Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 8 • Number 14 • 22nd April 2004
Supachai Says Framework For Negotiations Needed By June
The WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) met briefly on 21 April to take stock of negotiations, with only a few Members making interventions. The TNC meeting was the first since the Cancun Ministerial in September 2003, and included statements by the TNC Chair and WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi as well as the Chairs of the various negotiating groups established under the TNC. It took place at the same time as the agriculture talks (see related story, this issue), widely seen as the key to the Doha round. While Supachai urged Members to focus on finding solutions and building bridges, there were no imminent signs of progress.
In his introductory statement, Supachai stressed the need for motion in the Doha round negotiations, and the translation of political will in capitals to the Geneva process. He said "We should be under no illusions about the scale and the urgency of the tasks ahead of us… There is a window of opportunity but it is a window that is closing rapidly". In fact, he suggested that Members should agree on the elements of a framework for negotiations as early as the end of May, as the framework itself needed to be in place before the WTO summer break in August. If Members could not agree on a framework by then, little progress was expected during the rest of the year due to the fact that key Members such as the US would be focusing on presidential elections, and new European Commissioners would take over from the present ones. According to Supachai, "the coming days and weeks are critical for the Doha agenda and the multilateral trading system". If no results were achieved, Members might focus their efforts elsewhere, thus weakening the role of the WTO.
Among the other Chairs reporting on the status of work in their negotiating groups, Tim Groser said he was picking up tentative signs of Members moving into problem solving mode, but said he did not have great expectations for the current set of talks. The other Chairs — heading talks on trade and development, intellectual property, industrial market access, trade rules, services, environment and special and differential treatment and outstanding implementation issues — submitted written progress reports (TN/CTD/9, TN/IP/9, TN/MA/13, TN/RL/8, TN/S/15, TN/TE/8, and TN/C/W/16).
In a statement following the reports, Kenya drew attention to a new grouping called the ‘Friends of Geographical Indications,’ which he said included more than 50 Members, and called for accelerated progress in this area. A few other Members intervened, urging progress and reiterating Supachai’s call for the translation of political will at the national level to concrete work in Geneva.
The next TNC will be held on 30 June.
ICTSD reporting; "WTO chief gives one month challenge to member states for trade round," AFP, 21 April 2004.