[E-rundbrief] Info 419 - WTO Talks Collapse in Geneva
Matthias Reichl
info at begegnungszentrum.at
Mo Jul 3 23:12:29 CEST 2006
E-Rundbrief - Info 419 - Focus on the Global South: WTO Talks
Collapse. Good News for the Developing World - from Geneva.
Bad Ischl, 3.7.2006
Begegnungszentrum für aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
www.begegnungszentrum.at
===========================================================
WTO Talks Collapse - Good News for the Developing World
Focus on the Global South
PRESS RELEASE
1 July 2006, Geneva.
The illegitimate Mini Ministerial which the WTO's Director General
Pascal Lamy convened in Geneva came to a standstill as the US refused
to offer further cuts in their domestic supports, whilst at the same
time demanding that the developing world reduce their agricultural tariffs.
The collapse of talks is good news for the developing world.
Assessments of the outcome of the Doha Round, from a variety of
institutions, including the World Bank and the EU's own
Sustainability Impact Assessment, have already predicted that the
Round would have adverse impacts on the poorest countries,
particularly countries in Africa. Both the US and the EU have been
aggressive in demanding for market access in industrial products, and
the US for more access in agriculture. Yet despite being the prime
culprits for dumping their agricultural products on the world market,
causing destruction to the livelihoods of subsistence farmers, both
these giants have only offered cosmetic cuts in their agricultural
domestic supports.
According to Walden Bello of Focus on the Global South, "The US is so
intransigent, there are no prospects to get a fair deal. The
developing countries should cease being part of this charade and
abandon these talks, which they should have done long ago."
Member or Director General Driven Organisation?
The danger of the current impasse is that the Director General,
Pascal Lamy is likely to see this as his opportunity to play an even
more aggressive role in stitching an agreement together. The WTO
Secretariat is supposed to be a neutral party in the negotiations,
yet Lamy has clearly overstepped his mandate:
1) He has urged Members to converge on the magic "20" number. (That
is, converging on the G20 proposal of 54% tariff cuts; $20 billion
for US "trade distorting" domestic supports; and a maximum tariff of
20 in industrial products for the developing world). US "trade
distorting" supports in 2005 amounted to only $19.7 billion. This
means the US will be let off the hook in domestic supports (although
it would not be easy for them to increase their supports in the
future). Yet Lamy's suggestion requires the developing world to cut
their industrial tariffs, in some cases, into their applied rates.
The sectors that will be affected include textiles and clothing,
automobiles, plastics, etc. Trade unions in the South are already
predicting unemployment by the hundreds of thousands.
2) Lamy is in the habit of organizing decision-making meetings which
exclude the majority e.g. the present Mini Ministerial. Who is
allowed into these meetings is decided by the highest echelons in the
Secretariat. Whilst no decisions are formally made in the Green Room,
in practice, Green Room decisions are filtered straight into plenary
meetings and endorsed. Unless a country is politically powerful, it
is near impossible for them to block these decisions.
Comments Aileen Kwa of Focus on the Global South, "Pascal Lamy cannot
be trusted as a neutral player. He is leading the multilateral
trading institution in completely the wrong direction. The Doha
agenda and Lamy's magic "20" puts in jeopardy the WTO's own stated
objectives to strive for full employment and to improve the welfare
of people. US, EU and Pascal Lamy's narrow focus on market access
serves the interests of the world's transnational corporations. The
WTO needs a complete overhaul where rules prioritise not
liberalization or a pretense of liberalization, as is the case with
the US, but economic and human rights and the livelihoods of people."
Contacts:
Walden Bello
Aileen Kwa
Focus on the Global South (FOCUS)
c/o CUSRI, Chulalongkorn University
Bangkok 10330
THAILAND
www.focusweb.org
===========================================================
Matthias Reichl, Pressesprecher/ press speaker,
Begegnungszentrum fuer aktive Gewaltlosigkeit
Center for Encounter and active Non-Violence
Wolfgangerstr. 26, A-4820 Bad Ischl, Austria,
fon: +43 6132 24590, Informationen/ informations,
Impressum in: http://www.begegnungszentrum.at
Spenden-Konto Nr. 0600-970305 (Blz. 20314) Sparkasse Bad Ischl,
Geschäftsstelle Pfandl
IBAN: AT922031400600970305 BIC: SKBIAT21XXX
Mehr Informationen über die Mailingliste E-rundbrief