Bali, 03/12/2013 (Agence Europe) - The World Trade Organisation top management and the Indonesian presidency are urging member states to assume their responsibilities in order to prevent a collapse of multilateralism.
In opening comments at the WTO 9th ministerial conference in Bali from 3 to 6 December, Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, his minister for trade, Gita Wirjawan, and WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo spared no effort to warn the 159 member nations of the risk that the multilateral trade system could implode unless a partial agreement is reached on the Doha Round.
“It is now or never. (…) Failure would be tragic. (…) Multilateralism is at stake”, pounded out Azevedo, comparing the deadlock of the Doha talks since 2008 to a “long night”. Addressing the members of the delegations, he said: “I hope that perhaps, here in Bali, we will once again see the morning of the World trade Organisation”. Despite the failure of preparatory work in Geneva to settle a partial draft agreement that only needed to be validated by the ministers in Bali, including a trade facilitation agreement, a development package and a number of agricultural elements of the Doha Round (see EUROPE 10975), the Brazilian diplomat still has hope. “Members want an agreement”, he said, adding that there was “almost unanimous agreement” and that they were “nearly at the finishing line”.
This week, ministers must therefore tackle ten texts: one on trade facilitation, four on agriculture (one on public stock holding for food security purposes, one on export competition, one on tariff rate quotas administration, and one on general services in agriculture); and five documents on development (one on the special and differential treatment control mechanism, one on duty-free quota-free market access for LDCs, one on rules of origin for LDCs, one on cotton and one on triggering the derogation concerning preferential treatment for services and service providers for LDCs). These texts come with around 60 brackets around the thorniest provisions still to be negotiated.
Furthermore, the Bali conference is expected to adopt a decision on Yemen's entry into the ranks of the WTO, and a decision on the moratorium on customs duties for electronic trade. (EH/transl.jl)