Despite warnings by World Trade Organisation director-general Pascal Lamy that the Doha Round of trade talks are ?on the brink of failure?, no member country wants to waste ten years of negotiations. This was what came out of the trade negotiations committee (TNC) meeting after the reports of the chairs of the negotiating committees presented their reports on Apri 21.
At the TNC meeting last week, it was decided that ?WTO ambassadors endorsed on April 29, 2011? Lamy?s plan to consult delegations in Geneva and ministers around the world in the search for ?a different way of achieving a breakthrough in the Doha Development Agenda negotiations?. Lamy will report back at another TNC meeting convened for May 31.
The EU presented a non-paper proposing a compromise in the non-agricultural market access (Nama) negotiations that delegations will study, in particular the US, which is insistent on the emerging countries bringing their tariffs to zero in some sectors.
India?s ambassador Jayant Dasgupta said that documents of April 12 also point to the wide gaps still existing not only in Nama but in many other areas of the negotiations, and commended the fact that the documents helped preserve the progress made in negotiations since 2001, but added that some positions have not been reflected adequately in certain documents.
India agreed with Lamy that it is not feasible to let negotiations gradually drift or renegotiate the mandate at this late stage. Dasgupta reminded the WTO that members have set July 2011 for the conclusion of the text-based negotiations and mid-December for the next ministerial meeting.
He said, ?This round is the only round in the last seven decades that has been specially designated as a Development Round with the professed aim? of bringing the benefits of globalisation within reach of the developing countries. This, he said, is ?so that they can successfully tackle the challenges of poverty, unemployment and growth. In this regard, we do feel very disappointed when we note the attempt to shift the discourse from development to purely mercantilist issues, most of them having scant relevance for developing countries.?
He also drew the attention of the members that the WTO is not only about the Doha Round but also encompasses carrying on with the work to make the global trading system more open, transparent, predictable and development-friendly
He quoted the April 13 Hainan Declaration of the BRICS heads of state as ?Brazil, China, India and South Africa remain committed and call upon other members to support a strong, open, rule-based multilateral trading system embodied in the World Trade Organisation and successful, comprehensive and balanced conclusion of the Doha Development round, built on the progress already made and consistent with its development mandate.?