Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 7 • Number 34 • 15th October 2003
G-20 Meets In Buenos Aires, Calls For Resumption Of Trade Talks
Members of the so called G-20 group of countries met on 10 October in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to discuss the group’s post-Cancun agenda. While Argentina’s foreign ministry had invited all 22 current and former members of the informal alliance of developing country WTO Members, only twelve countries — including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, India, Mexico, Paraguay, South Africa and Venezuela — signed the final political statement of the Group. In the document the alliance urges all WTO Members to "resume the task in Geneva in a constructive spirit on all of the issues of the Doha programme," while focusing "on those issues that are priorities for improving and elevating the standard of living in developing and less advanced countries". Moreover, the Group confirmed its commitment to continue the agricultural reform process and to "achieve the total integration" of agriculture in WTO disciplines. In this context, the Brazilian Ambassador to the WTO, Luiz Felipe Seixas Correa, declared that the grouping was ready to resume negotiations on agriculture "at any time" in Geneva. In doing so, the Group was ready to use the agricultural framework text tabled at Cancun by Ministerial Conference Chair Luis Ernesto Derbez, which, however, was never discussed in detail. Also the EC and US had declared earlier at a 9 October informal WTO consultation that they would be prepared to use both the Derbez text as well as the one prepared by General Council Chair Carlos Perez Del Castillo as a basis for further discussion.
In Cancun, the G-20 had taken a very tough stance against the EU and US, insisting that the two would have to lower their farm support and protection much more than they had offered in their joint 13 August draft text on agriculture. According to observers of the negotiations, the Group’s new, rather conciliatory tone pitched since it met in Argentina could be seen as a sign that the alliance is responding to the mounting pressure from the US and EC and the gradual diminution of the Group’s membership. Since the 10 October Buenos Aires meeting, another three ex-G-21 members — Costa Rica, Ecuador and Guatemala — have reportedly left the grouping. Colombia and Peru had resigned from the alliance a week earlier (BRIDGES Weekly, 8 October 2003, http://www.ictsd.org/weekly/03-10-08/story1.htm), while El Salvador had left the Group already during the Cancun Ministerial. All of the six Latin American countries are in the process of negotiating free trade agreements with the US — especially through the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA) initiative — or are expected to do so in the future.
"Developing nations: Three more Latin American Countries defect from G- 21 Alliance on farm trade," WTO REPORTER, 15 October 2003; "Developing countries pledge to work for resumption of Doha trade talks," FT, 13 October 2003; "Central American nations accused of leaving G-22 under pressure," EFE, 11 October 2003; "Developing country trade group ready for new talks," REUTERS, 10 October 2003; "Developing nations Group affirms commitment to WTO process," DOW JONES, 10 October 2003; "Trade agreements: EU, Allies put brakes on push to re-start Doha round talks," WTO REPORTER, 10 October 2003.