Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 10 • Number 21 • 14th June 2006
Aid For Trade Task Force Progressing Towards Recommendations
The WTO Aid for Trade (A4T) Task Force is moving towards finalising the recommendations it is set to make to Members by the end of July. Chair Ambassador Mia Horn af Rantzien (Sweden) circulated a six-page draft recommendations text to the 13 members of the Task Force at its most recent meeting on 16 June.
The draft text would have A4T cover areas such as trade policy development (from the training of officials to support for the articulation of national policy) and compliance with trade obligations. It would also support efforts to boost countries’ ability to take part in commerce, both through improving the business climate and building infrastructure such as roads, ports, and telecommunication networks. It repeatedly mentions the need to help countries better identify their trade-related needs. Task Force members are expected to complete any written comments on the text by the end of June, in time for its next meeting on 4 July.
Four days earlier on 12 June, the Task Force held a meeting open to the entire WTO Membership. At this ‘open-ended’ meeting, several international organisations made presentations about their views on A4T, including the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank, the African Development Bank, the Inter-American Development Bank, and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). WTO Deputy Director-General Valentine Rugwabiza also made a statement.
The issue of whether A4T funds must come over and above existing aid money is becoming contentious. Members including the EU, the US and Canada, argue that significant resources are already available, and should simply be better utilised to support trade activities. Developing countries counter that donors must make new additional commitments to support the A4T initiative. The link between A4T and the Doha negotiations is also proving controversial, with developing countries insisting that it is an important complement but not a substitute for the development objectives of the talks.
ICTSD reporting.