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The following story is from the November 19 issue of International
Trade Reporter
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WTO
Lamy Cites ‘Modest’ Progress in Doha
Talks, Need for Signal From Ministerial
GENEVA—World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy said Nov. 17 that “modest” progress has been made over the past year in getting the stalled Doha Round of trade talks back on track, but that negotiators “will need to take a hard look at where things stand” early next year in order to determine how to achieve the goal of concluding the round before the end of 2010.
In his report to the WTO's ruling General Council on the state of play in the Doha talks, Lamy also stressed the importance of a successful WTO ministerial conference starting later this month in setting a positive example for other multilateral negotiations, most notably the global talks on climate change in Copenhagen in December.
The Group of 20 leading economies issued several calls this year for wrapping up the Doha talks sometime in 2010, most recently at their leaders’ summit in Pittsburgh last September, but those calls have produced little concrete progress on the ground in Geneva.
Lamy said the past year “has been one of modest, but nevertheless progress, in all areas of negotiations,” although he added that in some cases progress has only meant “a better understanding of positions.”
The WTO chief was more optimistic in regards to the Doha talks on agriculture, saying that informal consultations carried out by farm talks chairman David Walker have resulted in “useful work”
on outstanding issues such as sensitive products, tariff capping, tariff rate quota expansion, and tariff simplification.
“In sum, the work on agriculture is engaged, has the support of (WTO) members and holds the prospect, given political will, of moving towards agreed modalities in the new year,” Lamy declared.
Reviews on NAMA Mixed
In contrast, reviews on work for non-agricultural market access (NAMA)
were mixed. While good discussions have taken place on non-tariff barriers to industrial goods imports, progress on sectoral agreements—the key sticking point in the NAMA talks, and the Doha talks in general—has been lacking.
“At this stage I think it would be fair to say that results are subliminal,” Lamy declared.
Only “incremental progress” has been achieved in 2009 in the Doha talks on services, with Lamy noting that results here are dependent on progress in the agriculture and NAMA talks.
On negotiations to revise WTO antidumping and subsidy rules, the WTO chief said that while some advances have been made on technical issues, “there has not however been any signs of significant convergence on major political issues. To the contrary, the level of engagement to seek convergence on such issues has been limited.”
‘Not on Verge of Breakthrough.’
Likewise, WTO members “are plainly not on the verge of a breakthrough”
on the issues of extended protection for geographical indications and developing country demands for provisions in the WTO's TRIPs Agreement establishing mandatory requirements for the disclosure of the country source of genetic resources and associated traditional knowledge in patent applications.
In contrast, “good progress has been made this year on trade facilitation, and the outlines of a new agreement are beginning to take shape,” Lamy told the General Council.
Lamy noted that negotiations on Doha will not take place during the WTO's Nov. 30-Dec. 2 ministerial conference in Geneva, although a two-day working session will be held to review WTO activities, including the Doha talks.
Nevertheless, the ministerial conference—the first formal gathering since December 2005—will be a “unique occasion for the WTO to send a number of strong signals to the world” on issues such as dispute settlement, aid for trade, and international governance.
“I think we have a collective interest in setting a positive and constructive tone for international cooperation ahead of the climate change summit in Copenhagen,” Lamy declared.
By Daniel Pruzin
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