Lamy: Doha Deal is In Reach
June 11, 2009 via Tehran Times
Eight long years of talks over a new global trade pact should reach a conclusion next year after changes in the U.S. and Indian governments, WTO chief Pascal Lamy said Tuesday.
Top U.S. and Indian trade representatives agreed to “reset” the stalled Doha Round of trade liberalization talks during a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of a conference of agricultural exporters in Indonesia, he said.
“We had not had that clear signal of ‘reset’ until now. What I got from here is that … yes, we should conclude this by 2010,” the World Trade Organization (WTO) chief told reporters after three days of talks on Bali island.
U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, the former Dallas mayor who was appointed by President Barack Obama in March, met the new Indian trade minister, Anand Sharma, for the first time here on Monday.
“What I saw is Ron Kirk and Anand Sharma clearly engaging in a process that should lead to the conclusion of the round some time next year,” Lamy said, describing the Bali meeting as “significant.”
Kirk avoided specifics about his meeting with Sharma but said the United States was committed to outlining a new basis for Doha negotiations by August, when the WTO begins its summer break.
“Doing nothing, rejecting pursuing an alternative to what we have been doing for the past three rounds is in fact a decision that leads to a failure of Doha, and that is not an acceptable conclusion,” he told reporters.
“To the United States, a successful conclusion will mean an ambitious and balanced result with new market openings for all, and significant contributions to global economic recovery … and development.”
The Doha Round collapsed in Geneva in July last year amid differences between India and the United States.
Kirk was speaking at the end of a ministerial-level conference of the 19-member Cairns Group, which accounts for 25 percent of the world’s agricultural trade and supports open markets.
Although the United States is not a member of the group, he said he fully endorsed its joint communiqué calling for world leaders to show the “political will” to re-start the Doha negotiations.
“We are in agreement with our colleagues here that we should begin in earnest,” he said.
The Cairns Group ministers said senior negotiators should convene at WTO headquarters in Geneva “as soon as possible to map out a clear path towards the negotiations, and to start down that path before the European summer break.”
Washington’s refusal to accept Indian demands for measures to protect vulnerable industries from a flood of cheap imports contributed to the failure of the last round of negotiations in Geneva.
Lamy said 80 percent of the global deal was done, but significant obstacles remained, especially regarding tariffs and market access, with some countries wanting to protect vulnerable industries and others wanting new markets.
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