The Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry and the Select Committee on Trade and International Relations, which form part of the South African Parliamentary delegation stressed South Africa’s commitment with its fellow African countries to the development integration process, the prioritisation of jobs and elimination of the delegation poverty.
The delegation, attending the 9th World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Bali, has welcomed the shift in the stance from the beginning of the conference to one that that produced a better package.
They said this in itself is a fitting tribute to the late former president Nelson Mandela. “When reflecting on the purpose of the WTO, members recall what President Mandela pointed out in 1998, when he addressed the 50th anniversary of the then General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT, which was a predecessor of the current WTO).
“That the WTO was established as a response to the need for more effective regulatory, supervisory and enforcement environment for world trade and investment than GATT.”
Madiba also recognised that South Africa’s hopes were re-ignited with the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) because South Africa believed that only through a multilateral system can the country overcome the unilateral approach which has now developed into plurilaterals. The delegation believes South Africa can shape the world trade system positively to benefit all countries all peoples if we imbue it with a sense of socio-economic justice.
The delegation congratulates Minister Rob Davies on his clear statement in the WTO but also his efforts to work with our partners and other members of WTO to bring about a positive outcome.
Mr Dumisane Gamede, Chairperson of the Select Committee on Trade and International Relations, said: “We believe that a new day can dawn in Bali for the WTO, and that as the late former President Nelson Mandela, affectionately known as Madiba, put it: Trade must serve development through the establishment of an agreed regulatory system invested with justice."
“South African Parliamentarians” fully support a balanced Trade Facilitation (TF) agreement that provides support for the weaker and poorer trading countries as an element of the “small package” in this round of the Doha Development Agenda.
“We also understand and fully support the proposal on food security, dealing with public stockholding, under the agricultural package to alleviate the plight of millions of poor people around the world. While South Africa itself fully supports a meaningful package and work programme for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs), it also needs the full support of all member countries of the WTO", said Ms Joanmariae Fubbs, the Chairperson of the Portfolio Committee on Trade and Industry.
The call for a package for the LDCs as a critical outcome of the Bali Ministerial Conference is fully supported and the delegation have been speaking out strongly to shift delegates’ mind-sets back to the essential elements of the DDA.
The movement forward is not only the hard work of the delegates, but also the energetic commitment of the new WTO Director-General, Mr Roberto Azevedo, who is earnestly driving the trade development agenda so that the Bali ministerial caravan of country delegates reach a balanced and positive outcome that heralds a new day in the DDA. The greatest and most meaningful tribute we can pay to Madiba is to agree that all trade rules should correct disparities in development.
