Brussels, 08/02/2007 (Agence Europe) - Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pascal Lamy, struck an optimistic note at the WTO General Council on Wednesday, informing the WTO's top decision-making body: 'I am pleased to be able to report some positive news: we have resumed our negotiations fully across the board.' He informed the diplomats of the WTO's 150 member states that the Doha trade round talks, formally suspended in July 2006, were now back on track. 'Political conditions are now more favourable for the conclusion of the Round than they have been for a long time. Political leaders around the world clearly want us to get fully back to business, although we in turn need their continuing commitment.' 'Since the beginning of the year, we have witnessed a number of developments, starting with an increasing level of political engagement and clear signals of renewed commitment to a successful conclusion of the Round. Messages stressing both the importance and the urgency of concluding the negotiations have been coming in from all sides, including the highest political levels. There have also been very welcome expressions of support from business communities and civil society organisations across a broad range of the membership,' he stated. He added that he had noted 'a wide expectation that we should get back to full negotiating mode here in Geneva'.
The trade talks actually resumed at the technical level in November 2006, but it is clear that the farm deadlock at G6 level (the EU, the United States, Brazil, India, Australia and Japan) have meant that since July 2006, the negotiators have had little time for anything other than farm produce talks and industrial products (NAMAs), relegating negotiations over the privatisation of services, facilitating trade and anti-dumping rules to the sidelines. At the meeting of the thirty or so trade ministers at Davos recently, Pascal Lamy said: 'there was clearly a renewed commitment on all sides to put the Doha Round back on track. All the ministers present at that meeting supported a quick resumption of full scale activity in the different Negotiating Groups and declared that flexibilities were available within their mandates.' Lamy added that with regard to timing, 'in my view we should not attempt to set ourselves any false deadlines. We are all very much aware of the urgency of the task ahead, but it is also important to reach a substantive outcome which is acceptable to everyone. I have told delegations that they must be prepared to engage constructively in this last phase of our work, and I would like to stress that they do so in the full, and shared, conviction that this deal is do-able.'
Washington will have to make move to bring France on board
Lamy has been told by the different negotiating groups that there were 'flexibilities' in their mandates. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson has said that the EU has room to manoeuvre on farm products, and can add more than 10 percent to the offer of an average cut in customs duty of 39% (proposed in October 2005), thereby approaching the G20's demand (the G20 group of emerging economies had called for an average 54% cut). Mandelson's remarks provoked French ire, with the French farm minister even describing him as being 'agitated'. The looming G6 farm deal is of concern to France, explained a top EU diplomat in Geneva in an interview with AFP at the WTO headquarters: 'France is the most sceptical' of the EU's 27 member states and 'would need a minimum signal from Washington if it were to accept new proposals from Brussels on the bloc's own agricultural policy.' In an 'optimistic scenario,' the diplomat said there was the possibility of reaching the outline of a deal on agricultural, industrial products and services by the end of the year, followed by a ministerial meeting of the WTO in the early part of 2008. (eh)