US proposal to reopen Doha deals gets cold response

India, along with several developing countries, have dismissed an idea floated by the United States to “shake up the Doha box” on the ground that such a move would undermine the progress made over the past eight years in the stalled Doha Development Agenda trade negotiations, BS was told.

During a closed-door meeting of G-14 senior officials early this week, the US suggested the Doha box be “shaken up”, implying that the last revised draft text on Doha agriculture and market access for industrial goods, issued in December 2008, must be overhauled, a senior official said.

The European Union convened the meeting of senior officials drawn from the US, Japan, China, Canada, Australia, India, Brazil, South Africa, Malaysia, Egypt, Mexico, New Zealand, and South Korea.

The EU sought to know from the G-14 countries how to prepare for the proposed stock-taking meeting early next year, as well as how to conclude the Doha Round in 2010.

In response to the US ideas, India said the screws of the Doha box can be tightened if they are loose but the box should not be broken up by shaking it all over again at this juncture, “This is a patently bad idea to pursue at his juncture,” an Indian trade official told the meeting.

A senior EU trade official told the US that though Brussels has some flexibility to show at this juncture, it is not prepared to “pay” afresh for the new market access demands. Clearly, there cannot be any overhaul of market access proposals at this juncture, the EU official said.

China said it is ready to intensify the consultations to achieve meaningful results at the stocktaking meeting but there cannot be any change on what has already been agreed to over eight years.

Another Asia trade official, present at the meeting, quoted what the World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy had repeatedly said, that 80 per cent of the work is already complete and only 20 per cent remains, arguing that there is no need to “shake the box”.

Brazil cautioned that if there is no Doha agreement by May, it would be difficult for it to conclude a deal, due to its national elections in October next year.

Privately, several participants conceded that there will be no agreement next year due to lack of focused engagement on the part of the US.

During the just-concluded seventh ministerial meeting, US Trade Representative Ron Kirk had reiterated that the Doha Round can only be concluded when the emerging countries — China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Argentina — provide new market access.

The US’ stance in the Doha negotiations is almost like what it is currently doing in the ongoing Copenhagen climate change negotiations, where it is not prepared to accept the Kyoto Protocol that set clear rules on what the developed and developing countries will have to do as part of “common but differential responsibilities,” said a developing country trade official.