Brussels, 02/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - On Friday, the General Council of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) is expected to endorse the latest version of the draft ministerial declaration presented on Thursday evening to WTO Member State experts by WTO Director General Pascal Lamy. The new version, amended last week after several rounds of talks, will form the basis of the negotiations at the Hong Kong Summit of 13-18 December 2005 and is expected to be endorsed by trade ministers at the Summit.
Meeting in Brussels this week for ACP talks (African, Caribbean and Pacific states), representatives of the G90 group of developing countries agreed on a common position and a draft ministerial statement for the Hong Kong Summit, calling for the big WTO players to take account of the impact of unbridled liberalisation on various parts of the world market, like agriculture. At a meeting attended by EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, representatives of Brazil, India (trade minister Kamal Nath) and Japan on Wednesday (see EUROPE 9079)), the G90 states highlighted their concerns - sugar, bananas, cotton and the generalised preference scheme giving their products access to the markets of the developed world. Several G90 states expressed fear that the Doha Round negotiations would ignore fragile economies to the benefit of big farm producers like the European Union, the United States, Brazil and Australia. The big issue for the G90 is access at customs for various sensitive products which would lead to an erosion of the trade preferences most of the G90 group benefits from at the moment, allowing them to access developed countries' markets without paying customs duty. This relative advantage could be seriously jeopardised in the planned general cut in customs tariffs unless a safeguard mechanism is established.
The G4+1 negotiators (the EU, the United States, Brazil + Japan) are expected to meet in Geneva on Friday and Saturday to prepare for the Hong Kong Summit and draw up a detailed agenda for the talks.