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MAKE IT OR BREAK IT TIME FOR LATEST WTO NEGOTIATIONS

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GENEVA, May 1 2004 (IPS) - 2004 is a crucial year for the Doha negotiations of the World Trade Organisation and the multilateral trading system in general, writes Supachai Panitchpakdi, Director-General of the World Trade Organization. In this article, the author writes that since the beginning of this year, starting with the instrumental efforts by US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, we have witnessed a number of very important initiatives and inputs to help move the process forward. I personally saw a much- needed new level of political commitment at important ministerial gatherings such as the Paris Ministerial Conference of the OECD and the Less Developed Countries (LDC) Ministerial Conference in Senegal. WTO Members are showing a remarkable sense of political urgency and realism, combined with the willingness to negotiate substance, and they are determined to reach framework agreements by July. The WTO and the multilateral system are under pressure again to deliver results. I have consistently argued that if governments and their constituents lose faith in the ability of the Doha negotiations to deliver results, we can expect to see a growing imbalance between multilateral and bilateral deal-making, widening the gap between stronger and weaker countries. The foundations upon which the multilateral trading system is built — non-discrimination and transparency — are at stake here. These core principles make the international trading environment more predictable and less complex. If we don\’t make sufficient progress in these negotiations and conclude them successfully, it is the poorest countries that will lose the most.

At times of global economic uncertainty and instability, the multilateral trading system has faced many challenges and setbacks. But the system has always been the safe haven to which its ever growing and diverse membership returns, because the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been extraordinarily successful in preserving peaceful trading relations between nations, and generating the necessary conditions for economic growth. This is what brought WTO members to their decision to launch the Doha Development Agenda in 2001, the latest round of trade negotiations in the WTO.

But times change quickly and memories tend to be short. The 147-member WTO and the multilateral system are under pressure again to deliver results. I have consistently argued that if governments and their constituents lose faith in the ability of the Doha negotiations to deliver results, we can expect to see a growing imbalance between multilateral and bilateral deal-making, widening the gap between stronger and weaker countries. The foundations upon which the multilateral trading system is built, non-discrimination and transparency, are at stake here. These core principles make the international trading environment more predictable and less complex. If we don’t make sufficient progress in these negotiations and conclude them successfully, it is the poorest countries that will lose the most.

2004 is a crucial year for the Doha negotiations and the multilateral trading system in general. We are again at a crossroads. Since the beginning of this year, starting with the instrumental efforts by US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick, we have witnessed a number of very important initiatives and inputs to help move the process forward. I personally saw a much- needed new level of political commitment at important ministerial gatherings such as the Paris Ministerial Conference of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the Less Developed Countries (LDC) Ministerial Conference in Senegal. WTO Members are showing a remarkable sense of political urgency and realism, combined with the willingness to negotiate substance, and they are determined to reach framework agreements by July.

This became particularly clear when European Commissioners Pascal Lamy and Franz Fischler recently unfolded their courageous plans, evoking solution-oriented and forward-looking responses from important groups, such as the G-20. The atmosphere and political environment in which we are working today have clearly changed and will no doubt, be further influenced by upcoming Ministerial gatherings, such as those of the African Union in Kigali and the APEC (Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation) countries meeting in Chile. Progress is there for all to see.

But we must not be over-confident. We are still faced with a number of very real and complex difficulties. The strong and unequivocal message of political confidence and determination that has come out of recent international gatherings needs to be translated into concrete action and solid progress at the Geneva negotiating table. We only have very limited time. Nor should we forget that, if we fail to seize this opportunity, we run the risk of losing the rest of this year, as well as most of 2005. It is important thus that WTO members balance their ambition with realism.

At moments of apparent success, it is tempting to seek more than is feasible and pre-empt the final outcome of the negotiations. But the July package is not the end of the Doha negotiations. We are looking for framework-level agreements which will provide a solid platform to conclude the negotiations subsequently. As I said in Paris during the recent OECD Ministerial Conference, the Doha mandate will still be there after July and it is against that yardstick that we all will have the chance to judge the end result before agreeing to it. (END/COPYRIGHT IPS)

 
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