WTO summit : We Do Not See Much Achievement
International press has reportedTthat the entire membership of the World Trade Organisation stressed that development must remain the current round’s central issue during the seventh ministerial summit. According to the two-page summary provided by Andrés Velasco, the Chilean trade minister, also the chairman of the summit, 153 members and 56 observers of the global trade forum stressed on the importance of issues of specific concern to the least developed countries.These include duty-free, quota-free market access, cotton and waiver for services negotiations. However, there was no mention of disproportionately affected countries and
However, the general perception was that the spirit of the demands made by the poorest group of countries was duly reflected in the summary provided by Velasco. The conference chair and the trade forum’s director general, Pascal Lamy, briefing the press on December 2 at the International Conference Centre, Geneva, at the end of the summit, stressed that although this ministerial was not expected to end with a declaration and would not feature any negotiations, there had been substantial improvement as far as negotiating positions were concerned.The chair’s summary, which is merely the reflection of personal opinion of the main topics of discussions over the two-and-a-half days, also stated, ‘There was wide recognition that providing market access to developing countries and LDCs is not enough on its own.’ It further stated that there was a strong need to work on improving the capacity and providing them with assistance to increase their trade volume.
However, it was implicit that the current round of negotiations, launched in 2001 at the Qatari capital of Doha, must include the fully preferential market access for the poorest group of countries in the trade forum.The chairman’s summary is expected to provide a guidance for future negotiations of the trade forum which have remained virtually stalled for the last eight years during which time the impasse led to breaching five deadlines so far. Given the overwhelming consensus that the current round should be completed by the end of 2010, the chairman’s summary states, ‘Ministers reaffirmed the need to conclude the Round in 2010 and for a stock-taking exercise to take place in the first quarter of next year. There was support for asking senior officials to continue to work to map the road towards that point.’ Pascal Lamy confirmed that the stock-taking exercise by senior officials would have to take place within March 2010 since that would be the absolutely latest point that might allow enough time to negotiate a deal by the end of the year. However, Lamy pointed out that meaningful negotiations should not be bound by deadlines but there should be more focus on substance, which was what the trade forum and its entire membership were striving for.The next meeting of ministers is expected to be in 2011, which could perhaps be taken as another deadline for completion of the Doha Round.
We do not see much achievement in the meeting at
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