HOLY SEE EXPRESSES POSITION AT WTO CONFERENCE IN SEATTLE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 4, 1999 (VIS) - The position paper presented on December 2 by the Holy See delegation at the just-concluded World Trade Organization (WTO) conference in Seattle was released this morning.

It underlined that a rule-based Multilateral Trade System "will only be accomplished when the LDCs (Least Developed Countries) are able to integrate themselves within the international community, while keeping their ability to promote the human and sustainable development of their citizens." He also noted that "it is especially striking that the LDCs' share of international trade is still only about half of one percent, having declined since 1990."

The paper stated that the "inability of LDCs ... to take advantage of opportunities provided by the existing WTO programs includes ... a shortage of skilled personnel able to tackle the complexity of WTO structures and rules, the inability to upgrade domestic regulations, weak institutional infrastructure, ... and the high cost of maintaining missions in Geneva."

"There are some sensitive questions concerning developed countries," it added, "as well as middle income and poor countries, such as human rights, labor questions, environmental degradation, biotechnology and health which .... need to be handled in a spirit of prudence and cooperation, while seeking a broad and long term consensus on the basics of human sustainable development."

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