We met here in Darwin, Australia, to discuss the key multilateral and regional
trade policy issues we face collectively as APEC Ministers Responsible for Trade.
Our reference point was the shared goal of economic prosperity and social improvement
through economic cooperation and strengthened regional integration, aiming to
address the needs of the global economy in the 21st century.
We re-affirmed the importance of trade expansion to making possible the sustainable
economic growth and development needed to improve people's lives. We called
for an early launch of a new WTO round to maintain and enhance the momentum
of trade liberalisation, and agreed on ways to build confidence to that end.
We examined the interrelationships between the unilateral, sub-regional and
multilateral trade frameworks through which we are implementing the commitment
APEC Economic Leaders made in Bogor to free and open trade and investment. We
also reviewed the progress and results of APEC work programs to date, and requested
Senior Officials to further report to Ministers and Leaders in November.
A decade of progress
It is no coincidence that APEC economies have achieved some of the world's
most rapidly rising standards of living. They have prospered because they have
become more integrated into the world economy through more open trade and investment.
The economic growth this brings is vital to the alleviation and eradication
of poverty. It also means that business can more confidently take up new opportunities
and government can look forward to a growing revenue base. It offers expanding
employment and the ability to address the pressing social concerns of those
who may be disadvantaged by economic change.
APEC is playing a fundamental role in creating these dynamic outcomes through
wide ranging cooperation, particularly in developing sound policy frameworks
and building the capacity to support their implementation.
The recent economic crisis has highlighted the need to consolidate and continue
the policies of openness and structural change to meet the challenges ahead
and build robust economies capable of withstanding unforeseen risks. This will
be increasingly important as the pace of globalisation and structural change
bring new concerns among parts of our communities, especially where the benefits
are not shared equally.
We acknowledge the need to respond to this challenge. We need to do more to
explain how stronger integration into the world economy will deliver economic
and social progress. With this in mind, we welcome the interim report ?APEC
? a decade of progress? prepared for this meeting. We agree that it be made
available for interim use pending its further development as a report for Ministers
and Leaders in November.
Prosperity and the multilateral trading system
The economic prosperity and social development we seek for our economies will
flow in part from the increased openness which broad-based multilateral negotiations
in the WTO can help deliver. Therefore, we remain firmly committed to the pursuit
of multilateral trade liberalisation and to strengthening and improving the
rules-based global trading system for the benefit of all economies. We recognised
the need to increase our efforts to broaden community support for these objectives.
We reaffirm our strong commitment to the early launch of a new round of multilateral
trade negotiations and to work to achieve our collective objectives with respect
to the WTO as articulated by our Leaders and Ministers in Auckland last year.
We call for renewed efforts to build the global consensus necessary for the
launch of a round at the earliest opportunity. In this respect, we appreciated
the presence of the WTO Director General, Mike Moore, and his valuable input
into our deliberations. We agreed that building confidence in multilateral trade
negotiations is a key to the launch of a new round, and decided on steps to
develop the capacity of APEC developing economies to implement WTO agreements
and to prepare for a new round.
We welcome the commencement in Geneva of the mandated negotiations on agriculture
and services. Recalling the relevant objectives agreed by Leaders in Auckland,
we encouraged meaningful progress in these areas. This would have a positive
effect on multilateral negotiations.
We agreed that a new round will require a balanced agenda that is sufficiently
broad-based to respond to the interests of all WTO members. Particular attention
should be given to the development needs of developing and least-developed economies.
We also agreed that a successful launch, conduct and expeditious conclusion
to a round will require political will and flexibility from all participants,
adequate preparatory work and enhanced capacity building.
We commend the confidence-building measures agreed recently in Geneva, including
those on market access for least-developed economies and those addressing concerns
over aspects of the implementation of WTO agreements. We urge their expeditious
and effective implementation, and the participation of more APEC member economies
in the LDC market access initiative
In order to increase momentum toward the launch of a round, we reaffirm our
commitment to the APEC Leaders? Declaration and Ministers? Statement in Auckland
last year, and also announce the following elements.
First, we now announce a new strategic plan to build capacity to implement
WTO agreements, enhancing benefits from WTO membership. The strategic plan aims
to provide tailor-made packages of technical assistance for developing APEC
economies that will facilitate their ability to implement WTO agreements. We
ask Senior Officials to coordinate a survey of the needs of APEC developing
economies, to analyse and evaluate existing international cooperation schemes,
and to develop a plan for the improved coordination and effectiveness of capacity-building
activities. The results of this work will be reported to Ministers in November.
In addition, we applaud the valuable capacity building work already done in
APEC to aid implementation of the Agreement on Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual
Property Rights and endorse the Joint Statement at Annex C.
Second, recalling our Leaders? and Ministers? agreement in Auckland, we call
for preparatory work on industrial tariffs and other related areas to begin
in the WTO, as part of the preparation for the new round, without prejudice
to the overall agenda for negotiations.
Third, responding to the needs of the globalised economy, and recognising the
dramatic increase in e-commerce in the new economy, we announce today an APEC-wide
moratorium on the imposition of customs duties on electronic transmissions until
the next WTO Ministerial Conference. We encourage others to do likewise. We
also call for the continuation of the e-commerce work program with better horizontal
coordination among relevant bodies in the WTO.
Fourth, to aid mutual understanding of the issues and share experiences with
investment and competition policies, APEC will hold seminars on these issues
and build on its existing analytical work on competition and investment issues,
with results also to be reported to Ministers in November.
