All members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) have said that
they would like the Doha Round of trade talks to continue in Geneva
despite a major setback in Potsdam, Germany among the G4 players,
trade sources said on Friday.
Heads of delegations of the WTO's 150 members met on Friday at
the WTO's headquarters to discuss the next steps of the trade
talks, after negotiations among the G4 major players -- the US, EU,
Brazil and India -- collapsed in Portsdam on Thursday.
The G4 had meant to bridge their gaps on crucial issues such as
agriculture trade and industrial market access, which would be
helpful to pave the way for convergence among all WTO members. But
their three-day negotiations only resulted in the shifting of
blames.
At Friday's meeting, all WTO members expressed their
disappointment at the result of the Potsdam negotiations, but they
also expressed their full support to the continuing multilateral
process in Geneva, trade sources said.
Addressing the meeting, WTO Dierector-General Pascal Lamy
reiterated that the G4 negotiations alone could not decide the fate
of the Doha Round trade talks.
"This negotiation is not a negotiation among just 4 players, it
is a collective endeavor among all the participants in the round
--150 members and 29 acceding observers," Lamy said.
"I have repeatedly stressed that the core of negotiation is the
Geneva process -- the only place where decisions can and should
betaken," he added.
Lamy also urged WTO members to restore confidence and, through
the multilateral process in Geneva, to make the Doha Round a
success.
According to WTO sources, the chairs of different Negotiating
Groups, particularly those on agriculture and NAMA
(Non-Agricultural Market Access), would have a key role to play in
the next two to three weeks.
The chairs are expected to present revised draft texts on
agriculture and NAMA in early July, which might be the basis for
compromise among WTO members.
Lamy has indicated that WTO members need to reach interim
agreement on agriculture and NAMA before August so that they could
conclude the whole round of talks at the end of the year or early
next year.
While all WTO members said they are committed to the
multilateral talks in Geneva, they know that it is very hard to
reach agreement on agriculture and NAMA, given the wide differences
between developed members and developing ones.
At Friday's meeting, developing members stressed again that the
Doha Round is a development round and special concerns of
developing members must be addressed in any final agreement.
They also urged the US, EU and other developed members to offer
substantial cuts in agriculture subsidies and tariffs in exchange
for proportionate concessions of developing members in industrial
market access.
"If the major developed members want to take much from the
developing members, they have, first and foremost, to decide what
they are ready to give the developing members," the Chinese
delegation said.
"Without stopping the lip service and replacing it with concrete
actions by taking into serious account of the development-dimension
of the round and fully accommodating the special difficulties of
the developing members, we could never have a successful conclusion
of the negotiations," it said.
(Xinhua News Agency June 23, 2007)
