Brussels, 17/05/2001 (Agence Europe) - On the occasion of the 3rd United Nations Conference on LDCs, Commissioner Pascal Lamy, on Thursday, presented new trade measures - "and not only intentions, speeches", but concrete and immediate, aimed at helping the 48 poorest countries of the planet being inserted in the world economy in view of eradicating poverty and achieving sustainable development.
Other than its recent decision to totally open up its market to their exports in the "Everything but Arms" initiative (EBA), the commitment to providing them with technical assistance, to helping them bolster their capacities and encouraging investments, and its further contribution to the fight against transmissible diseases, the Union has also tried to promote rapid accession for all LDCs to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and its efforts have just led to an agreement within the Quad (EU, United States, Japan and Canada) on the acceleration of this process. To that must be added the intention of renouncing, in the framework of a multilateral initiative, the use of the anti-dumping arsenal against these countries, as long as adequate guarantees are given to prevent any circumvention. The EU urges all developed countries to join in with it.
At the session devoted to international trade, commodities and tourism, held the same morning, Commissioner Lamy confirmed the EU's determination to call for concerted action in all these fields, notably within the Quad where the reservations of his partners over the EBA initiative remain intact (textiles for the United States, rice for Japan, dairy products and textiles for Canada) and in the context of a new round of talks on liberalisation of world trade. It is also determined, he said, to do everything possible to ensure the interests and needs of developing countries take up a central place in the world trading system, including in a new round. "Today we heard strong, sometimes very strong arguments in favour of a round of talks", which "confirm the results of debates that we held yesterday (at the OECD ministerial) in Paris, on the same subject. We must not fall, in Doha, into the same trap as we did in Seattle, making a conference on the launching of a round sound like an end of round conference, negotiating the result of the round before it has begun", he told the press a little later. At his side were Commissioner Poul Nielson, Tanzania's Minister for Trade and Industry Idi Simba, and his counterpart from Bangladesh, Abdoul Jalil, as well as UNCTAD Secretary General Rubens Ricupeiro. The "convergence between what has been said and done in other meetings, with four of us, and here" is "good news", he was pleased to state.
However, if the OECD member countries have finally managed to give a clear signal, expressing themselves in one voice on the round (their will to do as well as they can to launch it from the autumn on in Qatar), there is still considerable reticence and mitigation on the side of the LDCs. "We do not yet speak as one voice", stressed Mr Simba, who coordinates trade consultations. One thing is, however, already clear: "the LDC are open, we have no other solution than to open up but we are also saying we must be prepared" and "existing performances must be evaluated" (Ed.: their difficulties to implement existing commitments) before launching itself into a new round that could extend the indigestion that we have suffered since the end of the Uruguay Round. We need time, while in the knowledge that the world will not wait for us indefinitely. We need your understanding, he said when referring to the situation in these countries. The LDC are poor, remain poor and are even more poor than ten years ago and their numbers are increasing. They have also opened their markets to the rest of the world, but without simultaneously establishing regulatory mechanisms to master this liberalisation. The result is a crisis situation for our economies. Also recalling that many questions on this issue, posed to the developed countries are still without an answer, including those of supply. We have access to the American and European markets, but do we presently have the ability to produce and sell our products? In certain cases we have our own efforts to make and in other cases we need help from our partners, he underlined, while adding: We are open to the prospect of a new round, but it is necessary that our partners are also. Mr Simba added that all the efforts would also be made by the LDC, to coordinate the positions and carefully examine this issue and others that present themselves, their next meeting being scheduled for the end of July in Tanzania.
Mr Lamy recalled that the measures taken and considered in favour of the LDC will contribute towards the re-absorption of certain problems mentioned by Mr Simba. For example, we want for 90% of world trade to no longer apply antidumping measures and, in terms of our tariffs, support the ability of the LDC to achieve our sanitary and phytosanitary standards, which cannot be revised downwards. Mr Lamy and Mr Nielson felt that the initiatives launched by the European Union creates a situation where we can only go further, a sort of rising spiral in favour of the LDC.