Brussels, 07/02/2014 (Agence Europe) - The 159 WTO member countries have started their discussions in Geneva to implement the agreements made in Bali on trade facilitation and the agricultural section.
WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo, the architect of the historic partial agreement on the Doha round - which was made at the ministerial conference in Bali in December 2013 (see EUROPE 10980) - has not let up the pressure and has called on the member countries to implement the Bali package in 2014. “Bali is not only a great achievement for us all - it's also a great opportunity. There is real political momentum and we must make use of it”, Azevedo told ambassadors from the member countries on 6 February. He called on the leaders of the negotiation groups to engage in a dialogue with the member countries on the Doha Round issues on which progress can be made.
The Bali package can be summarised as a package of measures aiming to simplify trade, to offer developing countries more options to ensure food security, to stimulate trade in the least developed countries (LDCs) and, more generally, to support development. The key point of the partial agreement on the Doha Round is an agreement on trade facilitation, which includes a packet of binding rules to simplify and ease customs procedures. This partial agreement also includes a development package, and it makes things clear on the agricultural section of the Doha round - it contains a memorandum of understanding on tariff rate quota administration, a decision on export competition for the parallel removal of all forms of export subsidies, and a provisional exemption for public stockholding in developing countries for food security purposes.
Work has already started in Geneva to implement these agreements. The agriculture committee set to work on 29 January - with the objective of compiling all the necessary data and information on the development of the situation in the area of export competition, ready for an initial assessment in June. Meanwhile, the preparatory committee for trade facilitation elected its leader - the ambassador of the Philippines, Esteban B. Conejos Jr, during its first meeting on 31 January. (EH/transl.fl)