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Of course, we face a big challenge ahead. The WTO is too often misunderstood, sometimes genuinely, often wilfully. We need to put our case better.

We need to explain that we are not a world government of any shape or form. People do not want a world government, and we do not aspire to be one. But people do want global rules.

If the WTO did not exist, people would be crying out for a forum where governments could negotiate rules, ratified by national parliaments that promote freer trade and provide a transparent and predictable framework for business. And they would be crying out for a mechanism that helps governments avoid coming to blows over trade disputes.

That is what the WTO is. We do not lay down the law; we uphold the rule of law. We do not tell governments what to do, they tell us. That is how it should be.

Free trade is not an ugly concept. On the contrary, free trade helps pay for the things we value most: jobs, health, education and a cleaner environment. More trade, not less trade, is the surest way to improve people's lives and working conditions. More trade, not less trade, is the surest way to promote freedom, security and peace.

Free trade needs more champions. So does the WTO. I hope you will join us in fighting for a better world by taking the case for free trade to a wider public.

We will do our share. But we need your help so that in these days of great change the voices of reason and progress prevail over those of fear and doom.

Despite almost universal acknowledgement of the vital importance of women's literacy, education remains an elusive dream for far too many women in far too many countries of the world. Worldwide, about 950 million adults lack literacy skills — the vast majority, women. In the world's two most populous countries, China and India, 50% of adult females are illiterate.

Women's education carries many economic as well as health-related benefits. In fact, a 1994 World Bank report concluded that enrolling girls in school was probably the single most effective anti-poverty policy in the developing world today. To further indicate its support for this idea, the World Bank announced in late 1995 that it was earmarking up to $ 900 million each year for loans to promote the education of girls.

While a number of countries have launched education and literacy programs that focus specifically on females, others have general programs that include components that touch the lives of girls and women. A number of countries in Asia and the Pacific have participated in the UNESCO/UNDP project "Educate to Empower". Learning materials produced in conjunction with this project provide examples of ways to help change the gender stereotyping that goes on in many developing countries.

As education for girls and women is the "most urgent priority" for the next decade, efforts must continue to be made in the following areas: first, ensuring that the issue of education for girls and women remains high on the agenda of developing countries; second, seeking additional funding for projects aiming at promoting education for girls and women; third, continuing to try to change the attitudes and conditions that lead to gender stereotyping and educational inequities.

Little boys who play truant from school are unimaginative. A quiet day's fishing, or eight hours in a cinema seeing the same film over and over again, is usually as far 5 as they get. They have all been put to shame by a boy who, while playing truant, travelled 1600 miles. He hitch-hiked to Dover and, towards evening, went into a boat to find somewhere to 10 sleep. When he woke up next morning, he discovered that the boat had, in the meantime, travelled to Calais. No one He was picked up by a policeman noticed the boy as he crept off. From there, he hitch-hiked to Paris in a lorry. The driver gave him a few biscuits and a cup of coffee and left him just outside the city. The next car the boy stopped did not take him into the centre of Paris as he hoped it would, but to Perpignan on the French-Spanish border. There he was picked up by a policeman and sent back to England by the local authorities. He has surely set up a record for the thousands of boys who dream of evading school.

My daughter, Jane, never dreamed of receiving a letter from a girl of her own age in Holland. Last year, we were travelling across the Channel and Jane put a 5 piece of paper with her name and address on' it' into a bottle. She threw the bottle into the sea. She never thought of it again, but ten months later, she received a letter from a girl in Holland. Both girl^ write 19 10 each other regularly now. However, they have decided to use the post-office. Letters will cost a little more, but they will certainly travel faster. ,

If the vehicle has more than one driver, it must have a two — man tachograph (i.e. one capable of recording information simultaneously on two charts) and both drivers must keep records all the time showing driving, other periods of work, breaks and daily rest periods.

Checks and inspections.

Equipment must be checked when installed and after repair at an approved calibration center. Every two years the vehicle must go to a calibration center for the tachograph to be checked. A more comprehensive inspection, including real libration, must be made every six years.

