Brussels, 16/01/2008 (Agence Europe) - European importers and retailers represented by the Foreign Trade Association (FTA) expressed their “disappointment and frustration” on Tuesday 15 January after Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson announced that the reform of the EU trade defence instruments (TDI) was to be delayed indefinitely (see EUROPE 9579 and 9580). “We played an active role in the reform process, providing the Commission with substantial, legitimate and, above all, reasonable ways in which the outdated legislation could more accurately reflect today's marketplace,” said FTA Secretary General Jan Eggert in a press release. He went on, “It is therefore very disappointing to see that the Commission appears to have let the more protectionist voices drown out the voices of reason”. “The Commission has said that the political climate is not right for the reform proposals … to be accepted at this point. However, the FTA is aware that, despite opposition from some member States looking to protect their industries, many were in favour of reform,” the press release goes on, with Eggert deploring the fact that that multilateral compromise on antidumping rules as part of the Doha negotiations “does not go far enough”. This sense of disappointment was also expressed in the European Parliament by Christofer Fjellner (EPP-ED, Sweden) who regretted a missed opportunity “to carry out a necessary modernisation of the EU's trade regulations” and “renew consensus (on TDI) among member states”. “The consequences of the Commission's failure to reach an agreement will be carried by all of us. There will be unnecessary trade conflicts and lost competitiveness. EU companies that are modernising and adjusting to new realities in a globalised world will continue to be punished by old and outdated regulations. Peter Mandelson bears a responsibility for this grand failure, but it is a responsibility the commissioner shares with those member states that have been working against any change in the regulations,” he said. (E.H.)