HC Deb 11 November 1996 vol 285 c13W
Mr. Touhig

To ask the President of the Board of Trade if he will list the items which he will be pressing to be included on the agenda of the forthcoming Singapore meeting of the World Trade Organisation; and if he will make a statement. [1327]

Mr. Lang

I shall be pressing for Ministers at the World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting in December in Singapore to agree a substantial work programme for the World Trade Organisation to continue the process of multilateral trade liberalisation. This should include: standards, Government procurement, tariffs, trade facilitation, rules of origin, intellectual property rights, subsidies and regulation reform.

I shall also be pressing for timely implementation of existing commitments, the completion of outstanding negotiations on services, in particular telecommunications services, and for the conclusion of an agreement to eliminate tariffs in the information technology sector.

I shall support the start of work in the World Trade Organisation on competition and investment issues.

My right hon. and learned Friend the Foreign Secretary and I will shortly lay before Parliament a White Paper setting out the Government's approach to trade policy and its interaction with UK foreign policy.