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Cancun marked a setback but not the end for trade talks
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| Maria Livanos
Cattaui: 'It would be unthinkable not to persevere' |
By Maria Livanos
Cattaui
Paris,
15 September 2003 --
The failure of the World Trade Organization's ministerial meeting in Cancun
dismayed all supporters of more open international markets. But this was
only one step - we are far from the end of the road for the Doha trade
round.
Had there been agreement,
everybody would have stood to gain. The hesitant recovery of the world
economy would have benefited from a boost to business confidence. An opportunity
has been lost, but not irredeemably.
What must happen now
is a close examination of the divisions that prevented agreement, followed
by a renewed search for compromise.
For the multilateral
trading system to thrive - and thrive it must if protectionism is to be
banished - some progress is better than none. Bilateral and regional trade
deals offer no substitute, but rather raise the spectre of fragmented
international trade arrangements in which the strong dictate to the weak.
No developing country can want that to happen.
Because farm export
subsidies distort trade, any dismantling of them by the rich countries
is better than leaving things as they are in the absence of an overall
agreement. Further tariff reductions on industrial products would benefit
rich and poor alike, as would further liberalization of trade in services.
In the coming months,
the WTO negotiators need to find a way to move forward each of the so-called
Singapore issues - investment, competition, trade facilitation and transparency
in government procurement -- on their own merit and at their own pace.
However, Cancun has shown that progress on agricultural and industrial
market access will be necessary for that to happen.
While lamenting Cancun's
failure, we should not lose sight of what has been achieved since the
round was launched in November 2001. Even in the immediate run-up to Cancun,
the WTO announced agreement on enhancing access for poor countries to
essential medicines - a step that was greeted as giving much-needed momentum
to the talks. Measures were also agreed to improve the participation of
least developed countries in the services negotiations.
Cancun was notable
for the unwillingness shown by countries to shift from their long-held,
and often untenable positions. If everybody is prepared to move away from
rhetoric and posturing, then credible negotiations offering real chances
of success can take place. If it means pushing back the January 2005 deadline
for completion of the Doha round, then so be it.
The Doha Round is
still intact, although battered. The European Union, the United States
and other major players remain committed to build on the progress made
at Cancun.
Another positive development
is that developing countries are now effectively playing a role commensurate
with their numbers in the WTO.
Despite the setback
at Cancun, it would be unthinkable not to persevere - for reasons that
apply equally to rich and poor. A successful round would demonstrate that,
at a time of severe international tensions, international cooperation
can function.
By taking decisions
that will further open markets our governments would be countering global
economic uncertainty in one of the most effective ways within their power.
And they would be improving the prospects of the three-quarters of the
world's population living in the poorer countries.
The record shows that
the multilateral trading system does deliver, in terms of job creation,
prosperity, economic growth and the spread of technology and ideas. All
the WTO governments accept this - or they would not have embarked on the
Doha round in the first place.
It is something for
all of them to keep uppermost in their minds as they regroup in Geneva
and return to the job at hand.
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Maria Livanos Cattaui
is Secretary General of the International Chamber of Commerce
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