WTO Ministerial Section • Volume 5 • Number 30 • 11th September 2001

Little Progress In Doha Preparations

A number of recent trade meetings, including a brief informal session of the WTO General Council (GC) on 4 September, has shown that much ground remains to be covered if WTO Members are to find convergence in views in the leadup to the WTO’s Fourth Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar on 9-13 November. Most positions remain unchanged since Members last convened on Doha preparations on 30-31 July (see BRIDGES Weekly, 31 July 2001), and meetings in Mexico and Uruguay last week showed little rapprochement between Members’ traditional demands.

GC Chair Stuart Harbinson used the 4 September meeting to further internal transparency and to call Members to order, and announced that he would hold a series of bilateral and plurilateral consultations that he expected would lead to a first draft of a Ministerial Declaration by the end of September. Referencing an article published in the Financial Times by former WTO Director-General and previous EU Commissioner Peter Sutherland, Harbinson called on WTO Members to be flexible and to work towards a broader approach that would allow for linkages and tradeoffs, particularly with respect to developing country concerns. Sutherland’s article said that the ‘Quad’ group of developed country Members — Canada, the EU, Japan, and the US — must come up with a "worthwhile package" that could meet demands from developing countries or Qatar would be written off.

Harbinson said that implementation — a central demand from developing countries — would be a key element of his draft text. Implementation has been an ongoing source of friction between developed and developing countries, with many from the latter group saying that a number of elements from the Uruguay Round must be meaningfully resolved before negotiations can move forward around new issues. The EU, in particular, is pushing to have ‘new’ issues such as environment, government procurement, investment and competition brought into a new round of trade negotiations.

Key trade representatives meet in Mexico City

Implementation concerns figured squarely on India’s agenda at a 31 August - 1 September meeting in Mexico City attended by 17 ministerial- level trade representatives from key WTO Members. In a press release issued following the meeting, India reaffirmed its position that "no new issues should be included in the negotiating agenda of the WTO, unless there is an explicit consensus on the subject, and that implementation concerns of the developing countries arising out of the non-fulfilment of the promises made in the Uruguay Round by the developed countries are addressed up front, before the Fourth Ministerial in Doha." The statement helped to dispel reports that suggested that India had succumbed to pressures from the Quad group to agree to a new round.

Talks on environment reportedly made some headway at the Mexican meeting. The EC held detailed conversations with others on what they would like to see emerge on environment in Doha, particularly with respect to the precautionary principle as it is embodied in the WTO’s Agreement on Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures. Canada and the US, both of which have interests in exports of genetically modified agricultural products, would be likely to oppose strengthening this provision. "The EC wants to look at different provisions in different agreements," said one trade source. "They’d like to clarify environmental aspects of the WTO agreements with respect to jurisprudence, rather than support a separate agreement on environment. Surprisingly, this met with very little opposition from developing countries." Sources say agriculture and environment — both of which continue to be contentious issues — are expected to "go down to the wire" in Doha.

Assessments of the Mexican talks were mixed. While US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick and EC Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy referred to the meeting as an important step in the Doha process, one developing country ambassador said, "I don’t think the Mexico meeting added anything substantial." WTO Director-General Mike Moore said that while he thought countries made attempts to accommodate each other, "there are still substantial differences in many areas." Trade sources furthermore indicated that the Mexico meeting was also notable for showing some softening in the line taken by the EC on agriculture. According to one WTO official, "they seem to be showing a bit more flexibility. The EC is now saying they’d like to see something that would change agriculture a little bit."

Cairns Group meets in Uruguay

Ministers from the 18-member Cairns Group of agriculture-exporting countries met on 4-5 September in Uruguay, and sent the message that they would continue to push strongly for agriculture reforms at Doha. Ministers stated that they would seek the "elimination" of export and other types of farm subsidies, as opposed to the EC’s traditional stance that it will only agree to a "reduction" in subsidies. Cairns Group members said that the US — which attended the talks but is not a member — shared much of their approach.

An EU official speaking on behalf of EC Commissioner Lamy played down the Cairns Group’s approach, saying that the positions of the EU and the US on this issue were much closer than they were at the last Ministerial Conference in Seattle in 1999, where Members were unable to agree on a final negotiating text. "Mr. Lamy has always thought that people won’t show their full hand until Doha. It is not surprising to see other groups at this stage positioning themselves for the moment of truth in Doha," he said.

A meeting of ministers from a number of developing country Members later this month may serve to forward a cohesive developing country stance before Doha. In addition, a meeting in Singapore on 6 October will re-convene many of the Ministers who met in Mexico in a further attempt to forge consensus around a Doha text that would outline whether or how trade negotiations will proceed in future.

"Cairns group fails to dent Brussels’ trade round targets," FINANCIAL TIMES, 7 September 2001; "Talks achieve progress, but differences remain on new trade round," AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, 1 September 2001; "US, EU see advances on road to new trade round," REUTERS, 1 September 2001; SAARC forges common front on WTO issues," INDIA EXPRESS, 23 August 2001; "Maran reiterates stand on no new round of talks at WTO," STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE, 5 September 2001; "Southeast Asian nations warn EU to keep environment, labour off WTO agenda," 16 August 2001; ICTSD Internal Files.