| Author (Person) | Crosbie, Judith |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.12, No.24, 22.6.06 |
| Publication Date | 22/06/2006 |
| Content Type | News |
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By Judith Crosbie Date: 22/06/06 Fresh disagreements and recriminations among the major players at the World Trade Organization (WTO) have reduced hopes of an agreement among trade ministers when they meet in Geneva next week. Their meeting will be the first major negotiations since talks broke up last December in Hong Kong with little progress on what is known as the "development round". Disagreements flared up this week between the EU and US over whether textiles and garments should be allowed special protection, casting further doubt on hopes for a consensus. At the EU-US summit on Wednesday (21 June), US President George W. Bush, reiterated his desire to achieve an agreement, but added: "Make no mistake, it's hard work. We are trying to make adjustments to our own internal policies." Both the EU and US are under fire for what they are offering in terms of cuts to agricultural subsidies and tariffs and the access they are demanding to Brazilian, Chinese, Indian and other developing nations' markets. A senior US negotiator recently rejected accusations that their offer on cuts was too little and said a corresponding offer was needed. "We're at a point in the negotiations now where we need to see market access on the table," Jason Hafemeister said. European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said: "The problem with the US position is that they are offering to pay too little for what they expect in return." European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said this week: "If our American partners think it's the end of the road, then there will not be a successful round." Campaign group Oxfam said the stance of the major states had worsened since the talks last year. "Things have gone backwards in terms of attitude especially with the US. They are now saying 'if we don't get what we want the offer we made back in October is off the table'," said Louis Belanger, Oxfam's Brussels spokesman. Gopal Pillai, a negotiator from India's ministry of commerce, urged the US to cut competition-distorting subsidies to its farmers. "If the Americans don't make this compromise, we will have no deal. It's very simple," he said recently. Oxfam's spokesman added that it was urging developing countries to hold out for a better deal if there was no major improvement on what is offered by the industrialised countries. Developing countries should be liberalised but at their own pace, he argued. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) published an analysis this week (21 June) arguing that government intervention in the form of tariffs and subsidies often did the opposite of what they were supposed to achieve, namely maintain farm incomes and rural prosperity. "Income effects are often perverse, granting most of the support to those who have the largest farms, and generating large leakages to agents who were not the intended beneficiaries," the report states. Ken Ash, deputy director of food, agriculture and fisheries at the OECD, said his message to governments at the WTO talks was that "especially with agriculture, high levels of support underachieve what they set out to do". He added that trade liberalisation would achieve more at lower cost without distorting international markets. Author suggests that fresh disagreements and recriminations among the major players at the World Trade Organization (WTO) reduced hopes of an agreement among Trade Ministers when they were to meet in Geneva from 28 June 2006. |
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| Source Link | http://www.european-voice.com/ |
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| Subject Categories | Trade |
| Countries / Regions | Europe |
