WTO members voice their views on upcoming post-Bali work

In the last WTO General Council meeting of the year, member states turned their attention towards the task of drawing up a work programme for concluding the Doha Round negotiations.

by Kanaga Raja

GENEVA: The end-of-year WTO General Council meeting on 10-11 December, amongst others, heard members voicing a range of views on what priority issues they would like to see incorporated into the post-Bali work programme for concluding the Doha Round.

The General Council decision of 27 November on the post-Bali work has set a deadline of July 2015 for agreeing on the work programme that was mandated in the Bali Declaration.

The views of delegations at the General Council meeting on 10 December came following a statement by WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo under the agenda item of report by the Chairman of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC).

In their interventions, developing countries, amongst others, stressed on the development dimension of the Doha Round and on special and differential treatment (S&D) for developing countries. They also said that the Rev.4 draft agriculture modalities text of December 2008 and the Rev.3 draft NAMA modalities text also of December 2008 should be the basis for the negotiations.

The G20 developing-country grouping said that agriculture is the key and will be the benchmark for the landing zone in the other areas of the Doha Round negotiations.

Delivering on commitments

Speaking in his capacity as Chair of the TNC, the D-G recalled that the 27 November special General Council meeting had taken the decisions which broke the impasse on the implementation of the Bali package, and “the task before us now is to deliver on the commitments that we made there.”

Azevedo also reported that the first valid instrument of acceptance for the Trade Facilitation Agreement Protocol had been deposited by Hong Kong-China on 8 December.

The new deadline of July 2015 for developing the work programme on the remaining Doha Development Agenda (DDA) issues already looms large, he said. Consultations have restarted through the negotiating bodies, and he had met with the negotiating chairs twice already since then.

In a brief report on their work so far, he said members are beginning to re-engage and put the work back on track. By the end of December most of the chairs will have convened meetings on the way forward, and further meetings are being planned for January.

“We need to keep building on this momentum,” said the D-G, highlighting some ingredients that will be needed if members want to be successful.

“One first ingredient will be to maintain a sense of urgency. Second, when it comes to the substance, I think we need to take an approach that is reasonable and pragmatic.” He urged members to focus not only on “what is truly, truly important for you now – but also to think about what is doable.”

Third is the need for a very high degree of engagement from all delegations, and to ensure that capitals are tuned in to the discussions. “Their engagement and readiness to make important political calls on how we move forward will be crucial.”

Fourth, members’ engagement will need to be deep, detailed and broad. An urgent, horizontal and reasonable but full engagement across the board is needed.

To this end, Azevedo said he plans to hold informal TNC meetings at the heads-of-delegation level starting on 21 January.

“2015 is going to be a big year for the WTO. We have important work to do and real deadlines to meet. We will hold our 10th Ministerial Conference. We will celebrate our 20th anniversary. So let’s make sure that it’s a year to remember,” the D-G concluded.

Speaking following the report by the Chair of the TNC, Indonesia, on behalf of the developing-country G33 group, said the development agenda of the Doha Round is critical and that S&D is vitally important.

According to trade officials, Indonesia also stressed on the importance of food security, livelihood security and rural development issues, as well as the implementation of all Bali issues, in particular, the issue pertaining to public stockholding for food security purposes. It urged members to engage on the basis of the July proposal made by the G33.

It said that Special Products (SP) and the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) must be included. The Rev.4 draft agriculture modalities text should be the basis for the negotiations.

Weakest and most vulnerable

Uganda, on behalf of the least developed countries (LDCs), said that in 2013, the LDCs’ share in world merchandise trade was notoriously stuck at 1%, with a staggering deficit of $60 billion, and their participation in world services exports was not any better. It was a paltry 0.68%. “We had a widening trade balance of commercial services and registered a deficit of $41 billion. There is limited diversification and most of our members are net importers. The biggest challenge remains how to integrate into world services trade.”

It is no secret, Uganda said, that the LDCs remain the weakest and the most vulnerable members of the multilateral trading system. “It is also unfortunately clear that we have fallen short of meeting the development aspirations of the framers of the Doha Declaration,” it said.

It recalled that on 21 July 2014, the LDCs had submitted a collective request to the WTO Council for Trade in Services. The ultimate objective of that collective request on the operationalization of the LDC services waiver is to help the LDCs increase their participation in services trade.

