Doha trade talks may remain stalled this year

The much-delayed Doha Development Agenda (DDA) trade negotiations were unlikely to be concluded this year after the United States rejected World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy’s proposal for an early ministerial meeting, several trade envoys said.

“It is a political defeat for Lamy as he could not prevail over the United States during the G-7 meeting on Thursday despite support from six members present in the room,” said a senior official from an emerging country.

The G-7, which includes the US, the European Union, Japan, China, India, Australia and Brazil, met twice during last week to explore whether a ministerial meeting could be held soon to take stock of the progress as well as to conclude the talks in 2010.

The US, however, was not keen to have a ministerial meeting until there is considerable progress in the Doha negotiations, a position that was not quite shared by the other six members.

“Ultimately, it is also a defeat for the process because DDA talks cannot be completed this year,” the official observed.

“What people forget is that the stocktaking ministerial meeting, scheduled for end-March, was meant to conclude the much-delayed modalities in Doha agriculture and market-opening for industrial goods,” said a senior official from an industrialised country.

“With the failure to convene the ministerial meeting next month, is clear that the Doha agreement is unlikely to be completed in 2010,” the official said.

The Doha Round of negotiations, which were launched in 2001, were scheduled to be concluded by January 1, 2005. However, sharp differences over tariff and subsidy commitments in agriculture and tariff reductions in industrial goods between the US on one side and key developing countries on the other put paid to an early conclusion, trade diplomats said.

At WTO’s General Council meeting today, Lamy admitted that “the political decision about 2010” was a judgement that belonged to ministers, adding “that, on this specific issue, engagement will be needed.”

India said the prospect of concluding the Doha Round in 2010 remains in question, suggesting that there is no fresh convergence of significant nature to expect a stocktaking meeting to generate new momentum.