We also welcome the substantial progress that has been made over the past year
in the WTO accession negotiations for China and urge WTO members to work intensively
for the rapid completion of negotiations so that China can join as soon as possible.
We also support rapid accession to the WTO by Chinese Taipei and the advancement
of the accession processes for Russia and Vietnam.
Improving the APEC business environment
We reviewed the progress and results of the well-developed body of work undertaken
in APEC to improve the environment for doing business in the region. We agreed
on the need to make better known the achievements of APEC cooperation.
We launch today ?APEC: Getting Results for Business? - a new publication -
and BizApec.com - a new website providing one-stop information for conducting
business in the Asia-Pacific region.
We also foreshadow that these resources for business will be strengthened further
with the completion by November of a new web-based reporting format for Individual
Action Plans. This new format will facilitate wider, faster and easier on-line
access to transparent, comprehensive and specific accounts of the progress our
economies are making towards our shared Bogor goals.
We value the advice of our business communities to improve our efforts in areas
where APEC work can be most beneficial. As articulated by our Leaders in Auckland,
we reaffirm that further dialogue with the private sector, at all levels, is
essential to maintain the dynamism and relevance of APEC. The solid progress
made in improving Individual Action Plans responds to the ABAC call that such
reporting be done better. Our initiative on the Strengthening of Economic Legal
Infrastructure, which will make a contribution to a more certain and predictable
business environment in the region.
We therefore valued the briefing we received here in Darwin from the ABAC Chair.
We also welcome the progress reported on senior level public-private sector
collaboration in the Automotive Dialogue, and encourage our governments to study
their recommendations. We ask Senior Officials to ensure that other APEC specialist
fora work closely with the Automotive Dialogue.
We also agreed to improve on the results for business already achieved in many
APEC economies through reduced administrative costs and easier ways of doing
business with government using electronic commerce. Many challenges remain in
creating a transparent and consistent legal and regulatory environment, and
technology neutral and interoperable electronic systems. We ask our Senior Officials
to consider steps towards placing government information services on-line including,
as appropriate, government procurement and trade administration services, and
to report on these issues to Ministers and Leaders in November. We welcome the
offer by China to host a high-level Symposium on Paperless Trading in 2001.
Recent results from the APEC framework
Our efforts as Ministers Responsible for Trade are complemented by the results
achieved in other areas of the APEC framework.
We recognise that the skills and education of our people are critical to achieving
our goals. In this respect, we welcome the commitment of APEC Education Ministers
at their recent meeting in Singapore to continue their support for efforts to
promote collaborative action in education, particularly to develop learning
societies.
We also welcome the priority given by Brunei Darussalam to developing human
resources in the theme for APEC 2000, and encourage their initiative to work
with APEC officials in HRD and representatives of business, training and education
to develop a more focused operational approach to HRD which will be relevant
to the growing needs of our communities.
We welcome the pro-competitive and market based approach taken by APEC Ministers
Responsible for Telecommunications and Information Industries in adopting, in
the Cancun Declaration, APEC Principles on International Charging Arrangements
for Internet Services; APEC Principles of Interconnection; and Issues for Consideration
in the Preparation of Electronic Authentication Policies. This progress towards
a more open and competitive environment will give a significant boost to trade
in telecommunications and IT services.
We note and welcome the commitment by APEC Energy Ministers at the fourth Energy
Ministers Meeting to focus on implementation of energy policy, regulatory reform,
and technology cooperation initiatives. These initiatives include principles
and best practices for independent power producers, natural gas development,
and industry-initiated principles setting out criteria for reform of the energy
sector in the APEC region, while strengthening policy dialogue among member
economies on issues such as energy security, energy infrastructure, energy market
reform, energy efficiency and energy and the environment. We further welcome
the innovative strategy adopted by Energy Ministers to facilitate implementation
of these initiatives through visits by teams of experts to provide practical
advice, and we encourage APEC economies to make use of this valuable assistance.
We also welcome the good progress made in work by the Transportation Working
Group, including in the study of the benefits and difficulties of implementing
the eight recommendations for more competitive air services and identification
of additional means of liberalising air services. We encourage all economies
to participate fully in the study, as a resource on which economies can draw
in considering the pace and direction of changes they wish to make in the regulation
of their international air services.
We also welcome the Agricultural Technical Cooperation Experts Group (ATCEG)
report on the work already done in APEC in the area of agricultural biotechnology,
and endorse the useful work program developed for the year 2000 and the medium
term. We reaffirm the statement by Ministers in Auckland on the importance of
transparent and science-based approaches to the introduction and use of biotechnology
products, and of technical cooperation, exchanging of information on new technology
and capacity building in this area. Such activity should take into account WTO
rules, as well as consumers? interest in food safety, environmental quality,
and facilitate the realisation of the potential benefits of this technology.
Ministers from Australia; Brunei Darussalam; Canada; Chile; the People's Republic
of China; Hong Kong, China; Indonesia; Japan; the Republic of Korea; Malaysia;
Mexico; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Peru; the Republic of the Philippines;
Russia; Singapore; Chinese Taipei; Thailand; the United States of America; and
Viet Nam participated in the meeting. The APEC Secretariat was present. The
Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Secretariat, the Pacific Economic
Cooperation Council (PECC) and the South Pacific Forum attended as observers.
