Brussels, 02/12/2012 (Agence Europe) - The eighth ministerial World Trade Organisation (WTO) conference in Geneva (Switzerland) on 15-17 December will officially admit three new WTO member countries, Vanuatu, the Samoan Islands and Russia, but will note failure in meeting the 2011 deadline of reaching agreement on the Doha Trade Round at global level, particularly among the G20 group of industrialised and emerging economies. The Doha trade talks, with a focus on development, started in 2001.
The areas where agreement was reached among delegations were submitted on 1 December 2011 by the WTO Council to Nigeria's trade minister, Olusegun Olutoyin Aganga, who will be chairing the eighth WTO ministerial conference. The areas where agreement has been reached will feature in a final statement by ministers that will also say that no multinational trade deal has been reached -defenders say this deal would have saved the world from economic doom and gloom.
The trade ministers of the 153 WTO countries will explain that they support the multilateral trading system, based on clear rules, which should be strengthened and adapted to fit the current world trading environment and difficulties, and which should ensure the opening up of markets because protectionism tends to slow down the global economy. The ministers will say that development is key to the WTO's work and needed to help get developing countries better rooted in world trade, particularly the least developed countries and small, vulnerable, countries. The ministers will say they want to take an ambitious and fast approach to cotton, a key export for many poor countries.
But the ministers will especially be putting on paper the fact that agreement has not been reached in the Doha trade talks, and that they “deeply regret that, despite full engagement and intensified efforts to conclude the Doha Development Agenda single undertaking since the last ministerial conference, the negotiations are at an impasse. Ministers acknowledge that there are significantly different perspectives on the possible results that members can achieve in certain areas of the single undertaking. In this context, it is unlikely that all elements of the Doha Development Round could be concluded simultaneously in the near future. Despite this situation, ministers remain committed to work actively, in a transparent and open manner, towards a successful, multilateral conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda in accordance with its mandate. In order to achieve this end and to facilitate swifter progress, ministers recognise that members need to more fully explore different negotiating approaches while respecting the principles of transparency, and inclusiveness... Ministers stress that they will intensify their efforts to look into ways that may allow members to overcome the most critical and fundamental stalemates in the areas where multilateral convergence has proven to be especially challenging.” (EH/transl.fl)