28 December 2007
60 years of the multilateral trade system: from Havana to Doha
New Year's Day 2008 marks 60 years since the creation of the multilateral trading system.
On January 1, 1948, 23 countries found common ground on a set of rules that would govern international trade in the post-war era.
From that date, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) entered into force - an agreement that ultimately led to the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995.
With the Chifley Government having been one of the 23 founding GATT members, Australia has been a long-time supporter of the multilateral trading system.
I am proud to be a successor to these early visionaries, who had the wisdom to recognise the benefits to Australia of a rules-based multilateral system founded on the principles of non-discrimination.
When the GATT was established, Australia had only a narrow export base and was largely dependent on the United Kingdom market. Since that time, Australia's export base has diversified considerably, as have its export markets.
Those changes mirror the development of the multilateral trading system itself, which has grown from 23 members in 1948 to over 150 members today and whose rules have broadened and deepened to now cover services as well as goods.
I am committed to achieving further improvements in the multilateral trading system through the Doha negotiations. I am under no illusion about the difficulty of making progress in multilateral talks, but it is essential that we find a global solution. This is the best way of sharing the benefits of liberalisation as broadly as possible.
Achieving an outcome to the Doha Round which strengthens existing trade rules and further lowers existing barriers to trade is the Government's highest trade policy priority.
The Australian Government statements made at the time of the establishment of the GATT were:
- Ministerial statement to the House of Representatives on 11 November 1947 (pdf, 4.22 MB)
- Ministerial statement to the House of Representatives on 18 November 1947 (pdf, 756 KB)
- Statement of 24 December 1947 of Australia's chief negotiator, Dr H. C. Coombs (pdf, 1.12 MB)
Media Inquiries: Mr Crean's office 02 6277 7420 - Departmental Media Liaison 02 6261 1555