Brussels, 11/12/2015 (Agence Europe) - The modest results anticipated from the Doha round at the 10th ministerial conference of the WTO, to be held in Nairobi (Kenya) from 15 to 18 December, are very much anyone's guess following the consultation process in Geneva on Friday 11 December.
In a letter published by the WTO on Friday, the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, urged the 162 member countries to “show their political will and necessary flexibilities” to make the Nairobi conference a success. “This ministerial conference will be the first to take place on African soil, a historic occasion, which will do much to help further integrate the African continent into the global trading system”, he stressed.
In an article published in our edition of 8 December (see EUROPE 11447), the Director General of the WTO, Roberto Azevêdo, said that “securing a set of significant results in fields such as agriculture and development [is still] possible in Nairobi”, but went on to stress that the member countries are “still a long way from achieving the objectives of the Doha Round”. “The world needs to decide what it wants from the WTO as a negotiating body and, more specifically, what it wants to do with the Doha negotiating programme, which divides opinion radically”, he added.
Addressing the General Council of the WTO on Monday 7 December, Azevêdo cited the questions of export competition, the special safeguard mechanism for the developing countries and the permanent solution for public stockholdings for food security purposes as being among the “potential deliverables” of the Nairobi conference. The preparatory work did little to bring positions closer together, he, however, added.
In Nairobi, the member countries will also try to wrap up work on a package for the least-developed countries, including full exemption from duty and quotas for their products, relaxing the rules of origin, preferential treatment over services and the question of cotton.
“I hope that we can get a deal on export competition in agriculture, which distorts agricultural markets and makes life difficult for farmers in developing countries that have to compete with subsidised foreign goods”, the Commissioner for Trade, Cecilia Malmstrom, commented on her blog on Friday, calling on “all the major players to engage in good faith” to seal a deal.
Together with Brazil, the EU has tabled an overall proposal, supported by Argentina, New Zealand, Paraguay, Peru and Uruguay, to remove subsidies for direct and indirect exports of agricultural products by the end of 2018 for the developed countries, and by the end of 2021 for the developing countries (see EUROPE 11435).
The only points of optimism include the confirmation of an agreement on the revision of the WTO agreement on information technology (ITA), extending its scope to 200 new products.
The Nairobi conference may also confirm the extension of the moratorium on customs duty for electronic trade.
Finally, the 162 member countries are expected to approve the accession of two new members, Afghanistan and Liberia. (Original version in French by Emmanuel Hagry)