Brussels, 26/11/2004 (Agence Europe) - the Third Parliamentary Conference on the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which was held last week in Brussels under the aegis of the Inter-Parliamentary Union and the European Parliament (yesterday's EUROPE, p.16), closed on Friday with the adoption of a "Declaration of Brussels", which underlines the strong attachment of parliamentarians of the member countries of the WTO to the promotion of "free and fair trade that benefits people everywhere, enhances sustainable development and reduces poverty". Negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) must end with a result which guarantees "genuine balance of benefit for all WTO members" and "fair and equitable relations" between importing and exporting countries and developing countries, which brings with it "real gains for developing countries, and especially the least-developed countries".
The declaration also refers to the main subjects of the negotiations underway. For industrial products, it stressed the importance of reducing customs duty, particularly in order to improve market access for developing countries, and reducing or even removing tariff and non-tariff barriers to trade in environmental products. "Clear progress in these areas is needed to help the world trade system to function (…) more effectively", the declaration reads. On agriculture, the parliamentarians welcome last July's framework agreement, and launched an appeal to the WTO countries to define the notion of "sensitive product", and issues of particular interest to developing countries. The position of these countries must be taken into account during all negotiations, the declaration underlines: "at each step of the (…) negotiations, including those on regional trade arrangements the concerns of developing countries in respect of poverty reduction, food security and sustainable livelihoods must be kept at the forefront". It adds: "We attach the highest importance to the pressing needs of developing countries dependent on tropical agricultural commodity exports, notably sugar, bananas and cotton". Hunger and famine are still ravaging the poorest people, the deputies note. For this reason, they appeal for the problems of under-nourishment and hunger to be taken more into account in multilateral negotiations. "We emphasis in this regard on the one hand the responsibility of developed countries, which produce and export the bulk of food commodities and secondly the need, and indeed the obligation, for developing countries to promote bold, proactive rural development policies in earnest", the declaration stipulates. On services, the parliamentarians plead in favour of "careful" liberalisation, particularly for services which touch upon fundamental human rights and basic needs such as public health, education, culture and social needs. "Liberalisation of such services should not be imposed by wealthier countries, nor should it be used in negotiations on export subsidies". The declaration also stresses that the parliaments of WTO member countries can bring greater democratic legitimacy to negotiations under the Doha round.
In his speech at the final session of the conference, the Director General of the WTO, Supachai Panitchpakdi, spoke of the "enormous challenge" of translating the guidelines adopted in the framework agreement of last July into a final agreement on the Doha round. "The July agreement is a good basis, and we must now look at the details, which will not be an easy task. But it is not an insurmountable task, plus the working atmosphere is a good one", he said. He also warned the countries of the WTO not to use their time and resources negotiating bilateral or regional free trade agreements, but to concentrate on multilateral negotiations. "I need all members to focus their attention, interest and staff on negotiations in Geneva, permanently", Mr Supachai insisted, noting that the "proliferation of bilateral and regional agreements also raises problems of monitoring" and compatibility with international rules.
Speaking to the press, Mr Supachai stated that the EU would probably call an informal ministerial meeting next spring (March/April) to establish the agenda of negotiations for 2005, including the objectives for the ministerial meeting planned for 13-18 December 2005 in Hong Kong. We should not ascribe "exaggerated ambitions" to the Hong Kong meeting, because whatever happens, we will have to continue negotiations beyond that date, to try to reach overall agreement in 2006, he warned.