"FAIRER AND MORE EQUITABLE TRADE STARTS WITH THE CONCLUSION OF THE DOHA ROUND," SAY WORLD'S PARLIAMENTARIANS

Speaking at the joint press conference with WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy and European Parliament Vice-President Stavros Lambrinidis, Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Executive Committee Member Senator Donald H. Oliver (Canada) expressed his thanks to Mr. Lamy for “allowing the joint parliamentary conference on the WTO to grow, to allow for discussions between parliamentarians and negotiators.” He emphasized that “it is important to create contact with constituents at home” on these trade issues, and welcomed the high participation of developing countries at the conference, pointing out that they would be the chief beneficiaries of a global trade deal.

“We cannot shut ourselves into our shells” but rather need to combat the “fear dominating debate in our societies,” said Mr. Lambrinidis at the press conference during the 7th Parliamentary Conference on the WTO in Geneva. “The role of Parliaments in the global trade round lies not only in the ratification of the final agreement, but also in transmitting the public’s concerns to negotiators before a final deal is struck,” he added.

Mr. Lamy welcomed the fact that the conference was held under the roof of the WTO, noting that “this helps the democratic credentials of this organization.” He said that “nothing here can happen without the green light of parliamentarians.”

After the press conference, Mr. Lamy and the Conference Co-Chairs participated in a hearing with the entire Parliamentary Conference, during which they debated the current state of negotiations on the Doha Development Agenda. Mr. Lamy again underlined to the parliamentarians that “I am conscious that we cannot conclude this round without your explicit engagement and support—hence the importance of our dialogue today.”

Wrap up Doha this year, ensure policy coherence

In the final outcome document of the conference, parliamentarians emphasize the “need for a strong and effective parliamentary dimension to the WTO and welcome the fact that, for the first time ever, an annual session of the Parliamentary Conference on the WTO took place on the premises of this intergovernmental organization.” The text also insists on the importance of concluding the Doha round of trade talks, noting that “it is imperative to change gear, fuelling and sustaining the momentum in order to bring the negotiations to a close by the end of the year.

Parliamentarians also mentioned the crucial links between trade liberalization and sustainable development, arguing for greater efforts at policy coherence among various global governance bodies such as the WTO, the IMF and the World Bank, the UN, and the ILO. After some tough negotiations among delegations, the outcome document calls on developed countries to provide “immediate, predictable, duty-free and quota-free market access on a lasting basis for all products originating from least developed countries,” but also insists that “developing economies that are advanced enough to do so, or declare themselves in a position to do so, should also contribute to this process.”

Background

The 2011 Parliamentary Conference on the WTO was held in Geneva from 21-22 March. The event, a joint undertaking of the European Parliament and the Inter-Parliamentary Union, had as its principal objective to enhance the external transparency of the WTO and hold it accountable to legislators as elected representatives of the people. An EP Delegation of 15 MEPs took part in the meeting, which brought together around 200 parliamentarians from 67 national legislative bodies and 4 parliamentary assemblies.