion when they make their decisions on the new
round at the WTO ministerial conference in Seattle at the end of November.
The launch would give added
momentum to world economic recovery. A successful "Millennium Round" would send
a positive signal to traders and investors the world over.
Further progress must be
made in liberalising trade in agricultural products, which is vital to developing
countries. As the knowledge economy develops apace, there will be an ever more
pressing need for more open markets for trade in services. We also urge governments
to seize the opportunity of the new round to push forward the process of creating
within the WTO high-standard multilateral rules to protect and liberalise foreign
investment.
Business would like to see
a much broader concept of market access than in previous trade rounds. The focus
should be on multilateral rules for commercial transactions on a global basis,
enabling companies to compete freely and on equal terms.
The right decisions at Seattle
would tell business that governments are committed, not only to the traditional
fare of tariff cuts, but also to further reducing non-tariff barriers to market
access.
The undersigned representative
business organisations are looking for a trade and investment liberalisation
package that matches the realities of the global marketplace.
Maria Livanos Cattaui, Secretary
General, International Chamber of Commerce
Douglas C. Worth, Secretary General, Business and Industry Advisory Committee
to the OECD
Mohan Kaul, Director-General, Commonwealth Business Council
Willard M. Berry, President, European-American Business Council
Robert Lees, Secretary General, Pacific Basin Economic Council
Dirk F. Hudig, Secretary General, Union of Industrial and Employers' Confederations
of Europe