World trade talks collapse
25 Jul 2006
Mumbai: Negotiators from the EU, US, Japan, Brazil, Australia and India involved in deep discussions to break the deadlock in the troubled 'Doha Round' of world trade talks reported failure in Geneva as deep divisions remained, especially in the areas of trade and agriculture. The discussions collapsed as ministers from the six WTO member states insisted that concessions from the others were pre-conditions for new offers. Negotiators failed even to open the issue of market access to non-agricultural products, trade officials said.
While the United States has been urging both rich and poor countries to open their markets to agricultural exports, that country has done precious little to lower the huge farm subsidies or abolish them altogether. Many countries, including the EU and India, want the US to reform its farm subsidies first.
"The director-general (Pascal Lamy) has decided the best way forward is to suspend negotiations while members reflect on the work that's been done,'' Australian trade minister Mark Vaile told reporters.
"This is a major setback,'' said Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim. "We are as near to a disaster as we can imagine," he said, adding that it may take months for negotiators to resume discussions.
The collapse of the last-ditch talks means that the round will be suspended with no prospect of a restart in the near term.
WTO director-general Pascal Lamy had called on the EU, the US, India and Brazil to show greater flexibility to save the Doha Round of talks. He said the US must impose tougher limits on aid to farmers, the EU must cut its protective tariffs on commodity imports and India and Brazil should slash customs duties on industrial goods.
Negotiators will have to reach a broad deal this summer to have enough time to finish them before the deadline for the entire trade deal expires.
The Doha Round of world trade talks, launched in November 2001, remained strained from the beginning and negotiators failed to reconcile the disparate interests of WTO members.
The previous round of talks, known as the Uruguay Round, which started in 1986, caved in at a summit in Brussels in December 1990. Member states then put the burden on Arthur Dunkel, the head of the WTO's predecessor, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, to find a way out. Dunkel then drafted a framework agreement a year later, which eventually led to an accord in 1993. The GATT accord was finally signed in 1994.
"Doha 'light' seems still to be the preferred option of some of the participants here,'' US trade representative Susan Schwab said. But the December 31 deadline for completing the Doha Round looks too close a deadline for the negotiators.