The LDCs had proposed 21 January 2015 as the date for the high-level meeting in line with the Ministerial Decision. However, in informal discussions held with members, the LDCs have tentatively agreed on 5-6 February 2015, taking into account some already scheduled calendar events.

Uganda said that the LDCs therefore look forward to the high-level meeting where non-LDC members in a position to do so shall indicate sectors and modes of supply where they intend to provide preferential treatment to LDC services and service suppliers, which have commercial value and promote economic benefits to them.

On the work programme, Uganda said that while agriculture will set the level of ambition in the Doha Round negotiations, there should be balance between agriculture, NAMA and services. Development should be the centre of these negotiations and the principle of the “single undertaking” should be preserved in line with paragraph 47 (of the Doha Ministerial Declaration).

“We must focus on the conclusion of the DDA without introducing new issues. The draft modalities texts should be the basis of our negotiations. Language on special and differential treatment for LDCs and developing countries should be preserved. Further, we would be interested in discussions on domestic supports, especially those that distort the market, as well as export competition in line with the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration,” said Uganda.

On special and differential treatment, the LDCs believe that work should proceed along the lines of the mandate enshrined in paragraph 44 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.

“People are always asking: what do LDCs want? Well, in response, we want to harvest legally binding and meaningful LDC-specific outcomes across the board,” said Uganda.

According to trade officials, Chinese Taipei, on behalf of the recently acceded members (RAMs), said that the RAMs have already made extensive and deep commitments, much deeper than many previously acceding countries.

It said that the Rev.4 agriculture and Rev.3 NAMA texts should be the basis for future negotiations. The issues of agriculture, NAMA and services are interconnected and should be tackled together. There is a need to set objectives that are doable.

Lesotho, on behalf of the African Group, welcomed the adoption of the three General Council decisions (on 27 November), adding that these decisions have indeed set the work of the DDA in motion.

The African Group also welcomed the establishment of the dedicated website for the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility and looked forward towards its full operation in order to assist in facilitating the implementation of the Trade Facilitation Agreement. The Group looked forward to engaging with members in the weeks to come.

Brazil, on behalf of the G20, underlined the need to follow the Doha mandate and for S&D. Agriculture is the key, it said, and will be the benchmark for the landing zone in other areas. The Rev.4 agriculture text remains the basis for a successful outcome. Export subsidies should be eliminated in line with the Hong Kong Ministerial Declaration of 2005 and the 2013 Bali outcome, it said.

Speaking for itself, Brazil said that the multilateral approach is the way forward as far as it is concerned.

Restoring momentum

Kenya, on behalf of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group of countries, reiterated the Group’s deep appreciation for the decisions taken on 27 November on food security, trade facilitation and on the post-Bali work programme. The decisions should help in restoring the momentum on the implementation of the Bali package, it said.

From the ACP perspective, some members of the Group already have public stockholding policies for food security purposes in place and a number of their schemes contain elements of price support. “While most ACP countries are well within their de minimis commitments, we should not completely discard any utility and certainty of the peace clause. On future schemes, ACP could benefit from a permanent solution that fully takes into account the situation and specific challenges facing ACP countries.”

With respect to the Trade Facilitation Agreement Facility, the ACP Group said “we must now move quickly to fully operationalize it.”

On the post-Bali work programme, Kenya said that the ACP Group has now moved to the next phase of preparing a modalities-type work programme as an input into the work of the TNC and the negotiating groups.

“Firstly, we must deliver the mandate on S&D and we are looking forward for constructive engagement. An outcome on S&D is critical in enhancing the development content of the DDA and to concluding the Doha Round. Secondly, on market access, we emphasize that our interests, in particular, the flexibilities, should be preserved based on Rev.3 for NAMA and Rev.4 for agriculture.”

For services, the ACP Group emphasized the need for concrete commitments in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to the members of the Group, including tourism, transport and travel, professional services and other business services; and Mode 4. In addition, “we must preserve the cardinal flexibilities for developing countries and LDCs inscribed in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) in any approach that may surface.”

The ACP Group strongly urged members in a position to do so to participate in the LDC services waiver high-level meeting and provide meaningful preferences in response to the LDCs’ collective request consistent with the timetable agreed by Ministers in Bali.

