GENEVA: July is “the moment of truth” for a long-sought global trade pact, the failure of which would erode economic growth, sour diplomatic ties and hurt poor countries, the World Trade Organisation head said on Friday.
WTO director-general Pascal Lamy has invited trade ministers to Geneva from July 21 to broker deals in the two most sensitive areas of the so-called Doha round-cuts to farming tariffs and subsidies, as well as to import duties on manufactured goods.
In a memorandum to ministers, published in the International Herald Tribune, the Frenchman said agreement in those areas would clear the way for agreement in the rest of the talks, which also span services markets and trade rules.
“The coming weeks represent the moment of truth for the Doha round,” Lamy, a former European Union trade commissioner, said.
“A deal in agriculture and industrial goods would generate an unstoppable momentum and bring quick resolution to the round ... Agreement is within our reach but all of us will have to stretch a bit to get there,” he added.
Europe’s current trade chief, Peter Mandelson, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy, whose country just took over the rotating EU presidency, have clashed publicly in the past week over the desirability of a Doha deal for Europe’s farmers.
Glossing over those differences, the WTO chief said rich nations have already accepted cuts to their farm protections in the negotiations that began in Qatar in November 2001.
Developed countries have signalled they can cut subsidies to their farmers by about 70% and agricultural tariffs by 50%, as well as slice their high import duties on manufactured goods from the developing world, Lamy said.
Poorer nations have agreed to take steps to open their markets, Lamy said, without specifying any offers or referring to developing countries’ controversial demands for permission to exclude big swathes of their industries from tariff cuts.
“To conclude a deal will require courage and some of you may be wavering,” he said, stressing that trade diplomats needed clearer signals from their governments ahead of the ministers’ meeting so that preparatory talks can make needed headway.
“These officials operate on instructions from you,” Lamy said in the memorandum addressed to trade ministers. “A word in their ears now to show more flexibility at the negotiating table would save you all a lot of headaches when you get to Geneva.” The chairmen of the farming and industrial goods committees-New Zealand’s WTO
ambassador Crawford Falconer, and Canada’s WTO ambassador Don Stephenson-will revise their negotiating texts to help give ministers simpler options to choose from.
Stephenson is due to meet trade diplomats on Tuesday for a final run-through before revising his manufacturing goods text, which he indicated would not be released before Thursday.
Falconer’s revision is also expected to be circulated toward the end of the week to give senior government officials time to review their positions before dispatching ministers to Geneva. Consensus is required across all negotiating areas for the Doha deal to be clinched. The WTO’s membership will grow by one to 153 on July 23 when Cape Verde enters the trade body, leaving Russia and Iran among those still seeking to join.
