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DEVELOPING COUNTRIES INSIST ON IMPLEMENTATION Lausanne, 26 Oct 99 -- Two leading developing countries, India and Egypt, have insisted at the Informal Ministerial Meeting in Lausanne that the WTO Seattle Conference deal adequately with correcting the present imbalances in the WTO agreements and in their implementation, and not to take up new issues that are not related to trade or the trading system. In his intervention at the meeting, the Indian Minister of Commerce and Industry, Murasoli Maran, said our objectives should seek not only an open multilateral trade system but one which is also fair and equitable and perceived to be so. A principal issue therefore is what should be the overall scope of the WTO's mandate. "Should it confine itself to predominantly trade issues or should its mandate be broadened to cover other areas?" he asked, recalling that in the Uruguay Round efforts to encroach on other issues were steadfastly pursued by some members for the first time. However it was possible to limit such expansion to trade related issues only and TRIPS and TRIMS agreements came about as a result. "Many countries including my own were not convinced even at that time that this was the right course to follow although we went along with the consensus. Five years after Marrakesh we are even less persuaded. "We now see further proposals seeking to have disciplines on investment per se. We also see suggestions relating to labour standards. We also see environment concerns are sought to be used to protect domestic industry. "We are strongly opposed to non-trade issues which only have tenuous links with trade being brought into the WTO agenda. To seek to deal with extraneous subjects on the basis of principles governing commercial transactions and based on the sole reasoning of trade advantage could ultimately distort development itself." Maran added the second key issue at stake is the need to ensure fairness and equity in the WTO system from the viewpoint of developing countries. "We are not talking here merely of provisions on special and differential treatment (which have largely consisted of longer transition periods and technical assistance) which even by themselves are inadequate and insufficient. In fact such meagre palliative do not address the needs and aspirations of developing countries. "The WTO disciplines should allow sufficient freedom and flexibility to developing countries to pursue their development strategies and must make a distinction between developed and developing countries where such a distinction is warranted.." Another key issue is that some of he UR agreements carry inbuilt imbalances that have come to light even more dramatically during their implementation in the last five years. "Also in the Uruguay Round, the developing countries provided enhanced market access by sharply reducing their tariffs. Yet in textiles, which is of particular interest to developing countries, there is no meaningful integration of restrained items even after five years. Also trade defence measures including antidumping and subsidy investigations are initiated in other areas, crippling our export effort." Maran added: "Not surprisingly there is deep scepticism prevailing among our people about WTO and its benefits. Therefore it is imperative the Seattle agenda is balanced and developing- country friendly. Only then can the final results be balanced and contribute to development. "It is absolutely essential that issues of implementation are addressed upfront and key imbalances removed. Also the review process needs to reconsider the full impact of limiting policy options on the competitiveness of developing countries, particularly in respect of subsidies, IPRs and TRIMS. Special and differential treatment should be made part of contractual obligations. "All these are essential pre-requisites to assure developing countries that when their interests are at risk the WTO system will respond positively to fully address their concerns. We have heard several calls for development to be at the core of the agenda. If this objective is to be realised, it must be ensured the WTO system subserves development and does not subvert it. Only then will this organisation have credibility in the eyes of the developing world." Maran quoted Mahatma Gandhi as saying that "for human beings the object in view should be the good of all, with the weak being served first." He added:"Only on this foundation should we seek to build a new and just world order." The Egyptian Minister of Economy and Foreign trade, Youssef Boutrous Ghali stressed four points in his intervention. Firstly, the future negotiations must focus on agriculture and services. Egypt is eager to export more agricultural products especially to Europe which is now a closed enclave in this area. Secondly, there is a problem of imbalances in benefits in the WTO. The developing countries had suffered a lot since the Uruguay Round and they were even tired. After the Uruguay Round, there was an imbalance in benefits, whether due to problems in the agreements themselves or due to the developed countries not implementing some of their binding obligations. If the next Round is to succeed in development, it must start by developed countries implementing the agreements. And for successful implementation, there is a need to renegotiate certain items. Thirdly, he said, the developed countries were misusing certain trade measures against the exports of developing countries. Developing countries were thus calling for reformulation of these measures by placing limitations on their use so they would not be misused, especially against developing countries. "We have to reinterpret these measures," he said. Fourthly, there are calls for negotiating labour and environment issues. However these have nothing to do with international trade and should be dealt with by the ILO (for labour) and the post- Rio Summit mechanisms (for environment). Dealing with these issues in the trade context means their being used as a weapon to make further demands which could be protectionist. Mr Ghali told the media that at Lausanne there was a closer meeting of views. The real discussions, he said, were in the corridors where there was some flexibility in exchange of views. In the main hall, countries put forward and maintained their positions that were held since months ago. He also said that Egypt is looked on as playing a leading role in the developing world. Egypt would be arranging for a meeting in Cairo in the second week of November to help in coordinating the views of developing countries in the context of the Seattle conference. The Minister of Foreign Relations of Brazil, Luiz Felipe Lampreia, said Brazil was in favour of the new Round. In Brazil's view, agriculture is the number one priority. There is a strong demand from civil society for more balanced and fair trade rules. "Exceptions to the system (in agriculture and textiles for example) are perceived in Brazilian society as damaging to our interests. The reason is simple, there are no specific trade rules for chemical products, for instance. Why should there be exceptional rules for agriculture which is the sector in which we are more competitive?" Lampreia said "we have to be vigilant and also avoid creating new and unjustified barriers. On environment, certain issues deserve close attention and could be the subject of rules, as long as they do not lead to disguised trade restrictions. On labour standards, "we do not believe there is any purpose in linking labour standards to trade rules protectionist motivations." (SUNS4538) The above article first appeared in the South-North Development Monitor (SUNS) of which Chakravarthi Raghavan is the Chief Editor. [c] 1999, SUNS - All rights reserved. May not be reproduced, reprinted or posted to any system or service without specific permission from SUNS. This limitation includes incorporation into a database, distribution via Usenet News, bulletin board systems, mailing lists, print media or broadcast. For information about reproduction or multi-user subscriptions please contact < suns@igc.org >
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