TRADE: US Blocks Iran’s Admission into WTO

By Gustavo Capdevila Reprint | | Print |

Gustavo Capdevila

GENEVA, May 8 2001 (IPS) - The United States has impeded debate on Iran’s admission into the World Trade Organisation (WTO) by voting against a request sponsored by an informal group of developing countries.

The US representative before the WTO, Rita Hayes, said her government “is not in a position at the moment to support” the petition to begin deliberations on the Iranian application.

A diplomat involved in the negotiations described the US attitude as “an obstacle clearly founded on political motives alone.” No other reasons could otherwise explain the decision, said the representative, who requested anonymity.

The WTO, which coordinates the multilateral system of commerce, takes its decisions by consensus of its 141 members. As a result, consideration of Iran’s request could be postponed indefinitely if Washington maintains its opposition to the Arab nation’s accession, commented the diplomat.

Iran presented its first application for entry into the WTO in 1996. The institution’s director general at the time, Renato Ruggero, consulted with various members at the time and decided against including the matter on the discussion agenda of the General Council, the WTO’s maximum authority.

But this time, Iran’s request has a sponsor, an informal group of developing countries. Last December, Egyptian ambassador to the WTO, Faya Aboul-Naga, then chair of the group, asked the General Council to add the question to its agenda.

Then, in February, Aboul-Naga stated that she would accept the lack of consensus evident at that time, but said she would insist on the matter at the next session of the general council, held this Tuesday.

The new head of the group of developing countries, Malaysia’s ambassador A. Supperamanian, maintained that this item must be included on the agenda and expressed hope that the appropriate response would arise when it comes up at the General Council’s session this July.

Iran, where the 1979 revolution installed a regime based on Islamic law, is among the countries that bears the greatest brunt of US hostility, alongside Cuba, Iraq, Libya and Sudan. The government of reformist Mohammed Jatami has attempted in recent years to alleviate the tensions.

The WTO is currently negotiating, in separate working groups, the accession of 28 countries, including some that are considered politically charged candidates, such as China, Russia, Yugoslavia, Saudi Arabia and Taiwan.

There is a great deal of trade-related anticipation centred on the China’s admission, due to its billion-person market. After years of delays, the WTO member nations have intensified negotiations with Beijing over the last few months.

Nevertheless, the results of the discussions with China will largely depend on the Asian giant’s relations with the United States, which have cooled off in the last month due to the forced landing of a US spy plane in Chinese territory following an in-air collision that killed a Chinese pilot, and Washington’s policy toward Taiwan.

Meanwhile, the incorporation into the WTO of the republics that were members of the former Soviet Union continues without a hitch. This Tuesday, the General Council approved the admission of Moldova, where the Communist Party won 71 of the country’s 101 parliamentary seats in February’s elections.

Moldova’s Prime Minister Vasily Tarlev said before the WTO that his country’s new government will “maintain the principal directions of the economic reforms supported by the international financial organisations.”

“We hope that our accession to the WTO will facilitate the implementation of these tasks, increasing the confidence of our international commercial partners and foreign investors,” the official stated.

Moldova will become the 142nd member of the WTO once the accession agreement is ratified by the nation’s parliament.