Global trade talks at a crossroads

WORLD Trade Organisation chief Pascal Lamy said the Doha Round of global trade talks are currently 'at a crossroads' and the G-4 major players need to play a constructive role to avoid a 'deep freeze' of the talks. 'Today the Doha Round is at a cross-road: the path toward success or the slow move toward a deep freeze,' the WTO chief told a meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council in Geneva as reported by Xinhua. Lamy said it was bad news that the G-4 players -- the United States, the European Union, Brazil and India -- recently failed to converge on key issues concerning agriculture substitutes, tariffs and industrial market access. WTO members have pledged to conclude these negotiations by the end of this year -- ahead of the start of an intense political process in the USA in 2008, which would be followed by changes in the European Parliament and in the European Commission in 2009. But if this is to be achieved, progress in agriculture subsidies and a tariff on agriculture and industrial tariffs is required now.

Blaming the developed world's 'serious gap of attitude' as the reason behind failed talks, India, on the other hand, as a member of the G-4, said that it is still optimistic about Doha Development Round concluding positively. 'There is a serious gap of attitude because of which the talks have failed', Indian commerce minister Kamal Nath who is cut up with hardened attitude of the US on agriculture subsidy issue stated. Kamal Nath's remark comes a week after the US, the European, Brazilian and Indian negotiators abandoned talks in Potsdam in Germany. The Indian minister, however, said he did not see Doha Round petering out but hopes to see it coming to a conclusion. Speaking at a meeting organised by the Commonwealth Business Council in London he said the G-4 process has ended and it would require 'to make it larger.'

The optimistic note of the Indian minister does not appear consistent to what Pascal Lamy said. According to Lamy, it 'could be fatal if these four members do not play a constructive role in multilateral negotiations which are now entering into a crucial stage in Geneva.' The Doha Round has been stumbling since its launch in 2001 with a proclaimed goal of helping poor countries' economic development through fairer trade conditions. It has missed several deadlines due to sharp differences among major countries or players. According to WTO chief, what remains to be done is small compared to all the proposals already on the table, which represents two to three times what was achieved in the last round of negotiations.

And it is also small compared to the potential benefits of rebalancing the multilateral trading system in favour of developing countries. In this regard, Lamy again urged the United States to make additional concessions on reducing farm subsidies. France, a major European country, has vowed to defend the interests of its farmers at the ongoing WTO talks as French prime minister Francois Fillon said last week in Paris that the new French government would 'not let negotiations within the World Trade Organisation work against our agriculture.' The message is clear to all others involved with negotiations so far about the hardened attitude mostly of the major powers or players regarding a helpful global trade.