A FAIR SYSTEM OF TRADE RULES IS INDISPENSABLE

VATICAN CITY, DEC 22, 2005 (VIS) - Archbishop Silvano Tomasi C.S., apostolic nuncio and chief of the Holy See delegation to the sixth Ministerial Conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO), held in Hong Kong, China, from December 13 to 18, delivered a talk to delegates on the final day of the meeting. The text of the archbishop's English-language address was made public today.

  The aim of Archbishop Tomasi's talk was "to recall that the system of international trade regulations must become a means to reach farther objectives, among them the fundamental goal of the integral development of all individuals and the reduction of poverty."

  Quoting the Pope's reference to the Hong Kong conference during his recent meeting with members of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the archbishop said: "The Holy See is confident that a sense of responsibility and solidarity with the most disadvantaged will prevail, so that narrow interests and the logic of power will be set aside."

  "The Holy See recognizes," he went on, "the benefit of an equitable and participatory multilateral system of trade relations directed to attaining and developing the common good. ... Protectionism too often favors already privileged segments of society. Effective multilateralism, on the other hand, is an inclusive process which acknowledges that at the core of all social and economic relations, and hence of trade relations, is the human person, with dignity and inalienable human rights. Therefore, a rules-based trade system or, better, a fair system of trade rules is indispensable, ... shaped according to the level of economic development of the member States and giving explicit support and special and differential treatment to the poorest countries."
DELSS/TRADE SYSTEM/TOMASI:HONG KONG                VIS 20051222 (290)