Over two hundred parliamentarians representing more than 70 countries, gathered in Geneva at the initiative of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the European Parliament, expressed today their grave concern at the prospect of a real failure of the Doha Round of trade negotiations. They lamented the fact that despite the promise of more flexibility, major parties to the negotiations have shown little of it and the talks in the key areas of agriculture and non-agricultural market access have not progressed since the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.
This is a wake-up call for all political decision-makers, not least those of us who, as members of parliament representing the interests of the people, have the duty to oversee government action in the field of international trade and promote fairness of trade liberalization, they said.
The legislators reiterated their full commitment to the multilateral approach to trade policy and their belief in the central role of the World Trade Organization (WTO) as the guarantor of a rules-based global trading system. A prolonged suspension of the Doha talks would have a lasting negative effect on the entire multilateral trading system and may result in a proliferation of bilateral and regional trade agreements which often put poorer countries in a disadvantaged position. If efforts to revive the negotiations are not successful, the losses incurred would be immense, both in economic and political terms.
They recalled that, among the first to be adversely affected, would be the least developed countries (LDCs), including cotton-exporting countries in Africa. In this regard, they welcomed the decision of the informal Trade Negotiations Committee Meeting of 16 November to engage in a soft resumption of the negotiations.
The parliamentarians present in Geneva called for a strong commitment on the part of all major players in the trade negotiations, including the European Union, the United Sates and the G20, and urged them to reach a balanced agreement on all main negotiating topics of the Doha Round, while placing special emphasis on the need to ensure meaningful and sustainable economic gains for developing countries and in particular for the least-developed countries. They underlined that an agreement on specific quantifiable commitments on agriculture, where trade-distorting practices are particularly widespread, is fundamental for achieving overall progress in the negotiations.
During the Conference, which was co-chaired by the IPU President, Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, and the Vice-President of the European Parliament, Mr. Manuel António dos Santos, parliamentarians had an exchange of views with the WTO Director-General, Mr. Pascal Lamy, concerning the current status of the Doha Round and the chances of success.
They were also able to assess the respective positions of some of the major players during an interactive panel session with Mr. Kamal Nath, Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry; Mr. Toshikatsu Matsuoka, Japanese Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Ambassador Peter Allgeier, United States Permanent Representative to the WTO; and Ambassador Carlo Trojan, Permanent Representative of the European Union to the WTO.
Other interesting and relevant topics discussed during the Conference included "Lessons to be learned from the history of multilateral trade negotiations under WTO auspices", "Should agriculture be withdrawn from the single undertaking?", "Multilateralism and bilateralism in trade policy" and "How effective is the WTO dispute settlement system?".
The Parliamentary Conference on the WTO is a joint undertaking of the IPU and the European Parliament. Its principal objective is to enhance the external transparency of the WTO and make this intergovernmental organization accountable to legislators as the elected representatives of the people.
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