BERNAL
THINGS HAVE gone wrong for embattled global trade talks, dubbed the Doha Development Round.
"Instead of permeating the negotiating agenda, the 'development dimension' has been in relegation, emblematic of how the Round has been consumed by the interests of rich nations, as opposed to being centred on those of developing countries," said director-general of the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (RNM), Ambassador Dr. Richard Bernal.
The focus of deliberations at the recently concluded 2005 Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Malta, Commonwealth leaders unequivocally said of World Trade Organzation (WTO) talks that 'at the core of the Doha Round is the imperative of delivering development dividends'. This viewpoint is shared by Caribbean leaders and Trade Ministers, who have consistently called for development issues to be front-loaded in the negotiating agenda.
SUBSTANTIAL DIVIDENDS
Commonwealth leaders urged rich nations to 'give more than they receive' in WTO talks, noting that they define success in the Doha Round to be "the extent to which there are early and substantial dividends for all developing countries, and the extent to which the development dimension permeates all aspects of the negotiated outcomes."
What was significant in such pronouncements coming out of the CHOGM was that they were coming from a grouping of over fifty countries, which represent one quarter of the world's governments, one-third of the world's population and one-fifth of global trade.
The grouping reiterated the importance of integrating development into the agenda of Doha Round talks, doing so immediately prior to the convening of the Hong Kong ministerial meeting.
The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference is scheduled to be held in Hong Kong from December 13 to 18.
LAST HIGH-LEVEL MEETING
The CHOGM was one of the last such high-level meetings ahead of Hong Kong involving leaders from a range of developing countries, and because of its focus on global trade talks it sent a powerful signal that these countries remained very troubled over how development issues are being positioned in the negotiating agenda.
This concern found expression in a series of Africa, Caribbean and Pacific Group meetings and a G90 Ministers of Trade meeting convened in Brussels this week, as a preparatory exercise for the Hong Kong meeting.
An ACP and G90 Declaration were released this week, coming out of the respective Ministerial-level meetings also convened this week. Further to the ACP Ministerial encounter, ACP spokespersons were appointed for subject areas, centred on five clusters to be taken up at Hong Kong with Jamaica dealing with Non-Agricultural Market Access
At a meeting of the Committee on Trade and Development (CTD) earlier this week, Argentina, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Namibia, Pakistan, the Philippines, South Africa and Venezuela tabled a submission that lashed out at what was referred to as attempts by some developed countries to 'sow division' amongst poor nations, and also re-interpret the framework and trajectory of the negotiations. Charging that some developed nations were undermining the developmental objectives of the Doha Round, the group of developing countries argued for an ambitious ?aid for trade? package to be launched in Hong Kong.
