News

Lithuanian Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Raimundas Karoblis urged WTO members not to consider the smoothly functioning multilateral trade system as something to be taken for granted at the Tenth WTO Ministerial Conference, in Nairobi on 17 December. The Vice-Minister underlined that all WTO members, the world’s largest economies in particular, must comply with the WTO rules and fulfil the obligations they have undertaken.

“Even though we are engaged in negotiations on new trade rules, it is necessary to ensure compliance with those enforced now in order for the multilateral trade system and the WTO to maintain its efficiency and credibility. We hope that member states will continue to seek restriction and elimination of the types of export support that distort trade most”, Raimundas Karoblis said.

The Vice-Minister said he was happy with the decision reached yesterday on the expansion of the Information Technology Agreement and reminded the Conference that the Trade Facilitation Agreement reached two years ago had not been enacted yet. He also called on all the states that had not ratified the Agreement to speed up their domestic procedures so that all the member states could enjoy the benefits that would be derived from the implementation of the Agreement.

Raimondas Karoblis expressed hope that, despite the difficulties encountered in the Doha Round, the WTO will continue to be the organisation that creates and sets global rules of trade which meet the modern needs and challenges of the global economy.