WTO, the last chance?
29/06/2006:
WTO members are gathering in Geneva to try to relaunch Doha round of
liberalisation of the exchanges, started in 2001. The objective of this round
was to support the development of the poorest countries by a better integration
to world trade in order to reduce poverty.
The objective of the June meeting, presented as the last chance for multilateralism, was to obtain assessed decisions on 3 main points in the negotiation : the reduction on customs dues on agricultural and industrial products and the amount of agricultural subvention reductions in opposition to the the agreement signed in Hong Kong in December 2005 in relation with the subventions for export)
For
UE everything is depending on US position, especially in regards with its
agricultural support.
US
and Brazil, as well as other agricultural products exporters, are expecting the
offer of UE regarding a reduction of customs dues. This is particularly delicate for Switzerland and G10, as
they massively import agricultural products and for this reason wish a high
protection of their own production.
The
developed countries want G20 (emerging countries under the lead of Brazil) to
open their market to industrial production imports.
The
760 parenthesis that we can find in the preliminary version of the text on
agriculture are as much as litigious points. This also shows that there is nearly no agreement on the
current agenda.
From
June 29 onwards, the 6 main forces in presence (US, UE, Brazil, India,
Australia and Japan) separated without any single sign of their will to
progress.
The
margin manoeuvres of M. Mandelson (European Commissar in charge of trade) are
quite reduced as France was opposed to new concessions that would have
questioned the Common Agricultural Policy.
Next
electoral deadlines in Brazil, in US and France made more difficult, week by
week, to solve the crisis and the possibility to find an agreement.
Time
is very short from now to the expiration in June 2007 of the possibility for
Bush administration to negotiate in the name of the Congress. The TPA (Trade Promotion Authority) is
actually an American law that gives the President the right to conclude trade
agreements without any possibility for the Congress to amend the same.
As he
couldn't release the discussions and find out the good formula on agricultural
issues, M. Lamy (general director of WTO) was forced to suspend the Doha Round
on July 24.
This
failure was that much resounding that the G8 leaders, gathered in St Petersburg
one week before, had called to fix the main lines of consensus from now to mid
of August in order to conclude the negotiations before the end on 2006.
Each
delegation has rejected the responsibility of the failure on the others. US, inflexible on the support to its
agriculture has deceived UE.
The
UE was ready to ignore the warnings of FRANCE whom estimated that the European
Commissar went to the extreme limits of its mandate.
Strong
tensions have shown the important divergences in between the WTO members in
regards to the priorities for development, with a strong accent placed on
access to markets.
"Time
has come to accept the failure of Doha agenda and to insufflate a new breath in
regards with multilateral trade agreements, capable to serve the needs of
development and to put the human being at the centre of trade policy".
Since
many years, FIMARC and MIJARC have been insisting on the necessity to include
those 2 pre-request, the needs of development and the central place of human
being at the hart of the negotiation.
The
failure just happened to the WTO, in its attempt to find out an agreement on
the 3 points of the negotiation agenda of June, is the real proof that without
taking those criteria's into account, no sustainable and convenient negotiation
can be reached.
We
could be happy of this failure because up to certain extend it's better not to
sign negotiation that could have bad effects in a short term especially for
developing countries.
The
re-start of the negotiation, said M. Lamy will be possible only "when
members countries will be ready to play a real game". In his mind, US should compromise to
reduce their domestic supports, Europeans to reduce their customs on
agricultural imports and the emerging countries, such as Brazil, India and
China, to do the same for industrial products.
We
support this position, hoping that the members countries of WTO will be able to
re-start the negotiations, respecting their compromises and putting as first
criteria food sovereignty of the countries, in order to create a trade
organisation that really takes into account the interests of the poorest and
allows them to satisfy their basic needs to live a dignified live.
July 2006