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Chairperson,
Fellow panellists,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Colleagues and Friends

Thank you for affording me the opportunity to deliver the keynote address at this important session. I am indeed honoured to be with you today for a debate, which I am confident will encourage innovative thinking on the many intricate issues on the Cancun agenda, and which will deliver concrete inputs to assist the negotiations in moving forward, enabling the attainment of our primary objective of harnessing sustainable trade for global poverty eradication.

May I, in the first instance, thus, congratulate the organisers of the Sustainable Trade Symposium, for creating a forum which so effectively enables civil society, especially producer organisations, to assist in the global effort to better harness international trade's role as engine for sustainable development.

Indeed, proceedings since yesterday have clearly demonstrated how a global trading system, under the right conditions, can genuinely promote sustainable development. I for one, have been inspired to learn of the several innovative sustainable trade initiatives, presented here at the Symposium, that are delivering important social, economic and environmental benefits to communities around the world.

I would also specifically like to commend the Symposium's efforts to determine how WTO rules and the current negotiations are affecting small producers and sustainable trade. It is indeed imperative that all those who believe in the cause of sustainable trade, continuously explore policy reforms and market strategies needed to promote sustainable and fair trade.

The conveners of today's session have requested me to reflect during my address on how the WTO and other trade agreements can support the promotion of sustainable, ethical and fair trade. I have furthermore also been requested to look at the policies and resources needed by governments in the South to develop their compliance capacities with social and environmental standards.

As a starting point, I thought it would be useful to briefly revisit our understanding of the concept of sustainable trade. To my mind, the definition employed by the International Institute for Sustainable Development is perhaps the most appropriate. The IISD namely proposes that sustainable trade is said to take place when the international exchange of goods and services yields positive social, economic and environmental benefits, reflecting the key criteria of sustainable development. These four criteria according to the IISD are:
* the generation of economic values;
* the reduction of poverty and inequalities;
* the regeneration of environmental resources; and
* an open governance system.

What then should be the role of the WTO and other trade dispensations in promoting sustainable trade? Clearly the WTO not only sets rules which circumscribe the way sustainable development policies may be formulated, but it also embodies more general rules which guide global economic activity and, thus, have enormous potential to frustrate or foster sustainable development. The WTO of course also has been gradually extending its authority into non-trade specific domains critical to sustainable development, such as intellectual property rights, investment and competition policy.

I am therefore convinced, dear colleagues, that it is imperative for the WTO and other trade dispensations to not only mainstream the objectives of sustainable development, and by implication sustainable trade, in all their activities, but to indeed create a specific institutional focus on and structures to effectively engage with sustainable development. Such an approach will be essential to ensure the required synergy between the WTO's respective efforts with regard to the four criteria of economic growth, poverty eradication, environmental protection and a fair and transparent governance system.

It is indeed vital that the misconception that there is an inherent incompatibility between the WTO, and just social causes like sustainable development, the environment, rural life and labour standards, be corrected. Indeed, since the WTO regulates trade and investment it is frequently seen by many as an instrument that greedy governments and manipulative commercial interests use to insulate reckless growth from legitimate social sanction and monitoring.

The challenge here in my opinion is to bridge the gulf between those social critics that are amenable to reasoned argument and the undoubted potential of the WTO to progressively provide rules and regulations which will foster sustainable trade and development.

In achieving this objective, dialogue will be critical. Within the WTO and between member countries and civil society, dialogue should, thus, for example be focused on the world trade system's interplay between labour and social standards. A similar dialogue is needed between the trade system and the financial system. We should not fear dialogue, but wisdom and farsightedness will be needed. For example, issues such as trade-related labour rights certainly should be addressed within the WTO, but if they become pretexts for protection, the real merits of the issues will be lost.

That the WTO has a critical role to play in promoting sustainable trade is undeniable, but all parties would have to be mindful of the intricacies involved in promoting trade liberalisation concurrent with the objectives of poverty eradication and environmental protection. But let me emphasise that these priorities are by no means mutually exclusive.

