The multilateral trading system has been able to prevent the outbreak of a trade war, even as countries have resorted to protectionist measures after the financial slowdown for defending their own interest and prevent unemployment, World Trade Organization deputy director general Alejandro Jara says in an interaction with Nayanima Basu. Edited excerpts:
Where are the Doha Round of negotiations headed, because with a prolonged absence of the US on the negotiating table, it seems everything is in a state of hiatus?
The negotiations are headed in a positive way because, first of all, nobody wants to destroy what we have on the table. This is a package made after very important decision making. Everyone wants to build up from there. But, if some member of the US has said that they want more from the emerging economies, they will have to negotiate and probably they have to pay for it. So, I think what is positive is that governments are negotiating, they are talking to one another.
Are we going to see a revision of the texts on agriculture as well as non-agricultural market access (Nama), now that the US is demanding more from countries like India and China?
Everything at the end of the day has to reflect on the texts. But we have to let the political process take its course and let governments achieve a new level of understanding. But that should be reflected in the texts. Texts reflect the progress but they don’t make the progress.
So, does that mean we will see new texts on agriculture and Nama?
I think there is a very intense process of participation from members, particularly from the key stakeholders in agriculture, non-agriculture at the ambassadorial level in Geneva, identifying new scenarios and new options with a wider membership. The chairs are going to pick that up.
Do you expect the US to come out more forthrightly in terms of what it wants and what it does not once the election time there is over?
The US, like any other state in the world, has faced crisis with great unemployment. They need to speed up the process of recovery of their economy and the easiest way to do this is to keep the markets open and open the markets further and Doha is the response to that. They should defend their economic interests for their own recovery but it should be with enough flexibility with a broad political understanding and take further steps to conclude the round as soon as possible.
What are the prospects of the Doha Round against the backdrop of such large-scale protectionist measures like the one being taken by the US through the visa fee hike or banning outsourcing of jobs, which are negating the very ethos of free and fair trade?
Countries have applied measures that are against the WTO. These are done by countries to protect domestic interests and because of high rate of unemployment, these protectionist measures would not go away. This is not only a question for the US but also many countries across the world. India has also filed many anti-dumping measures which affect the interests of other countries, including the developing ones. So, we have to be careful on how we react to these pressures and respond to them tactfully. And, we should also prevent abuse. It is of concern. But I think governments have reacted largely in a responsive way, which may not be perfect and there had been some slippage. But we have been able to successfully prevent a trade war from breaking out.
Which are some of the important areas where there has been a broad consensus achieved so far in these nine years of the Round?
We have not only made great progress, but this is for the first time in the history of the world trading system that there has been serious attempt at liberalising agriculture, eliminating distortions as far as possible and also tackling the problem of fisheries’ subsidies. So, to redress the situation, we did away with some issues for the interests of the poor countries which have been given priority, which means theresome farmers were left some subsidies, that is politically difficult. That’s why we have trouble in reaching a speedy conclusion to the world, because we have to deal with some very important political and social problems of the world, by balancing the interest of all. It involves many different actors and policies of various parts of the world. The important thing is not to go back and not to stop. We now need to take that extra step and come to the table, resulting in meeting of the minds.
Do you expect the upcoming G20 summit in Seoul to lay a more effective road map for the Doha talks because we have been seeing that even though leaders are reiterating the fact that the deal has to be wrapped up, very little progress has been made from their side when they go back to their respective countries?
Last time, when the leaders met in Toronto for the G20 talks, they did have a substantive discussion on trade, and this led to a process which was taken up very seriously by Geneva. They made a pledge to revisit the negotiations and involve the political leadership. I expect more political leadership and more political support in Seoul.