The design of a warehouse and handling system is not only the production of a drawing showing the position and size of racking or other storage areas, and the aisle runs, handling areas, offices and truck charging points. It is that, but it is also the specification of the unit loads, equipment types and quantities, operating systems and methods including ancillary and service activities, information and communication systems, staff levels and organizational structure, and the capital and capital operating costs. It should also indicate the external layout and space requirements for vehicle access, maneuver and parking, and for car parking, site security and other external activities.

A principle of good design is to define the overall system requirements, and by analyzing the relevant data, produce a design incorporating methods and equipment that most closely match those requirements. One implication of this is that it is not true to claim that one type or level of mechanization or automation is always the right solution to warehouse design. The old adage of "horses for courses" applies, and the best design is that which most closely matches the initially specified system requirements and constraints.

Tender evaluation is usually undertaken with a view of identifying key data and information from the tenders submitted and then drawing comparisons between the different submissions, hence the importance of using a response format that is straightforward for the contractor to use. Comparisons are going to be quantitative- mainly assessing the relative costs of the different solutions, and qualitative- a consideration of all the non quantifiable aspects that may be relevant. For a typical as the standard ones, and they have been discussed in previous chapters. They would include the costs of storage, delivery transport, information systems, administration, overheads and management fee — depending on the extent of the logistics operation to be outsourced. Costs may be expressed as totals for the operation as a whole or as unit cost per pallet stored, case delivery, etc. some key considerations are;

• Compare quotations on a standard basis.

• Be clear what has and what has not been included.

• It is likely that the quotation includes some qualifications (perhaps because of the interpretation of the specification). These need to be clarified or eliminated.

• Beware of imponderables such as "likely future rent review".

• Check that service levels are clearly going to be met.

• The lowest price may not be the best.

Order filling is represented by the physical activities required to

1) Acquire the items through stock retrieval, production, or purchasing;

2) Pack the items for shipment;

3) Schedule the shipment for delivery; and

4) Prepare the shipping documentation.

A number of these activities may take place in parallel with those of order entry, thus: compressing processing time.

Setting order" filling priorities and the associated procedures affect the total order cycle time for individual orders. Too often firms have not established any formalized rules by which orders are to be entered and dealt with during the initial stages of order filling. One company experienced significant delays in filling important customer orders when order clerks, during busy periods, would handle the less — complicated orders first. Priorities for processing orders may affect the speed with which all orders are processed or the speed with which the more important orders are handled. Some alternative priority rules might be the following :

• First - received, first — processed

• Shortest processing time

• Prespecified priority number

• Smaller, less - complicated orders first

• Earliest promised delivery date

• Orders having the least time before promised delivery date

This chapter highlighted and summarized some of the critical points of principle and key strategic issues that impact on the design and management of ware-house systems. These must be taken into account if warehouse are to function effectively within the wider context of the supply chain.

Warehouses and their handling systems are not stand — alone activities. Their roles and objectives should be determined by the overall supply chain with-in which they operate. They should integrate closely with the other components in the supply chain. They are expensive and should be well designed and effectively managed, and the way they operate will have an immediate impact on both customer service and costs.

The warehousing section of this book is concerned primarily with the handling and storage of unit loads. It is however considered that the basic principles that underpin the subject area are also valid in the context of other handling and storage operations such as the storing and handling of bulk solids.

The concluding section of this chapter outlined the significance of packaging and unit loads in the supply chain, and summarized their use and benefits.

Examples of unit loads include pallets, stillages, roll cage pallets, skid sheets, tote boxes and hanging garment rails.

Unit loads to be handled and stored in a warehouse, which may change as material moves through the warehouse, will influence the choice of equipment required and the ability to utilize space effectively, and should therefore be established early in the design process. Suppliers may impose the unit loads in which material arrives at a warehouse and customers may specify dispatch unit loads, hut the warehouse designer should use whatever freedom of choice exists to en-sure the appropriate unit loads for the processes being carried out.

The benefits of using unit loads include equipment standardization, minimization of movement, material security, and facilitating and minimizing the time for loading and unloading vehicles. For example, roll cage pallets used for picking grocery products enable cases of different sizes to be accumulated and handled in a common unit. Standard handling equipment can be used for moving the roll cages, and if the cages are used for stores deliveries, there is no need to transfer picked goods into another unit load before vehicle loading.