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Business
sees farm trade as key to Cancun success
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| He has to be
able to compete |
Cancun,
10 September, 2003
- A delegation of more than 100 international business leaders led by
the International Chamber of Commerce gathered today for the opening of
the 5th WTO Ministerial meeting, expressing high hopes that the Doha Round
of trade negotiations would be well advanced by the meeting's end.
Recognizing the issue
of agriculture as key to the meeting's success, members of the ICC delegation
used the opening day of the trade talks to lobby governments of industrialized
nations to lower the protectionist barriers shielding their farmers from
international competition.
In a statement delivered
to trade ministers, the ICC delegation said:
"The success of the Doha Development Agenda depends largely on substantial
farm trade liberalization."
ICC added: "At
Cancun, WTO members must achieve concrete progress in reducing export
subsidies and the substantial protectionist barriers that severely impede
trade in agricultural products, pose a heavy burden on consumers and taxpayers
and have a particularly injurious effect on the export capability of many
developing countries.
"Industrialized
countries must be prepared to make real concessions on trade in agriculture
in Cancun. It will be essential for industrialized countries to extend
effective market access to agricultural exports from developing countries,
especially to products in which they have a competitive advantage."
The delegates - representing
companies and business associations in countries as disparate as Bangladesh,
the US, Sweden, the UK, Australia, Germany and Mexico - will use the next
four days of ministerial talks to press for agreement on a broad-based
trade liberalization agenda.
Continuing its long
association with the WTO, ICC has vowed to support the intergovernmental
organization in its push for open markets.
Emphasizing the need
for the Cancun ministerial conference to make significant progress in
the Doha Development round of trade talks, the ICC statement said a successful
meeting in Mexico would bolster a weak global economy.
"Real progress
at Cancun would send a cofidence-boosting signal to investors, traders
and consumers that, at a time of considerable uncertainty in the face
of a fragile global economy governments from all continents are able to
work together not only to resist protectionist pressures but to enlarge
the potential for increasing trade and investment links between nations,"
the statement said.
To
view the ICC statement click here.
Journalists in Cancun
wishing to interview members of the ICC delegation should contact ICC
Director of Communications, Bryce Corbett, in Cancun on: tel: +52 998
107 6908 or email:Click here to send a mail
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