Brussels, 07/07/2005 (Agence Europe) - In a speech made on Wednesday in Edinburgh on the eve of the G8 summit, Commissioner Peter Mandelson (trade) launched an appeal to G8 leaders to “turn personal conscience into real political commitment by giving their support to an ambitious conclusion for WTO negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda (DDA). He underlined that the number one priority in the DDA had to be helping Africa create the conditions in which it could also benefit from the opening up of the markets and liberalisation of world trade (“aid for trade”). If Africa could gain an additional 1%, global trade would deliver seven times more income every year than the continent currently receives in aid.
The trade priority at the G8 summit should therefore be giving a new boost to Doha negotiations, explained the Commissioner, who also called for several powerful leaders on the planet to reach an agreement at Gleneagles on four principles: better market access for developing countries (LDCs) (Mr Mandelson is also requesting that the USA, Japan, and Canada follow the EU's example by adopting a similar or identical system to the “Everything but Arms” system, which accords less developed countries ion the world entirely free access (no quotas or duties) to the European market; at the same time, it is important that the LDCs reduce their barriers they have between them in trade, in a way that would allow for the gradual development of regional markets); Mandelson also appealed in this sense, for the gradual abolition of subsidies for agricultural exports (the EU has produced proposals in this sense and the others, notably the USA should follow suite, explained the Commissioner; more effective development aid that is more targeted on improving the trade capacities of LDCs so that they can effectively benefit from new opportunities created by the opening up of the markets; more development friendly rules; the G8 should reform the rules of origin so trade with LDCs is facilitated; more flexibility in the application of WTO rules on developing countries; Mr Mandelson supports the idea of establishing arrangements that would allow for a temporary waiver of the application of certain WTO rules for the most vulnerable LDCs.