Brussels, 14/10/2003 (Agence Europe) - Just a few days from talks to be resumed in Geneva on an informal note, the G22 countries - renamed G20 Plus after several defections and new members - confirmed their commitment to the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and to an open multilateral system on the occasion of their first ministerial meeting since the failure of the Cancun Conference. This weekend in Buenos Aires (see EUROPE of 11 October, p.10), about a dozen members of the group, which brings together emergent countries such as Brazil, Argentina, India, China, South Africa and developing countries, signed a joint statement along these lines. The others were not present or had refused to sign up to the statement, mainly Peru which has announced its withdrawal, as well as Guatemala and Uruguay. "The process must be continued", was a comment heard on the Indian side, whereas South Africa insisted that "Cancun was a mid-term review and not the end of talks". Also, explained Pretoria's Ambassador to Geneva, "we are somewhat stupefied by the fact that Europeans consider this as a major setback and that the Americans are reviewing all their strategies". "We believe that the EU as well as the United States do not have a sufficient political resolve" to progress on farm land and "we call upon them to develop this political resolve", he said, in remarks reported by AFP.
In the meantime, at WTO, a roadmap is promised for rekindling negotiations, using a method whereby institutional functions are brought into question, and above all a question is raised about the consensus required for all members to move forward.