Last Hurdle to New WTO Round Pits North against South

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA/IPS - The World Trade Organisation (WTO) surmounted the last hurdles standing in the way of the start of the new round of trade talks approved last November by the ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar.

Agreement was reached Friday on the make-up of the Trade Negotiations Committee, which will direct an arduous bargaining process between the multilateral organisation's 144 members over the next three years.

Delegates from the countries of the industrialised North and the developing South could not agree on the functioning of the Committee, delaying the start of the talks.

Boniface Chidyausiku, spokesman for the African bloc of nations and Zimbabwe's representative before the WTO, noted that 'Our concerns, as we have clearly set them out here and elsewhere, still stand,' despite the accord reached Friday.

'The struggle continues,' he told reporters.

Developing countries, especially those of Africa, held out until the last minute on their demand that the committee's mandate establish a set of ground rules to orient the work of the chairpersons of the Committee and of the individual negotiating bodies.

'We could not understand why in a rules-based organisation some of our partners were averse to this proposal,' said Chidyausiku.

In the end, the Committee accepted, adopting a proposal introduced by the Chairman of the General Council, Stuart Harbinson, which establishes guidelines that are to govern the work of the negotiating bodies.

The rules suggested by Harbinson focus on the transparency of the negotiations, to facilitate the participation of all members - a longstanding demand of developing countries.

The approved guidelines are designed to favour the work, during the negotiations, of small delegations, and of missions that have no permanent representation in Geneva, which is the case of many nations of the South.

Some 30 WTO member countries have no ongoing representation in Geneva, and are only able to attend to the affairs of the multilateral trade system through missions accredited in European capitals or New York.

One of the new guidelines that was approved stipulates that these limitations must be taken into account when meetings are scheduled, in order to avoid overlapping schedules and facilitate greater participation.

The chairmanship of the Trade Negotiations Committee will be held until Aug 31 by WTO Director-General Mike Moore, from New Zealand. On Sep 1 he will be replaced by his successor at the head of the WTO, Thailand's Supachai Panitchapdki.

The designation of the director-general as the chair of the Committee came under question by a number of delegations from the South.

The African bloc was opposed to Moore's designation to that post. Chidyausiku argued that the WTO is an inter-governmental organisation that must continue to be governed by its members.

But the African nations and the rest of the developing countries eventually agreed to the director-general becoming chair of the Committee, although they clarified that it was not to set a precedent, and that the arrangement would end on Jan 1, 2005, the deadline set in Doha for the completion of the multilateral trade talks that are now getting under way.

The Committee decided that the new round of talks would be divided up into seven main areas: agriculture, services, non-agricultural market access, rules, trade and the environment, establishment of a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits, and reform of the Dispute Settlement Understanding.

The designation of the chairpersons of the seven negotiating bodies has already prompted heated debate among the member countries.

The African bloc said it hoped 'the principle of equitable developed/developing country representation will be implemented regarding the selection of chaipersons.

'To make this even more balanced, we would have been happier with the appointment of vice-chairpersons,' Chidyausiku added.

'Some of us have been short-changed in the past, and are determined this time around to keep our fingers on the pulse of the negotiations,' said the spokesman for the African bloc.

Stuart Harbinson from Hong Kong has been proposed to chair the body that will negotiate the touchy issue of agriculture: countries that continue to resort to protectionist practices - mainly industrialised nations - are at loggerheads with those in favour of free trade in farm goods.

Brazilian representative Luiz Felipe de Seixas Correa said his country backed Harbinson's candidacy for the agricultural post. 'We have confidence in him. He has already proved his diplomatic skills.'

Meanwhile, Mexican representative Eduardo Pérez Motta announced that he would propose Uruguayan delegate Carlos Pérez del Castillo to chair the negotiations on the Dispute Settlement Understanding.

Harbinson, as chairman of the WTO General Council, is to hold consultations over the next few days to name the chairpersons of the negotiating bodies.

For his part, Chidyausiku underlined that 'Good faith, transparency and inclusiveness must remain an integral part of the conduct of any chairpersons and of any negotiations. We hope we will not have reason to one day again raise or draw attention to these.'