Trade Minister, Mark Vaile, today said his participation in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference at Seattle next week would be vital for Australian exporters. "The basic issue for Ministers at Seattle is simple - do we continue along the path of trade reform that has underpinned global prosperity in the past 50 years", Mr Vaile said. The conference is expected to launch a new trade round that will shape international trade rules and market access arrangements for the next decade. "There are many difficult issues for Ministers to resolve at Seattle, the hardest of which is the level of ambition we set for the reform of agricultural trade. But as Chair of the Cairns Group, I shall sheet home to the protectionist countries the sheer unfairness of their agricultural regimes and the damage they cause to efficient producers in rich and poor countries alike." "I will be working hard to convince the EU and Japan that a strong reform-oriented mandate for the negotiations is essential for many countries to agree to a broader negotiation along the lines they are seeking." Mr Vaile noted that WTO members have already agreed to negotiate further reductions in agricultural protection and pursue the progressive liberalisation of trade in services. A new trade round would need to make further inroads into tariff barriers on industrial products, that remained high in some countries, as well as other barriers to Australia's exports. Mr Vaile has invited the head of the Government's Trade Policy Advisory Committee (TPAC), Mr Geoff Allen, and a small group of industry organisations to be part of the official Australian delegation. Attendance by all industry organisations is self-funded. "At Seattle, I will have daily meetings with all Australians attending the conference to enable me to hear their views and to brief them on developments", Mr Vaile said. Mr Vaile will depart Australia on Saturday, November 27. The WTO Ministerial Conference will run until Friday, December 3.
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