In an effort to reinvigorate the Doha round of global trade liberalisation talks, commerce and industry minister Anand Sharma will meet ambassadors from key member-countries of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) to discuss the progress made so far and the modalities that need to be worked out for finalising a deal after nine years of engagement.
The minister, who will leave for Geneva later this month, will also hold talks with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy before he heads for the upcoming G-20 meeting in Seoul in November, officials in the ministry told Business Standard.
Concluding the Doha round of global trade talks would also be on the agenda during the visit of US President Barack Obama in November. According to officials in the ministry, the chances of having a deal in 2010 look bleak and it can only be concluded in late 2011. Negotiators from the 153-member countries are looking to finalise the modalities for the talks by December after the elections in the United States are over.
The talks have almost come to a standstill due to the US’ prolonged absence from the negotiating table. While talks on agriculture and industrial goods are in full swing, members have not been able to come to a conclusion on some significant issues concerning sensitive products, tariff rate quotas, cotton subsidies, special safeguards mechanisms and tropical products. The US position had been unwavering over sectoral tariff reduction in developing countries, specifically in chemicals.
There has been a series of meetings amongst ambassadors from the US, the European Union, India, China and Brazil. However, a decision to conclude the negotiations by agreeing on the modalities rests on what leaders decide during the G-20 meet in Seoul.
Lamy’s warning
Lamy had recently said the lack of a necessary political momentum has led to talks not progressing as desired and would run the risk of delaying the deal. “Bringing the Doha Round to a successful conclusion would send the strongest possible signal that the WTO is relevant to today's new world economy, that it remains the focal point for global trade negotiations, and that it will be a key forum for international economic cooperation into the future. But if Doha stumbles, then doubts will grow, not just about the WTO, but about the future of multilateralism in trade,” he said the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the World Trade Institute in Bern.
He also said the deal had to be concluded to address the challenge of the future, since the world has gone through a paradigm change since the talks began in 2001 in Qatar. “As we see the Doha round finish line, we will have to put on our thinking cap and seriously look at the challenges that await us,” he said.
Prospects of having a deal by 2010 became bleaker, with developed countries resorting to creation of jobs by strengthening their domestic industries, thereby resorting to more protectionist measures than encouraging free trade.
Since the resumption of the talks in September last year in New Delhi, not much has progressed on any important issue, though Obama committed to concluding the deal this year.
The last ministerial meeting, during November 30–December 2 last year in Geneva after a gap of four years, failed to make any progress, even as all countries reiterated their commitment to a rule-based multilateral trading regime that would help poorer countries export more and seek substantial reduction in subsidies.
