P&G OFFICIAL: GATT AGREEMENT WOULD DOUBLE EXPORT SALES

Procter & Gamble Co. exports are about $500 million a year.

That could double if the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is ratified, said Edwin L. Artzt, chairman and chief executive of P&T, headquartered in Cincinnati.

Artzt is a supporter of GATT.

"I urge the U.S. Congress to ratify GATT this year," said Artzt in a statement issued this week.

"It will result in a substantial reduction in tariffs and other types of barriers to ding business across international borders."

Once these barriers are removed, or at least reduced, U.S. exports will increase, Artzt said, adding that American workers under GATT would have more and better paying jobs.

The United States has become a tough two-way competitor in the global marketplace, Artzt said.

"We've learned," he said, "that the best way to build business in the U.S. is to reach out beyond our own borders to the global marketplace."

Procter & Gamble, which produces a variety of health and food products, has a large plant in the Cape Girardeau area, a 1,304,758-square-foot (about 30 acres) building. It employs about 1,300 people, with a payroll of more than $50 million.

The plant produces disposable diapers and a feminine hygiene product.

The final vote on the trade pact will probably come in early December, following fall elections.

Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell has vowed to do "everything we can" to win approval of a world trade accord this year.

The Clinton administration wanted a vote right away, but Sen. Ernest Hollings, D-N.C., announced he wanted the full 45 days allotted to his panel under rules governing the legislation.

GATT would cut worldwide tariffs by about $740 billion, reduce other barriers to trade and extend the rules of world trade to services and intellectual property such as computer programs and drug patents.

But, Hollings said the accord would send American jobs overseas and hurt the middle class.

He said he wanted more protection for the textile industry, which is important in his state, but that he also had far wider objections.

The World Trade Organization, which would be created to police the trade accord, would infringe on U.S. sovereignty, he said.

"We'll lose a million textile jobs, but I'm not shilling for a single industry," Hollings told the Associated Press.

"I'm shilling for the United States of America."

Artzt says GATT will generate jobs for P&G.

"When GATT is fully implemented we expect to be able to expand our foreign businesses at a much faster pace, particularly in Latin America and the Asia/Pacific," he said. "As our international business grows, a ripple effect will be felt in the U.S. where jobs will be created to support the growing international business."

Artzt estimates GATT will generate more than 10,000 new jobs for P&G and its U.S. suppliers during the next 10 years.

GATT, he said, provides other opportunities. It will ensure that developing countries follow the same trade rules as developed countries.

It also establishes rules for prompt settlement of trade disputes and expands opportunities for U.S. agricultural products.

GATT was signed last April. "The only thing in the way is U.S. Congressional ratification," Artzt said.

"With a little help from American workers, consumers and taxpayers, we shouldn't have to wait too long to see that happen."