Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 6 • Number 16 • 2nd May 2002
Observership, Market Access Stall At TNC
WTO Members meeting at a 24 April session of the WTO’s Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) were unable to solve an impasse over the thorny question of who can qualify as an observer in the WTO’s negotiating bodies. Ongoing political disagreements centre around whether or not the Arab League can gain observer status at the trade body. Members were also unable to agree on a deadline to determine modalities on negotiations in non-agricultural market access.
The TNC, chaired by WTO Director-General Mike Moore, is the body mandated in the Doha Ministerial Declaration to supervise the overall conduct of the negotiations, under the authority of the General Council.
Speaking at the TNC meeting, Director-General Moore informed delegations that his informal consultations had been unsuccessful in brokering a consensus among Members on the observership question, and urged them to reach a solution by the next TNC, scheduled for 18-19 July. The problem is linked to the ongoing Arab-Israeli conflict: requests by Egypt to have the Arab League qualify as a Member have been rejected by the US and Israel because the League’s charter calls for a trade boycott on Israel. As a result, Egypt is withholding its consent to allow various intergovernmental organisations observer status to negotiating sessions of different WTO committees. According to one delegate sympathetic to Egypt’s position, "it’s a means of exerting pressure."
One developing country source said that Egypt was pushing for the Arab League to have observer status because the organisation could provide technical assistance to the 22 Arab states it represents. For example, many of the farmers in these countries spoke neither French nor English, so having Arab League representatives who understood and could explain in Arabic the details of negotiations would be valuable. Member state delegations were already overextended in their attempts to provide these necessary services, the source said.
According to Moore’s statement at the TNC, the importance of observer status in the negotiating bodies for certain intergovernmental organisations has been stressed by a number of delegations. This is because of the significance of some of these organisations in delivering technical cooperation and capacity building. Among the groups which have been mentioned in this connection, according to Moore, are the UN Conference on Trade and Development, the International Trade Centre, the World Bank, and the International Monetary Fund. Moore said that being present at the meetings and having access to the documentation can only facilitate the technical assistance efforts of these organisations.
The observership question presents the special (negotiating) session of the Committee on Trade and Environment (CTE) with particular challenges. Trade sources from both developed and developing countries have expressed frustration over the fact that both relevant multilateral environmental agreement (MEA) secretariats and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) are technically barred from attending CTE negotiating sessions. One source commented this week that it seems "very strange" to discuss various aspects of its negotiating mandate, such as procedures for regular information exchange between MEA Secretariats and the WTO, without the active participation of the relevant MEA Secretariats.
Market access
In addition to the observership issue, WTO Members disagreed over market access negotiating timelines. At the TNC, Japan made a short intervention to say that they were unhappy with the lack of progress in the special session on non-agricultural market access. Talks in the Negotiating Group on non-agricultural market access are currently blocked due to disagreement between developed countries and a group of developing countries — including India, Kenya, and China — over when the group should agree on its negotiating modalities (see BRIDGES Weekly, 16 April 2002). An Indian proposal introduced two days before the TNC suggesting a 31 July 2003 deadline for negotiations modalities was rejected by developed countries, who prefer a 31 March 2003 deadline, in line with similar timelines for agriculture and services talks.
Chairs reports
As part of the TNC agenda, Chairpersons from the various negotiating committees submitted their reports. These are available online under their respective codes at: http://docsonline.wto.org/gen_search.asp. Special Session of the Committee on Agriculture: TN/AG/1; Special Session of the Council for Trade in Services: TN/S/1; Negotiating Group on Market Access: TN/MA/1; Special Session of the Council for TRIPS: TN/IP/1; Negotiating Group on Rules: TN/RL/1; Special Session of the Dispute Settlement Body: TN/DS/1; Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Environment: TN/TE/1; Special Session of the Committee on Trade and Development: TN/CTD/1.
"TNC fails to bridge two major problems in WTO negotiations," INSIDE US TRADE, 26 April 2002; ICTSD Internal Files.