Brussels, 28/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - At an extraordinary session of the WTO's General Council on Thursday 27 November, the 160 WTO member countries adopted three key decisions stemming from the Bali package concluded in December 2013. The way is thus paved for ratification of the trade facilitation agreement (TFA), and the multilateral process has been restarted after being blocked by India since the summer.
The first decision that was adopted is a protocol for implementing the TFA. The TFA is the first concrete result of the Doha round (launched in 2001) and the central point of the Bali package. It includes a package of binding rules to simplify and reduce customs procedures, thus facilitating trade flows. Studies assess the gains for the world economy at between $400 billion and $1 trillion - gains which result from a 10% to 15% reduction in trade costs under the TFA.
The second text that was adopted reinterprets the decision taken in Bali on public stockholding for food security purposes, by extending the moratorium for the peace clause to an undetermined date. (The peace clause allows developing countries to stock food beyond the limits set by the WTO for domestic support, without these measures being contested at the WTO.) The text states that the utmost effort will have to be made to agree on a permanent solution by 31 December 2015.
In Bali, the Indian government, led by Manmohan Singh, obtained a moratorium for the peace clause until 2017. However, this deadline was not considered enough by the current government led by Narendra Modi, who blocked adoption of the protocol for implementing the TFA by linking it to demands on food security. The compromise reached on 13 November between the US and India enabled the situation to be unblocked by agreeing that the situation might not be challenged until a permanent solution is found.
The WTO member countries also agreed on a July 2015 deadline on Thursday for establishing a post-Bali work programme for the Doha Round. This has a very ambitious liberalisation programme covering agriculture, industrial products, services, and the facilitation of trade and rules. Nevertheless, after the member countries' failure to conclude an agreement in 2008 - which was within reach - linking the sections on agricultural and industrial products, the round remained in stalemate until the Bali conference.
“We have made it (…) We have put our negotiating work back on track”, said head of the WTO, Roberto Azevêdo, welcoming “a renewed commitment to the multilateral system”. “The WTO is back in business”, said European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström. “Today's decisions not only implement the landmark Bali agreements, they confirm the WTO's role at the centre of international trade policy”, she said. “Once in force, [the TFA] will help developing countries better integrate into the global economy, intensify regional integration and lift millions out of poverty”, added Malmström, recalling the EU's promise of technical assistance to help less developed countries (LDCs) implement the agreement. (EH)