19th November 2009

Bridges Weekly | WTO Ministerial Can Send ‘Strong Signals’ to the World: Lamy

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The WTO’s upcoming ministerial meeting can “send a number of strong signals” to the world about the issues that matter most to the organisation, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told a meeting of the WTO’s General Council on Tuesday.

Less than two weeks remain before trade ministers arrive in Geneva for three days of speeches, working sessions and side events. But one thing that the ministers will not be doing while they are in town - at least not officially - is engaging in Doha Round negotiations.

“We have all agreed that this regular ministerial conference will not be a negotiating session and that the [Doha Development Agenda] is on its own, separate track,” Lamy told the General Council.

“At the same time, I think we agree that what is needed more than anything in the current economic situation is a platform for ministers to review the functioning of this house in its entirety and to renew their commitment to a strong, well functioning multilateral trading system,” Lamy told the delegates.

The Doha Round trade talks - which have stumbled repeatedly since they were launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001 - have hit a particularly slow spot this autumn. Delegates are frustrated at the sluggish pace of the negotiations, and some trade commentators have been wondering aloud as to whether the round can be resuscitated.

But speaking at a book launch on Tuesday evening, Lamy stressed that the Doha Round “is not at an impasse,” and that progress is continuing, if slowly. Speaking to the General Council earlier that day, he urged delegates to throw themselves into their work.

“What is clear is that if we are to conclude this round in 2010 as you have pledged to, we will need to take a hard look at where things stand early in the new year and map the road that would lead us to a successful result,” he said.

‘Breathing space’

But the slowing of the pace in the global trade talks could have a silver lining, says Aaron Cosbey, a trade expert at the International Institute for Sustainable Development, a Canadian-based think tank. Cosbey argues that the deadlock in the Doha Round negotiations provides “breathing space” for WTO members to think about how to improve the functioning of the global trade body.

In a new book, Cosbey sets out a ‘sustainable development roadmap’ for the WTO. Proceeding from the commitment to sustainable development set out in the organisation’s founding agreements, he proposes reforms to the institution’s processes for negotiation, accession, and dispute settlement, as well as its day-to-day activities. Notably, he calls for the creation of an independent panel analogous to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to provide WTO members with objective technical advice on the potential economic, environmental, and developmental impacts of different negotiating outcomes. He also urges WTO members to create a framework for assessing the institution’s performance vis-à-vis its sustainable development goals.

Two items on the ministerial agenda

Such questions about the overall function and purpose of the WTO will no doubt be debated at the upcoming ministerial meeting, but it is unlikely that ministers will arrive at any broad-based agreements on organisational reform.

Indeed, at this point, ministers will have only two items on which to make a decision: e-commerce and so-called non-violation complaints under the WTO’s Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS). Earlier this month, delegates struck a compromise on ministerial wording that would extend the existing moratoria on import tariffs on goods bought and sold online, as well as on non-violation complaints (see Bridges Weekly, 11 November 2009,http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/59219/). Ministers will consider the forwarded recommendations during the three-day meeting.

A proposal entitled ‘Strengthening the WTO’, that was put forward by India last month will be up for discussion, but ministers will not be asked to make a decision on it.

Despite the limited number of ministerial decisions that will be taken, Lamy urged delegates on Tuesday not to downplay the importance of the meeting.

“I see the upcoming ministerial conference as a unique occasion for the WTO membership to send a number of strong signals to the world with respect to the entire WTO waterfront of issues - from monitoring and surveillance to disputes, accessions, Aid for Trade, technical assistance and international governance,” he added.

The upcoming ministerial conference, which will take place in Geneva from 30 November to 2 December, will be the organisation’s first such meeting in nearly four years. Lamy acknowledged that the gathering “is long overdue.”

Preparations for the meeting are underway. Senior capital-based officials will arrive in Geneva for a week of intensive talks before the ministerial kicks off the following Monday. Closing his address to delegates, Lamy noted that he will inform members of the schedule of senior officials meetings at an informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee - open to the entire WTO membership - on Monday afternoon. Lamy said that he hopes that the senior officials’ meetings will “set the stage for a positive ministerial conference.”

Palestinians wins ad hoc observership

Also at Tuesday’s General Council meeting, delegates granted the Palestinian Authority ad hoc observership status to the upcoming ministerial conference, just as they did for the WTO’s last ministerial meeting, held in Hong Kong in 2005.

The Palestinians have been lobbying to win full observership status to the WTO, but those negotiations are still ongoing (see Bridges Weekly, 23 September 2009, http://ictsd.org/i/news/bridgesweekly/55765/).

The Palestinian Authority is not officially recognised as a state in the United Nations system, but the WTO allows both states and customs territories to become observers to the organisation, or even full members. Current non-state members of the WTO include Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

More information

The full text of Lamy’s speech to the General Council is available here:http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news09_e/tnc_chair_report_17nov09_e.htm

The IISD publication, “A Sustainable Development Roadmap for the WTO,” is available at http://www.iisd.org/publications/pub.aspx?pno=1196.

ICTSD reporting.

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