Brussels, 02/12/2008 (Agence Europe) - On her return from Geneva, where, on Monday 1 December, she met WTO Director General Pascal Lamy and the chief Brazilian negotiator and Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, to assess the chances of having a further ministerial meeting to validate an agreement on modalities for liberalising global trade in agriculture products and industrial goods (NAMA), European Trade Commissioner Catherine Ashton told members of the European Parliament international trade committee, on Tuesday 2 December, that she was committed to concluding the Round before the end of the year. “Every issue on the table is solvable,” she said, stressing the expected benefits of a multilateral agreement. “The July package, if confirmed, means not just new market access, it is also the best insurance policy we can offer any exporting company,” she noted. In agriculture, the multilateral agreement will confirm the 2003 CAP reform; for industrial goods, it will mean improved market access, which can be illustrated by a predicted fall by a quarter of Chinese customs tariffs; in services, it will bring a surplus of €68 billion. The comprehensive agreement will also provide better protection for geographical indications and will bring gains through trade facilitation (simplification of customs procedures). And let us not forget its main reason, to bring essential support for the least well off countries through the development package, which will guarantee duty-free, quota-free market access for 97% of exports from the least developed countries (LDCs).
Saying that their positions were very close and that it was in their common interest to end the Round, Ashton said on Monday that she was “cautiously optimistic” and Amorim said he was “moderately optimistic” about finalising a compromise on modalities before the end of the year. At the Parliament on Tuesday, Ashton said that Pascal Lamy expected significant progress this week from the negotiating groups on the two main issues - agriculture and NAMA - if he was to call the trade ministers of the main trading countries of the WTO back to Geneva to finalise an agreement five months after the collapse of July's ministerial meeting (see EUROPE 9714). While progress has been made on the technical level over the last two weeks, it is still not enough for there to be a new ministerial meeting, it is acknowledged at WTO headquarters. Ashton and Amorim agreed on Monday, however, that the global economic crisis makes it “more than ever necessary” to reach an agreement which will open up world markets. “There is no alternative but to try,” said Amorim. Despite these arguments, the crucial issues remain to be settled this week, in particular the special safeguard mechanism, to provide protection for local agricultural production in the event of a sudden surge in imports, which saw the United States and India at odds with one another. Also remaining to be resolved are the issues of cotton, tariff simplification, sensitive products, bananas, and, in the NAMA chapter, sectoral agreements. “I hope that Pascal Lamy will feel in a position to call and confirm a date for the Ministerial in the coming days. He certainly has my support for calling in ministers as soon as possible,” Ashton said on Tuesday, confirming that the revised compromise texts from the chairmen of the WTO negotiating groups, Crawford Falconer in agriculture, and Luzius Wasescha for NAMA, are expected at WTO headquarters by the end of the week. (E.H./transl.rt)