Brussels, 22/02/2011 (Agence Europe) - Optimistic at the shared willingness of the other parties to the WTO to conclude the laborious Doha negotiations in 2011, Karel De Gucht has called on them to work on the basis of the 2008 compromise, and to conclude the work of the sectoral agreements in industry and services.
“The Doha Round, which came into being in the wake of the attacks of 9/11 and which is dedicated to development, is entering its 10th year (…). In light of the various economic challenges, many countries now have a feeling of urgency to conclude the negotiations. At the World Economic Forum in Davos in late January, I felt a strong willingness on the part of the main players to conclude the talks this year”, explained the trade commissioner, in a speech before the plenary assembly of NATO, in Brussels on Monday 21 February. De Gucht therefore called on them to keep “what is already on the table - 80% of the overall package, according to Pascal Lamy”, in other words the compromise sketched out at the ministerial meeting of Geneva in July 2008, and to “flesh it out by obtaining concrete results in the areas where our work is not finished”: the chapters on the trade in services, rules and sectoral agreements in industry, which aim at the voluntary phasing-out of customs duty in 14 key industrial sectors, such as automotive, electronics, machines, toys and textiles (Ed: at this stage, convergence on this dossier is still outstanding, pending a firm commitment on the part of the large emerging economies, particularly China).
“What is already on the table is not negligible. The evaluations indicate annual gains of €135 billion for world GDP and €310 billion for world trade. But we must not limit our ambition to this”, stressed the commissioner, adding that an agreement on services and the sectoral agreements for industry “would increase these gains a bit more”, bringing world GDP to $300 billion. De Gucht also stressed the importance of the results of this development round “duly satisfying the needs of the poorest and most vulnerable member countries of the WTO” and reinforcing their integration into the multilateral trade system.
“In order to complete the round, all of the principal actors need to contribute more”, the commissioner warned, adding that “if the EU and the United States must continue in their traditional roles as leader, the large emerging economies, which have made considerable profits from the world trade system in recent decades, have given rise to expectations”. The window of opportunity offered by 2011 must be seized, he said, once again warning of the risk of “sustainable damage” to the world trade system in the event of failure. (E.H./transl.fl)