Hong-Kong, 12/12/2005 (Agence Europe) - On the eve of the official opening of the 6th WTO Conference which from 13 to 18 December will bring together the trade ministers of 149 countries (soon to be 150 with the accession this week of Tonga), the chief negotiators from the main trading powers have set the tone on Monday for the difficult week to come. At separate press conferences, the Europeans, Americans and Brazilians have effectively stuck to their guns on the subject of the agricultural parts which have paralysed the negotiations for several weeks. “I have come to Hong Kong to do business with my partners and I hope that others have come to do business with me”, warned Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson on Monday morning. “This doesn't mean I will be tabling a new agricultural offer. I don't believe that this is what the round needs now from Europe I do not believe that that is what the Doha Round currently needs from Europe. It therefore comes down to the others to make improved offers in the key areas of negotiations” (manufactured goods and services), he insisted. In its latest offer of 28 October, the EU proposed reducing by 35% to 60% its customs duties (the biggest reductions apply to the highest tariffs which exceed 90%) on the import of agricultural products. However, this offer does not satisfy either the USA (Washington proposes reductions of 55 to 90%), or Brazil, which is waiting for new advances from Europe. Mr Mandelson had, however, already warned on Thursday last week that he would not present a new offer so as not to “lose the support of the Member States”.
“The key to development is market access and because agriculture access is our top challenge and we think that we need to make more progress here”, said the American trade representative Peter Portman. “The US made a bold agricultural proposal in October that is yet to be matched by others including the European Union”, Mr Portman stated (Washington in particular proposed to reduce by 60% the internal support which it offers to its farmers). The American negotiator also stressed that it was crucial that an excessive number of exemptions for sensitive products does not compromise the conclusion of an agreement. On the other hand, as for his European counterpart, he thinks it essential to progress in a balanced fashion on all the negotiating themes, and therefore not to neglect the services and non-agricultural goods sectors. On services, the challenge is to obtain commitments on better market access in the sectors of financial services, telecommunications, ICTs, express delivery services and energy. On manufactured goods, the WTO countries should negotiate a bigger reduction for the highest tariffs to make significant gains. While boasting the unprecedented opening up of the American market to products from developing countries, Mr Portman also acknowledged the need to progress on the negotiations for an adequate development package to improve the chances for the most vulnerable countries to benefit fully from the advantages of more liberalised trade. Ina thinly veiled message to his European counterpart, Mr Portman stressed that such an initiative could not be disassociated from progress in other areas, particularly access to the agricultural market. The issue of erosion of preferences which is of such concern to the poorest countries could still find a response in improved access to the markets of emerging countries.
In the view of the Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minster , Celso Amorim, who spoke on Monday on behalf of his country, and not on behalf of the G20 group of emerging countries of which he is the leader, “the Doha Round will not result in an agreement without an improved offer from the EU on agriculture”. Stressing that Brazil, along with its partners in Mercosur, is prepared to shoulder its responsibilities to guarantee improved market access to LDCs, Mr Amorim also emphasised that the Doha Round was “a cycle dedicated to development, but also an agricultural cycle”. For the Brazilian negotiator, the final conclusion of an agreement depends on three factors: an improved offer from the EU on access to agricultural markets, a consolidated offer on internal support from the USA and a commitment from those developed countries which export agricultural products to eliminate their export subsidies by a given date. “We need progress on language and concepts if not on figures”, insisted Mr Amorim. “It is now clear that unless a miracle takes place, we will not have an agreement in Hong-Kong”, he said, before accusing the rich countries of sacrificing the interests of the developing countries to protect at any cost their farmers, who only make up an infinitesimal section of their population.
Although the threat of another failure of the Doha Round after Cancun in 2003 was already palpable on Monday, some small satisfaction came from the proposal made on Saturday by Japan, the leader alongside Switzerland of the G10 group of net importers, offering as part of the development package access without customs duties or quotas to all developing countries and an envelope of 10 billion dollars in aid for commerce.