WTO Ministerial Section • Volume 7 • Number 17 • 14th May 2003

TNC: Back to the Grind in Geneva

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The WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) met in Geneva on 9 May to take stock of progress in the Doha Round negotiations. Despite the up- beat tone and positive political signals sent by key trade ministers at an OECD meeting a week earlier (see BRIDGES Weekly, 7 May 2003), the negotiators in Geneva, tasked with working out the technical details, had little forward movement to report. TNC Chair and WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi stressed that, "avoiding the worst is no substitute for real progress in our work…we must take care that we are not simply postponing the gridlock to Cancún. The consequences of doing so would be very serious for the Round as a whole". Noting that only 75 working days remained before the meeting in Cancún, he urged Members to engage in real negotiations rather than posturing. During the meeting the chairs of the negotiating groups reported on progress, and Members discussed the reports and the way forward.

Two negotiating deadlines are coming up at the end of May: one for improvements to the Dispute Settlement Understanding (DSU) and another for agreeing on negotiating modalities for non-agricultural market access. Deadlines are widely expected to be missed for both. On the DSU, Morocco, speaking for the African Group, stressed the need to make the DSU more concrete and accessible to developing countries, and called for a DSU technical assistance fund for developing countries.

Chair Stuart Harbinson of the special (negotiating) session of the Committee on Agriculture noted that his group is continuing informal consultations on, inter alia, special and differential treatment for developing countries and domestic consumption, with informal gatherings planned for 14 and 19 May. Brazil stressed that agriculture lies at the heart of the current round, and failure in this area would jeopardise it. Chair Alejandro Hara of the negotiations on services said that 23 initial offers now had been received. They reflected, however, a "freezing" of the status quo rather than new liberalisation offers, and Brazil and Kenya explained that many Members were unwilling to move on services as long as there was no movement in agriculture negotiations.

On Trade-related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) and access to essential medicines, the US stressed that the issue should be resolved prior to Cancún, and Kenya called for a legally binding and practical solution. Both the EU and the US said that each one the Singapore issues — investment, transparency in government procurement, trade facilitation, and competition policy — could be considered "on its own merits," implying that the package of the four areas may be broken up at Cancún.

The next meeting of the TNC is scheduled for 12-13 June.

ICTSD reporting; "’Avoiding The Worst Is No Substitute For Real Progress,’ Supachai Tells Negotiators," WTO PRESS RELEASE, 9 May 2003.

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