Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 13 • Number 10 • 18th March 2009
Chair of WTO Farm Talks is Set to Leave Post
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The chair of the Doha Round agriculture negotiations, Ambassador Crawford Falconer of New Zealand, has told negotiators that he plans to go back to his home country in April - seemingly reversing a decision he made in December to postpone his return (see Bridges Weekly, 17 December 2008, http://ictsd.net/i/news/bridgesweekly/36487/). Back in Wellington, Falconer will take on the post of Deputy Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the New Zealand government said in a statement on Wednesday.
“Originally scheduled to end in December, Mr. Falconer’s term in Geneva was temporarily extended to continue negotiations that culminated in a further revised agriculture modalities text,” New Zealand Trade Minister Tim Groser said Wednesday.
“This text provides a strong basis for completion of the agriculture negotiations in the near future,” he added.
So far this year, however, progress in the farm talks appears to have stalled in the absence of clear engagement from the fledgling US administration.
Speaking privately, negotiators have frequently praised Falconer’s personal contribution to the drawn-out Doha talks, noting that it will be hard to find a replacement who can match the New Zealander’s combination of listening skills and technical knowledge of the talks (see Bridges Weekly, 19 November 2008, http://ictsd.net/i/news/bridgesweekly/34108/).
David Walker has succeeded Falconer as New Zealand’s Permanent Representative in Geneva. The next chair of the farm talks will be decided by the WTO Membership.
ICTSD reporting.
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