HL Deb 14 January 1997 vol 577 cc20-1WA
Lord Judd

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Following the recent World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting, what new specific action (a) within the developing countries (especially the least developed countries), (b) within the industrialised countries, and (c) between the developing countries (especially the least developed) and the industrialised countries will now be taken to help reduce global poverty and assist sustainable development.

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

The Government believe that barriers to trade are one of the greatest obstacles to world prosperity and that sustainable development for all countries can best be achieved by continuing the momentum for the general lowering of tariffs and freeing of trade that was achieved through the successful conclusion of the Uruguay Round in 1994. Our overall aim for the Ministerial Conference in Singapore was therefore to carry forward that liberalising agenda and to consolidate the role of the World Trade Organisation, which provides the secure trading environment for all trading nations and is particularly vital to more fragile developing country economies.

World Trade Ministers in Singapore agreed a substantial work programme to carry forward trade liberalisation in the WTO, including new work on trade facilitation, standards, government procurement and investment. The biggest immediate trade liberalising achievement of the conference was an agreement in principle between the EU, US and a number of other countries, including Japan, Canada, Korea and Indonesia, to phase out tariffs on a wide range of information technology products by the year 2000. The new work programme and this agreement offer benefits to developed and developing countries alike.

The Singapore Conference Declaration also commits WTO members to address the problem of marginalisation for Least Developed Countries and confirmed a comprehensive action plan which paves the way for consideration of better market access provisions and for more focused and co-ordinated trade related technical assistance. There will be a conference in Geneva in the first part of 1997, to be attended by all relevant international organisations, which will have the objective of fostering this more integrated approach to assistance.