Brussels, 12/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - On a visit to India on Monday, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, said that he believed that reaching a compromise on the modalities for liberalising trade in agricultural and manufactured products by the end of June was possible. The negotiations brief granted to the Bush Administration's Trade Promotion Authority by the US Congress, expires on this date. Speaking at a seminar in New Delhi, Lamy declared, “the chances of ending division appear more plausible and probable than ever”. He also stated that: “We are at a delicate and critical moment but there is a possibility of us getting there…There has been a rather good movement and there is an opportunity for us to make good this shortcoming (between the main trade powers of the G6 (European Union, US, Brazil, India, Australia and Japan) by the end of June”. The WTO director general also underscored the importance that the “multilateral negotiating process comes into full effect” and that all member states take part in the negotiations.
Bush and Lula want to push round forward
As part of his Latin American tour, US President George W. Bush announced at Anchonera park (where he met Tabare Vasques, the president of Uruguay on Saturday) that the USA was prepared to reduce agricultural subsidies if its products were guaranteed greater market access. He also provided assurances that he really did hope that an agreement could be concluded. He did not, however, set any deadline for negotiations. The same tone was uttered the previous day in Brazil where Bush and his Brazilian counterpart Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva expressed the same optimism and affirmed their commitment for pushing Doha negotiations forward. They are expected to meet up again in Camp David on 31 March. On Sunday in Brazil, the US ambassadors stated in an interview to the Estado de São Paulo that things could become more concrete at that time.
New Cairns group proposal on treating sensitive products
During the third meeting of the WTO agricultural negotiating committee since the beginning of the year, the Cairns Group, which brings together agricultural exporting countries led by Australia, Canada and New Zealand, presented a new proposal on the treatment of sensitive products in Geneva last Friday. According to a source close to the matter at the WTO, the aim of this document is to set up a structure which would allow members to negotiate difficult issues, such as selecting sensitive products and exceptions to the usual system of custom duty reduction, so as to be able to then agree on exceptions to customs duty reduction and expansion of tariff quota systems from the number of sensitive products. Speaking on behalf of agricultural importing countries and the G10, Switzerland immediately expressed reservations about the Australian proposal, deeming some aspects, such as the capping of the highest duties, to be “unacceptable”. The Cairns Group also submitted a new proposal on the treatment of tropical products, which aims for a larger reduction in the customs tariffs on these products (rice, bananas, potatoes, coffee and tobacco, in particular) implemented by developed countries. It proposes also that tropical products be removed from the list of sensitive products. On Friday, the chairman of the agricultural negotiations committee, New Zealander Crawford Falconer, said that he would present the new reference texts to restart multilateral discussions in April after Easter. (eh)