| Author (Person) | Cronin, David |
|---|---|
| Series Title | European Voice |
| Series Details | Vol.10, No.28, 29.7.04 |
| Publication Date | 29/07/2004 |
| Content Type | News |
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By David Cronin Date: 29/07/04 TALKS aimed at opening up global trade on agricultural and industrial products face a make or break moment, as the deadline set by the World Trade Organization (WTO) for reaching accords on a package of issues expires tomorrow (30 July). The date is seen as an opportunity to resuscitate the Doha Development Round of trade talks following the collapse of the September 2003 WTO negotiations in Cancún. Failure to achieve the required breakthrough at this week's talks in Geneva could "severely undermine confidence in the Doha round and even in the WTO and the system it oversees", the organization's Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi has warned. Pascal Lamy, the European trade commissioner, this week claimed that should failure occur "everyone will recognize that there is a partner in these negotiations which has put fuel in the machine over the past few months. And that's the European Union". The European Commission has made several offers aimed at breathing new life into the Doha round, launched in the Qatari capital in 2001. It has dropped the insistence that the so-called Singapore issues of investment, competition and transparency in government procurements be included in the round. The EU and Japan's demands that these issues be discussed - in the face of opposition from developing countries - contributed to the failure at Cancún. The Commission has also offered to scrap the subsidy regime for farm exports, currently worth €3 billion per year, but on condition that other rich countries take reciprocal measures. The Commission's stance on this issue has put it at loggerheads with a number of member states, the most vocal of which is France. Jacques Chirac, the French president, has alleged that the negotiating text released last week by the WTO was unbalanced. Chirac was reflecting the view held by Europe's powerful farm lobby. Shelby Matthews, from the Committee of Agricultural Organizations in the EU, complained that the draft sought the elimination of EU export subsidies but left open the future of US export credits - government loans allowing farmers to offer low-risk credit to overseas customers. "This is clearly not parallel treatment," she said. In response to French concerns, EU foreign ministers decided on Monday (26 July) that Lamy must first report back to them before he signs up to a final deal in Geneva. Some analysts believe that the French intransigence makes the EU the principal impediment to an accord. Until recently, it was thought the 'G90' group of highly impoverished countries would be the most likely to scupper a deal. This alliance had demanded that support for cotton, a key crop particularly for west African growers, should be kept out of the round. But last week it agreed that cotton subsidies could be brought within its scope. "The irony is that for a so-called development round, developing countries are showing greatest flexibility in Geneva while the EU, the worst offender on subsidies, is being the most inflexible," says Matt Griffith, from the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development. "The Europeans have been talking about getting rid of export subsidies for donkey's years. So it should be the Europeans who are making the main move." When rich countries signed up to the 2001 Doha declaration, committing themselves to the eventual abolition of export supports, anti-poverty advocates expressed optimism that this would lead to an end to the dumping of subsidized goods on poor countries. In a recent report, Oxfam accused the EU and US of having a myopic vision. The charity argued that they have kowtowed to the farm lobby at home to such a degree that they are failing to take opportunities from potential market openings in industrial products and services, both of which are of larger importance to their economies. The World Bank has estimated that the benefits associated with a successful conclusion of the Doha round could amount to €2.5 trillion worldwide. Oxfam points out that agriculture represents just 2% of gross domestic product in the EU and US and around 5% of employment. By contrast, it is "literally a matter of life and death" in the developing world, where 96% of the world's farmers - around 1.3 billion people - live. Nearly 900 million rural dwellers in poor countries have to get by on less than one dollar per day. Agriculture is clearly the most sensitive area under discussion at Geneva. But fears have been expressed too about what could happen in the non-agricultural market access sphere. Development and environment campaigners are perturbed by Lamy's efforts to seek the opening of developing countries' markets in this area. Friends of the Earth (FoE) reports that all natural resources are "effectively on the table for either partial or complete liberalization, with a particular focus on fish, gems and minerals". That would restrict the room for manoeuvre of poor countries wishing to use trade policy as an instrument for protecting jobs or the environment, the group contends. "Pascal Lamy's strategy is to aggressively open the markets of developing countries on behalf of European transnational corporations," says FoE's Alexandra Wandel. "The EU is claiming to address sustainable development but it is failing to integrate environmental considerations into the negotiations." |
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| Subject Categories | Business and Industry, Trade |
