./.WORLD TRADE
ORGANIZATIONWT/MIN(99)/ST/119
2 December 1999
(99-5363)
MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE
Third SessionSeattle, 30 November - 3 December 1999Original:  French
BURKINA FASO
Statement by H.E. Mr. Abdoulaye Abdoulkader Cisse
Minister for Trade, Industry and Handicrafts
On behalf of the Government of Burkina Faso and in my own name, I should like to convey
to you, Chairperson of the Council, my congratulations on your appointment to this office and above
all on the skill with which you have always guided our work.
I should also like to congratulate Mr. Mike Moore, the new Director-General of the WTO, on
his election to the post, as well as the new team of collaborators he has just appointed.  On behalf of
the Government of Burkina Faso, I should also like to thank Mr. Mike Moore and our colleagues from
the countries which supported our candidature for the honour and confidence they have shown in our
country by appointing one of its citizens, Mr. Ablassé Ouedraogo, as a Deputy Director-General of
our Organization.  I wish the new team every success in the daunting but noble mission with which ithas been entrusted.
I should like to express my gratitude to the people and Government of our host country, the
United States of America, for their warm hospitality in this magnificent and beautiful city of Seattle.
Our Third Ministerial Conference is taking place at the end of the century and the dawn of the
new millennium.  It is important to recall the fundamental principles clearly set out in the preamble tothe Marrakesh Agreement Establishing the World Trade Organization.  Reading this preamble, it is
quite clear that the intention of the negotiators was to utilize trade as a tool for sustainable
development, for raising living standards and expanding production, while at the same time taking
into account the needs of developing and least-developed countries.  The WTO must ensure respect
for this fundamental principle.  The truth is, however, that many countries are still facing numerouseconomic challenges, including the exacerbation of socioeconomic problems, increased poverty, as
well as the inadequacy of their human and financial resources and institutional capacity to implement
the Uruguay Round Agreements.
In many of these countries, the economic situation has worsened as a result of the increase in
the external debt, which has widened the gap separating them from the developed countries.
I welcome the steps taken by the internationa l community to cancel the multilateral debts of
the highly indebted poorest countries, which number 41, 33 of them in Africa.  My country is glad to
be included in the list of those benefiting from cancellation of the debt.
In Burkina Faso, we are certain that globaliza tion has now become part of mankind's history
because it has an impact on many daily economic activities.
As a founding Member of the WTO, Burkina Faso will abide by the rules of the multilateral
trading system.WT/MIN(99)/ST/119
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Regional economic integration is a matter of ongoing concern for us in economic integration
groupings such as the WAEMU and ECOWAS so that our people can benefit from globalization.
We call on the World Trade Organization to adopt the following measures to help the least-
developed and developing countries to play a more effective role within the new international tradingsystem:
• Invite trade partners in developed countries to give effect to the commitments on
special and differential treatment in favour of developing countries, notably in theareas of services and agriculture;
• Demand that developed countries continue to abolish agricultural subsidies;
• Require the effective application of Article 10 of the SPS Agreement and Article 11
of the Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) as part of the special and
differential treatment;
• Reinforce the overall coherence of the WTO's policies and those of the Bretton
Woods institutions in relation to the implementation of trade, monetary and financialpolicies;
• Demand totally free access to markets for least-developed countries and more flexible
criteria on rules of origin;
• Ensure that environmental and social standards do not become disguised forms of
protectionism;
• Demand that application of Article IV of the General Agreement on Trade in Services
go hand in hand with the removal of obstacles caused by the many restrictions on the
movement of persons from developing countries.
I hope that the new round of multilateral trade negotiations soon to be launched will take
place under the sign of development and the struggle against poverty.  It is unacceptable that, of the
6 billion people on our planet, over 3 billion must live on less than $2 per day.
It is time for us to look together at the ways and means that will allow us to attenuate the
marginalization of a certain number of countries, most of which are to be found in the southern
hemisphere.  Globalization must not be synonymous with impoverishment;  on the contrary, the
emergence of large regional economic groupings should be the foundation for unification andprosperity that allow mankind to realize its full potential.
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