PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC):
CARIBBEAN DELEGATES have headed off to the Mexican resort town of Cancun "well prepared" for the fifth World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial conference, according to Dr. Richard Bernal, the director general of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM).
The Cancun meeting, which begins today and ends September 14, marks the halfway point for Doha Agenda negotiations, launched at the conclusion of the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in the Gulf nation of Qatar in 2001.
MANDATE
Its mandate, according to the Doha Ministerial Declaration, is to "take stock of progress in the (Doha Development Agenda) negotiations, provide any necessary political guidance and take decisions as necessary."
But since that Ministerial Conference in Doha, the WTO has had difficulty in reaching consensus among its members on several key areas of Doha Round negotiations.
Caribbean countries have said that key intermediate negotiating deadlines have been missed in several key areas, including trade related aspects of intellectual property (TRIPS)/Public Health; Special and Differential Treatment (S&DT); Agriculture; Services; cuts to tariffs on industrial goods; and reforming the WTO's dispute settlement system.
Last week, representatives of Caribbean states met in Guyana for the Second Special Meeting of the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED) on External Economic Negotiations to fine tune their position ahead of the Cancun deliberations.
"I am satisfied with the level of preparedness of the region's Ministers and officials going into Cancun," Bernal said afterwards.
"The region has a common position going into Cancun; our concerns and issues are highlighted in the 'Caribbean Ministerial Declaration on the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference' which was unanimously adopted by the CARIFORUM region, August 6 and which was submitted, on behalf of the region by Jamaica, to the WTO on August 28," he added.
CARIBBEAN DECLARATION
The Caribbean Declaration considers a number of issues including trade preferences; poverty and vulnerability; small developing economies and a Work Programme on Small Economies.
In addition, it also discusses the fiscal fallout of tariff liberalisation; regional trade agreements; agriculture; services; debt and finance/transfer of technology; trade and environment; dispute settlement; technical assistance; and, transparency in the WTO.
The document was tabled at the July meeting of CARICOM Heads of Government in Jamaica in July.
