Q&A: Pascal Lamy, Director General, WTO

'December talks to look at future course of action'

Trade ministers from 153 member countries will meet for the eighth Ministerial Conference at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) headquarters in Geneva from December 15 to 17. The members are expected to chalk out the future course of action to keep the decade-old Doha round of global trade talks going, said WTO Director General Pascal Lamy in an interview with Nayanima Basu. Edited excerpts:

Is the Doha round dead?
Multilateral talks are never declared dead. No member has declared the talks finished and I don’t expect that any of them will. Look at the disarmament talks or negotiations on whaling. These negotiations have gone on for decades and they are still on-going. In the world of today, our problems are global in nature and the solutions to these problems must in turn be global. Whether it is about addressing the inequalities of the multilateral trading system, combating global warming or addressing hunger and poverty, the only way forward is with governments working together. Reaching decisions in a multilateral framework is difficult, but there is no real alternative.

There was no consensus on package for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs)?
There was an effort to try and agree on an LDC package to implement earlier commitments, which would significantly reduce trade-distorting subsidies to cotton farmers, and open developed country markets and emerging markets, which are able to do so to at least 97 per cent of exports from LDCs. However, it became clear that political sensitivities, particularly in Washington, did not allow this to happen. So we tried to put together a package specifically for LDCs and add other issues like trade facilitation. But key countries had concerns with one issue or another, while others wanted to add more issues to the mix. In the end, the necessary movement in positions that would allow our members to reach a consensus was not forthcoming.

Will you discuss the LDC package in the upcoming December ministerial?
We will continue to see if we can reach an agreement on an LDC package.

What is going to be the main agenda of the December ministerial?
First and foremost, the conference will focus on the regular work of the WTO, including reviewing and giving direction to all the areas which take up the day-to-day work of the organisation. Members believed it was more productive to focus on the preparations for the eighth Ministerial Conference in December and to begin the difficult discussion of how we pick up the Doha round in 2012. The principal focus will be the preparation for the 8th Ministerial Conference and charting the future course of the Doha negotiations.

Although it is wrong to suggest Doha and WTO are synonymous, it is an unfortunate reality. So does the failure of Doha talks mean a dent in WTO’s credibility?
You are right to suggest that the WTO is a great deal more than the Doha negotiations. The WTO oversees trade agreements that constitute the foundation of the global trading system and disputes that are being negotiated for over 60 years. We provide the forum for the settling of disputes among member countries, we monitor developments in the trading system and we interact closely with other organisations in programmes such as Aid-for-Trade. These functions have little connection to the negotiations, and I do not see them being adversely affected by the current lack of agreement on the Doha round. Our problems with the Doha round are of concern, of course, but the overall functioning of the WTO remains very good.