Brussels, 29/02/2000 (Agence Europe) - The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has included development at the heart of its new working programme but should also strengthen participation by parliamentarians to respond to certain concerns raised by globalisation, stressed the institution's Director General Mike Moore and European Commissioner Pascal Lamy, when speaking last week before the European Parliament's Committee on Development and Cooperation, chaired by Joaquim Miranda (Portugal, EUL/NGL).
"Trade and commercial policy must assume their role in the scenario of broadened development", Mr. Moore told MEPs, but "trade in itself is not enough" to remedy all the misery affecting the populations of the third world (AIDS, war, debt servicing). It nevertheless remains "vital" for developing countries. "Greater integration of the world economic system has led to an unprecedented reduction in poverty over the past few years", he recalled, citing the example of open economic policies thanks to which nations in East Asia and the Pacific have been able to raise their living standards and reduce poverty in proportions never seen before: thus, 40% of the population of this region of the world lived on less than $1 a day forty years ago and this percentage has now fallen to 10% as a consequence of the expansion of international trade and the rise in investments by rich countries into poor ones (from $20 billion to $150 billion between 1990 and 1998). Parliaments must take advantage of the privileged relationship they have with the public to pass on this message and inform it of the advantages of the multilateral trading system, he said, conceding that the WTO could no doubt do better, for its part, by showing itself to be more open and responsible. "This is the goal I have set myself", he said, stipulating: "We must get parliamentarians to participate in a more targeted manner, more orderly and more organised. For that we need the help of governments; I shall therefore be proposing concrete means for achieving that result". He recalled that WTO efforts were now focused on priority problems linked to development, as well as the pursuit of consultations since the failure of Seattle and opening of negotiations on agriculture and services in March. The least advanced countries (LACs), which are the most marginalised in the world, must not be excluded from globalisation and it is essential that we who provide the loans and international agencies react in an integrated manner, he said, hoping that European initiatives aimed at granting them market access would be largely followed. As for the participation of developing countries in the WTO's consultative and decision-making procedures, Mr. Moore assured his audience that things were now changing: the principle of consensus, which is the "strength" of the multilateral trade system, remains non-negotiable, and all members must be involved in the work, including those that have no representation in Geneva. Also priorities are the problems developing countries come up against when implementing the Marrakech Agreements, an issue he intends to press forward. In addition, the funding of technical assistance activities, whose budget currently stands at half a million dollars (sum largely increased thanks to the generosity of the Member States of the Union) needs improving. A set budget is essential, he said. Finally, Mr. Moore promised that the WTO, currently in a phase of growth, would react to the requests for changes, notably those made by the small insular States of the Caribbean whose role is becoming more active in Geneva.
Likewise, the European Commission responsible for Trade, Pascal Lamy, recommended a trade policy approach that linked actual market opening of the industrialised countries to increased financial aid for implementing good practices within developing countries. These countries, he said, suffer from badly controlled globalisation together with the lack of institutions and good local governance, that prevent the considerable potential benefits of trade liberalisation to be gathered. There has also to be coherence between the policy applied towards them and other Community policies, as well as coherence between action of the WTO aand that of the Bretton Woods institutions and other branches of the UN (ILO, UNEP, UNDP, etc.). "I believe," he said, "that if developing countries create the right conditions at home, they can become the main beneficiaries of the strategies that the European Commission is proposing for post-Seattle". Mr. Lamy stressed that the agenda, that he presented to Euro-MPs at the beginning of the year, "is not simple generosity on our part," as "accession of developing countries, now present in force within the WTO, is essential for the successful launch of the Millennium Round. That is why, moreover, "I shall embark on a trip that in the coming weeks that will take me to Brazil, India, Cairo, and without forgetting China". Regarding the European initiative of duty exemptions and quantitative restrictions in favour of the LACs, initiative that is part of this agenda, the Commissioner wondered "whether the restriction by which this measure will apply essentially to all goods could be maintained for long", considering, for his part, that the "abolition of the non-discrimination clause within the ACP Group, result of the agreement that has just been concluded, enables the Community to begin an exercise totally liberalising market access for the LACs". To that demarche, he counts associating concrete measures in the field of "capacity building" and technical assistance in the same spirit as Mike Moore's plan, as well as a WTO proposal to launch a pilot programme to help developing countries overcome their difficulties in implementing the Customs Assessment Agreement. "This would provide a concrete measure to the advantages that the new approach recommended by the EC may produce", he concluded, also backing the increase in the regular budget requested by Mr. Moore. He recommended, moreover, involving parliamentarians in talks in Geneva, beginning with annual meetings of parliaments of member countries to eventually lead to an advisory parliamentary assembly within the WTO.
"The need to reform the multilateral trading system was highlighted by the Ministerial Conference in Seattle that clearly exposed the weaknesses of the system and underlined the need for change", Mr. Gakunu, responsible for the commercial division of the ACP Secretariat, agreed, while welcoming the fact that "the WTO not being the GATT, decisions must be taken through consensus". The ACP were "extremely disappointed and frustrated by the process, especially because their concerns found no place in the ultimate draft declarations in Seattle", he continued, recalling the demands of these countries, notably: a) joint undertakings to make of the next round a round for development; b) greater transparency in talks in the "Green Room" (restricted sessions), a mechanism that could even be abandoned and replaced by the use of the concept of regional groups; c) measures for the LACs; d) extension of end-of-term agreements; e) an institutional reform; f) an exemption for the new ACP-EU Agreement; g) technical assistance that would enable ACP States to participate effectively in negotiations; h) preparatory meetings before any ministerial negotiations or discussions; i) the setting up of an advisory group and review of the inadequacies of the Agreements of the previous round. He then reaffirmed, despite Mr. Moore's denial of the "myth", that developing countries had been left on the side by that Round that had left them with "enormous" implementing costs and "very few" benefits. Mr. Gakunu then turned towards the Union, urging it to take the leadership of a commitment by the industrialized nations to reduce their agricultural subsidies so as to "convince the developing countries that it is not only sincere in its commitment vis-à-vis free-trade but also that free trade is beneficial for all". He stressed that the broad agenda for the new round defended by Brussels, could have "serious implications for the ACP States, the least being the burden it would add on their already limited financial and human resources to conduct these negotiations. He then recalled that the 55 ACP members of the Geneva institution were faced with too heavy participation costs for their fragile economies, whereas those that aspire to join have difficulty in responding to the "too demanding and onerous" conditions set by Geneva.
Some perplexity and concerns on the part of Euro-MPs
During the debate that followed, Euro-MPs expressed concerns regarding the effects of globalisation on developing countries, some of them relaying proposals by NGOs of exempting medicines, and even withdrawing food production from the WTO, to which Mr. Moore replied: "most developing countries want agriculture to stay". To those concerned at the new ACP-EU Partnership Agreement, Mr. Lamy said that it retained the preferential and non-reciprocal access of Lome IV for a further eight years, recalling that the Union had undertaken to conclude economic integration agreements with the ACP. Together with the parliamentarians, he took advantage of the presence of Mr. Moore "to enroll him in the request for an exemption" in favour of that agreement, which the WTO Director General politely side-stepped saying that he had not yet received the official texts". Finally, Mr. Lamy congratulated Mr. Van den Bos (NL, ELDR) who asked him who were those blocking the report on the coherence of the EU's Trade/Development Strategy, stating that this document "is still at services level" and that he was "well informed".