Let's forget Doha talks jolt and move ahead: Lamy
World Trade Organisation director general Pascal Lamy has warned that while deadlines have been missed before, the magnitude of a failure of the Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations would be just too severe.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: World Trade Organisation director general Pascal Lamy has warned that while deadlines have been missed before, the magnitude of a failure of the Doha round of multilateral trade negotiations would be just too severe.
In his opening address at the ongoing WTO public forum in Geneva, Mr Lamy expressed optimism that the “frustration and regret” of WTO members, academia and civil society over the risk of losing an opportunity to integrate more vulnerable economies into international trade, was the first step towards putting the WTO negotiations back on track.
“In July, we missed an important opportunity to advance our plead for a stronger multilateral trading system. This is not the first time we miss a deadline. But under the present economic and geopolitical circumstances, the magnitude of a failure of the Doha negotiations would be just too severe,” he said.
He added that since members and the civil society have expressed frustration at the stalling of negotiations, it was time to put the WTO talks back on track. What needed to be answered was how and when to do it, he said.
The Doha talks were suspended in July this year when members failed to agree on the modalities for liberalising trade in agriculture and industrial goods.
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With leading countries refusing to bridge their existing differences, he had suspended talks and had said that talks would be resumed when members express willingness to move forward. Now, with the US House of Representatives elections round the corner, it is unlikely that talks would resume before November.
Even if negotiations begin in November, members have just five months to thrash out a deal as the US trade department will lose its fast track authority to take decisions at the WTO without the consent of the Congress. If that happens, then talks may have to wait till after the US presidential elections in ’08.
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