Members reaffirm need to resume Doha talks

US stresses on bilateral approach.

The two-day informal ministerial meeting on the World Trade Organization (WTO) saw statements by the coordinators of various coalition groups and some member countries, including the Cairns Group, G-20, G-33, Cotton-4, G-10, Nama-11, African Group, least developed countries, small and vulnerable economies and CARICOM (Caribbean community).

In addition, statements were made by many member countries in their individual capacity, including, the European Commission, China, the US, Brazil and Australia.

Today, after statements by a few more members, including Canada, Argentina, Philippines, Thailand, Uruguay, Malaysia, Ecuador, Egypt, Pakistan, Mexico, Japan and by WTO director-general Pascal Lamy, there was an open discussion on the process-related issues that had been flagged by India at the outset.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk told reporters that the US was ready to follow up on the stated objective of President Barack Obama to work collaboratively on a successful end to the Doha Round of talks. “We believe it is time for sustained bilateral talks along with a multilateral work in Geneva to move the Doha talks into an endgame. In these two days, we have seen many nations engage and express their readiness and some expressing their reservations against sitting down and beginning the difficult work that lies ahead,” he said.

Kirk said the agreement would truly be a strong economic tool to govern trade and economic development globally for the next 25-30 years. “The US believes very strongly that in order to achieve the successful conclusion of the Doha Round, we have to think differently about how we get there. An extraordinary amount of good work has gone in bringing us to this point. But the reality is that we’d now had three successive failed rounds. We believe that creates a fairly obvious imperative to look at other alternatives,” he said.

There was a unanimous affirmation of the need to expeditiously conclude the Doha Round among all the participants, particularly in the present economic situation. All agreed that there was a need to resume talks in Geneva. The development dimension and the need to address the concerns of least developed countries (LDCs) was emphasised.

Acknowledging that the LDCs and the small and vulnerable economies had the most at stake in this round, ministers collectively reaffirmed that development remained at the heart of the Doha Round and called for placing all concerns of the LDCs on a faster track for negotiation.

They stressed the importance and integrity of the multilateral process, given its inclusiveness and transparency. In light of the 2010 timeline, ministers suggested there was a need to track progress and use all opportunities for political guidance, including at the level of leaders, said a report of Commerce Minister Anand Sharma presented at the end of the conference.

Ministers were unanimously appreciative of India’s effort to revive the flagging negotiations by bringing together such a widely representative set of WTO groups, representing practically all shades of opinion and interests at the WTO in an effort to bring about a broad-based consensus on the road ahead for the Doha Development Round, said Sharma.