Washington, D.C. –From Bali, NFTC Vice President for Global Trade Issues Jake Colvin released the following statement in response to the agreement that was reached at the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Ninth Ministerial Conference:
“This deal is good news for the global trading system.
“The Bali package is significant, particularly given the promise of trade facilitation to improve access to the global marketplace for small businesses, create jobs, and spur more inclusive growth in the United States and around the world.
“It is also a welcome signal, after more than a decade of frustration, that the WTO can serve as a negotiating forum among its broad membership.
“Yet Bali also illustrated the challenges of negotiating an agreement that requires sign off from the WTO’s diverse membership, and the dynamics that made a deal so elusive in the run-up to Bali won’t change dramatically in its wake.
“To build on the success of Bali, it will be critical to find creative ways of modernizing trade rules under or near the WTO umbrella to address a very different world than the one that existed the last time a comprehensive work program was laid out more than a decade ago.
“Companies are multilateralists at heart, and hope the WTO can continue to deliver.
“A variety of delegations deserve credit for the outcome, and for emphasizing that this deal enjoyed strong and deep support from developed and developing countries. NFTC would especially like to congratulate U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman, Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Michael Punke and their colleagues for their tireless and innovative efforts to support the global trading system.”
About the NFTC
Advancing Global Commerce for A Century- The National Foreign Trade Council (www.nftc.org) is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules- based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves hundreds of member companies through its offices in Washington and New York.
