Brussels, 30/03/2011 (Agence Europe) - Wide differences persist among the 143 member countries of the WTO Doha Round talks, making prospects of a compromise in July, then the final agreement before the end of the year, wanted by the G20, somewhat bleak. Countries will have to show great flexibility if they want to have the revised draft compromises in the three key areas - agriculture, industrial goods and services - on the table for Easter. Deeming the situation “serious”, Head of the WTO Pascal Lamy will begin individual consultations with the main players on 4 April.
The usually optimistic Lamy could not hide his exasperation when addressing the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee on Tuesday, speaking for the first time of possible Doha Round failure, and calling on members to consider the consequences. “Now is the time for all of you, and in particular those among you who bear the largest responsibility in the system, to reflect on the consequences of failure. To reflect on the cost of the non-Round to the world economy as well as to the development prospects of members, in particular the smaller and least developed which are most dependent on an improved set of global trade rules And above all, it is time to think about the consequences of the non-Round to the multilateral trading system which we have so patiently built over the last 70 years”, he told the ambassadors of the member states on 29 March.
“In all honesty, we're not on target.” Less than a month from the deadline set for bringing forward revised draft compromises on each of the three major pillars of the talks, Lamy warned on Tuesday that differences remained too great to be able to produce these texts before Easter (24-25 April). He identified the industrial goods sectoral agreements as the main stumbling block. These seek to phase out tariffs, on a voluntary basis, in 14 key industrial sectors, such as cars, electronic goods, machines, toys, chemical products and textiles. It is not, however, the only one: “The absence of progress in NAMA sectorals constitutes today a major obstacle to progress on the remaining market access issues. However … there are other issues, whether in agriculture or to a larger extent in services, which have not been resolved either”, he said.
With differences seemingly insurmountable in liberalising customs duties on industrial goods, Lamy will, on 4 April, begin individual consultations, which will last two weeks, with the main players. He wants to assess the intentions of a representative sample of countries before deciding on how to act.
On Tuesday, member countries' ambassadors also expressed their frustration at the lack of real progress since the breakdown in 2008. US Ambassador Michael Punke, whose country is widely criticised behind the scenes for its do-nothingness, slammed the slowness of discussions and the persistence of “huge” differences. He also said he was unsure of the usefulness of producing the revised texts at Easter, wondering if publication would not do more harm than good. “The information on the recent bilateral discussions show clearly that differences between key partners in the negotiations are very large. Some parties involved in the bilaterals even feel that they cannot be overcome. But we are ready to make concessions because there is obvious reciprocity on the part of our interlocutors”, said Brazilian Ambassador Roberto Azevedo. China maintained its refusal to countenance any further concessions on industrial goods, stating that “what is being asked goes beyond what is possible, even though (it wants) to do everything possible to save the Round”. “We are at a critical point where the window of opportunity highlighted by the G20 is closing. Either we find a solution quickly to overcome the differences, particularly market access for industrial goods (NAMA), or we will not be able to conclude the Round in 2011”, Mexican Ambassador Fernando de Matteo told reporters.
The Commission states “the EU side is aware of the current difficulties”, but says “we do not consider failure at this stage”. “Clearly the gaps are wide, but we are not ready to declare that those gaps are unbridgeable”, comments John Clancy, who is spokesman for Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht. Further consultation is needed in small groups, for example as part of the G7 (Australia, Brazil, China, United States, India, Japan and EU), and the EU remains “engaged in substance” in NAMA sectoral negotiations. He concluded by saying: “this is the key” to talks. (E.H./transl.rt)