Within this context the international trade system's appropriate governance of the so-called social and environmental standards for sustainable trade will become increasingly critical.

Our session today is of course focused on market opportunities, challenges and future strategies related to social and eco-labelling, two standards, which are enjoying an increasingly higher profile within the WTO, with the Dispute Panel for example regularly having to resolve whether schemes that label goods according to environmental criteria constitute impediments to free trade.

Prior agreement on the definition of environmental goods and services and how eco-labelling supports the creation of equitable and fair market access is a necessity if such initiatives are to contribute positively to developing country economies. We must caution however, against the inadvertent establishment of further barriers to market access through the introduction of new labelling standards. In fact, instead of eco-labelling in the short term, what we actually should catalyse and resource are a series of capacity building initiatives for developing countries. This should be the building of human capital to implement sustainable development as well as capacity at organizational and governance level. We need to organize that developing countries are advantaged, and not the other way around. The implementation of the global sustainable development agenda must ensure a better quality of life for all the world, especially the poorer countries.

It is within this context that I now would like to examine the policies and resources needed by developing countries to develop their capacities to comply with the social and environmental standards increasingly prevalent in international trade.

As we are aware, these standards have largely emanated from a growing awareness of sustainable development, being expressed through purchasing preferences in especially developed countries. Indeed, access to certain markets increasingly depends on producers' ability to demonstrate to government, corporate and individual consumers that products have been produced according to what we could term the principles of sustainable development.

Compliance with relevant standards is, thus, for example required in areas such as fisheries or forest management; energy efficiency; human health and safety; hazardous waste management; or labour standards.

These standards are intended to favour sustainable producers although their impact might not necessarily advance sustainable development as many developing countries are now being excluded from markets, thus failing the economic growth and poverty eradication criteria, not because of an unwillingness to comply, but due to a fundamental lack of institutional and technical capacity. This situation must be corrected - but what is needed?

To my mind there are five areas of concern which must be addressed:
* Firstly, the lack of Southern participation in the development of standards, since it is imperative that standards reflect global values and priorities.
* Secondly, the lack of knowledge and technical resources in developing countries, such as for example recognised certification bodies, necessary to comply with these requirements.
* Thirdly, developing country producers' lack of financial resources, which for example excludes them from expensive certification mechanisms.
* Fourthly, the questionable scientific basis underlying some standards, informed by subjective value rather than firm scientific criteria; and
* Fifthly, the impact of unilateralism, which by allowing the operation of different standards in different countries, is not only proving costly to exporters but act as a barrier to some markets

Dear friends, in order to appropriately address these concerns, it is imperative that developing countries be equipped with institutions which, quite simply, could help them identify which standards are required for which markets. These institutions should possess the required the scientific and technical capacity to assess foreign standards and to evaluate their relevance within domestic contexts. The nations of the South furthermore need national standards bodies that are well resourced and able to participate in setting international standards. They also need competitive certification service industries as well as competent accreditation bodies.

It is, thus, clear, dear colleagues, that if social and environmental standards are to be effective in promoting equitable, sustainable trade, then developing countries must be provided with the capacity to effectively integrate them with their export strategies. Such an effort will require significant levels of technical assistance. It is a policy and resource challenge of the utmost importance, which must be met by developed and developing countries alike.

Dear colleagues, in conclusion I would like to emphasise that part of the responsibility of all those gathered in Cancun, is to continue the work started in Doha and Johannesburg, to create a new global compact, which will optimally harness international trade for sustainable development. The appropriate vehicle for this compact can only be the WTO, an organisation that needs to exist for many decades to come and it needs to do so with the support of all nations.

Let us reflect on these matters and make sure that we succeed. A failure will indeed be a statement about the ability of the global economy to govern itself for the benefit of all our citizens.

I hope these remarks will contribute to and enrich the debate during today's session and I indeed look forward in anticipation to our deliberations.

I thank you.

Issued by: Ministry for Arts, Culture, Science and Technology