Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 8 • Number 34 • 13th October 2004
Need For Technical Work, Policy Space Stressed In Doha Round Oversight Body
On 12 October, the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) met to take stock of Doha round negotiations and discuss the concerns of Members. The session was the first TNC meeting since the agreement of the so-called "July package" almost three months ago, which effectively breathed new life into the struggling Doha round of trade negotiations. The TNC meeting included statements by TNC Chair and WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi, as well as the Chairs of the various negotiating groups established under the TNC. Several interventions were made by Members regarding upcoming negotiations.
Technical work ahead
The TNC meeting began by establishing a Negotiating Group on Trade Facilitation, and appointed Ambassador Muhamad Noor Yacob of Malaysia as Chair. In his opening statement, the Director-General stressed that WTO Members "need to build upon our July momentum" and continue to remain active in coming months, though technical work is likely to be at the forefront owing to political transitions in several key countries. He mentioned, and the US expressed its agreement later in the meeting, that technical work on issues such as services offers and non-agricultural market access (NAMA) would continue until spring 2005. At this time, there will likely be sufficient political capacity for making key decisions. It will be necessary, Supachai said, to wait and see what is feasible in 2005. He encouraged Members to spend less time discussing possible deadlines for the round and more time and energy maintaining momentum and ironing out the technicalities in negotiations.
The Chair of the special (negotiating) session of the Council for Trade in Services, Ambassador Alejandro Jara, submitted a report (TN-S-17, available online at http://docsonline.wto.org) and said that he saw some momentum on services. However, 50 Members hadn’t made services offers as yet, and Jara said he was concerned that this could threaten the May 2005 deadline to make revised offers.
Chair Manzoor Ahmad reported on the TRIPS Council special session and said that consultations on a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits would continue. He noted that the special session talked about the legal effects of TRIPS on developing countries, but said that he did not detect a substantial change in positions.
Chair Stefan Johannesson reported on the industrial market access talks. He said that the group is currently trying to structure its work and is focusing on configuring an appropriate tariff reduction formula and a sectoral approach. Johannesson noted that a number of countries are unhappy with the text that developed from Cancun, thus more attention will be focused upon building consensus and support for a formula.
Tim Groser, Chair of the agriculture negotiations, told the Director-General that Members discussed a variety of issues, including the ‘green box’ of allowable subsidies, export subsidies, state trading enterprises, food aid, ad valorem taxes in relation to a tiered formula, and a special safeguard mechanism (SSM) for developing countries. Members have thus far failed to agree to the creation of a special committee on cotton despite the "fast-track" mandate given to negotiations on the commodity in July. Nonetheless, Groser said that he was "fairly positive" and expected progress, though he stressed that future negotiations should be text-based and concrete. A number of requests were made for the WTO Secretariat to provide technical support to the agricultural negotiations, such as examination of the July package’s details on bound and unbound elements of the first round of reductions.
Negotiating power addressed
Several Members intervened in the TNC to react both to the presentations of the Chairs and to overall concerns relating to negotiations. Nigeria, on behalf of the African group, said they were ready to continue negotiations but made a strong plea for transparency. They expressed concerns regarding the dominance of a few countries in the negotiation of the July package and said they hoped that relevant chairs would in the future not rely on a few key countries for negotiations that impact all WTO Members. These concerns were echoed by Kenya. The key grouping of Five Interested Parties (FIPs) — comprising the US, EC, Brazil, India and Australia — were instrumental in the July agricultural negotiations, raising concerns for the effective participation of other countries.
Policy space sought for development issues
Kenya urged WTO Members to ensure that developing countries have the policy space to be flexible on policy options that will enable economic growth. The idea of "policy space," promoted in academic circles as well as in the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and several NGOs, refers to the ability of developing countries to enact policies conducive to development despite trade commitments. Policy space was also brought up by Indonesia, asking for the ability to implement policies for agriculture that would secure rural livelihoods. Indonesia suggested that tools such as special products (SPs) and a special safeguard mechanism (SSM) might enable it to do so.
Nigeria asked that development issues such as special and differential treatment (S&D), TRIPS, agriculture, and cotton stay on the agenda permanently. As regards market access, Nigeria said that key African interests include S&D, loss of customs revenue, and autonomous liberalisation, while in agriculture negotiations they would like to see SPs and an SSM, treatment of food aid, and concerns of net food importing countries at the forefront. Benin intervened and urged Members to establish a group on cotton as soon as possible.
The next meeting of the TNC will be on 9 December.
ICTSD reporting.