[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

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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

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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, 
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