Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 5 • Number 43 • 20th December 2001
UN Officials Doubt Doha’s Deliverables For Developing Countries
At a 12 December panel discussion sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, UN Development Programm (UNDP) Senior Civil Society Advisor Kamal Malhotra and UN Environment Programme (UNEP) Economics and Trade Unit Director Hussein Abaza both espoused a different take on the success of the so-called ‘Doha Development Agenda’ than previously put forth by the UN. Both UN officials noted grave concerns over the increased obligations that developing countries would have to assume as a result of the negotiations, in addition to the lack of gains made on issues already on the WTO table. While technical assistance has been one of the elements highlighted by some as evidence of the ‘development agenda’ — namely WTO Director-General Mike Moore — UNEP’s Abaza stated that capacity building training programs at the WTO have been conducted in an "uncoordinated manner" and as a result, "developing countries are not aware of the implications of signing off on a particular agreement". These positions put the UN officials at odds with both Deputy US Trade Representative Pete Allgeier and Chilean Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs Heraldo Munoz, who were also present at the panel discussion. Allgeier hailed Doha as a "reversal of Seattle" and noted that the increased role of developing countries in the negotiations, combined with strong US leadership, restored the WTO’s credibility in negotiating trade agreements.
"U.N. Officials Question Doha Success" UNWIRE, 13 December 2001.