According to trade officials, Australia, on behalf of the Cairns Group of agricultural exporting countries, welcomed the resumption of work. It said that the work programme needs to focus on what is doable. There also needs to be a balanced outcome and balance in each of the three pillars in the agriculture negotiations (i.e., domestic support, export competition and market access).

Switzerland, for the G10, said that it is keen to engage. The three pillars in agriculture are clearly interconnected and must be seen from the point of view of the overall Doha Development Agenda.

Guatemala, on behalf of the small and vulnerable economies (SVEs), called for a transparent, inclusive and bottom-up approach that allows all members to participate. The development dimension is an objective that must be achieved. This is particularly important in agriculture, it said, adding that there needs to be focus on the Rev.4 agriculture text as the basis for the negotiations. The flexibilities in the Rev.3 NAMA text should be extended and maintained for SVEs.

Jordan, on behalf of the Arab Group, said that there should be no new issues until the Doha Round is concluded. The single undertaking is the only principle to ensure the right balance. It also stressed on S&D.

Shared responsibility

India (represented by Ambassador Anjali Prasad) associated itself with the G20 and G33 statements. It said that members are entering an important phase in the negotiations. “It is our shared responsibility to step up our efforts to prepare a clearly defined post-Bali work programme on the remaining DDA issues central to the conclusion of the Round, as mandated in paragraph 1.11 of the Bali Ministerial Declaration, as well as advancing the discussion on all Bali Ministerial and related subsequent Decisions.”

According to India, the ambition levels on the market access pillars – agriculture, NAMA and services – and in clarifying and improving disciplines in various negotiating areas would need coherence.

It is understood that the level of ambition across the negotiating areas would be governed by agriculture. A search for the right level of ambition is an important exercise which would require a frank exchange of views among members in the coming days and weeks. This will need to be done respecting the existing mandate and progress already achieved in the negotiations so far, it said.

India further said that “we have an opportunity in this Round to correct the inequities and imbalances in global trade rules, particularly in agriculture. Equally important would be to ensure outcomes that deliver on the promise of ‘development’ in the most effective manner and ensure that trade works as an engine of growth and development with substantial benefits for the weakest members of the WTO.”

Members should seek equitable, balanced and development-oriented outcomes through an inclusive and transparent process, while respecting the spirit of paragraph 47 of the Doha Declaration, it said.

India said it has never been enthusiastic about selective segmentation of the negotiating mandate. “We should, therefore, desist from any temptation towards cherry-picking issues for early harvests. Instead we should work towards seeking balanced progress in all areas of the negotiations so as to arrive at an early conclusion of the Round.”

According to trade officials, Cuba said that agriculture will determine the level of ambition and that the Rev.4 agriculture text should be the basis for the negotiations.

Zimbabwe supported the African Group and ACP Group statements.

China supported the G33, G20 and RAM statements. The Rev.4 agriculture and Rev.3 NAMA texts should be the basis for the negotiations, it said.

According to trade officials, the United States said that members need to work in a way that offers sensible ways to move forward on the post-Bali work programme. It is fully engaged in evaluating agriculture, NAMA and services. Members need to start looking at a horizontal approach and to strike a balance between ambition and doability.

Argentina endorsed the G20 and Cairns Group statements. It stressed that agriculture is the most important element in the negotiations, the backbone of development in the Doha Round. Export subsidies must be eliminated, it added.

The European Union said that members need to move forward in the best possible conditions. It cited parallelism, simplification and proper respect for red lines.

Tenth Ministerial Conference

Under another agenda item, the General Council agreed that the Kenyan capital Nairobi will be the host city for the tenth session of the WTO Ministerial Conference (MC10), which is to take place on 15-18 December 2015.

According to trade officials, Amina C. Mohammed, Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Trade of Kenya, who was present in Geneva for the General Council meeting, said that they are not only representing Kenya but have presented their candidacy on behalf of the whole of Africa – 42 WTO members and those in the process of accession. So, they are accepting this on behalf of the whole of the African continent.

As to what Africa and Kenya in particular would like to achieve at MC10, she said that Africa would like to see that at least two-thirds of WTO members, if not all, have ratified the Trade Facilitation Agreement so that it would be in force by that time.

Mohammed also said that Africa and Kenya would like to see a broad-based and balanced post-Bali work programme achieved by the target date of 31 July 2015. It needs to be something that responds to the current situation in the global economy.

According to trade officials, Turkey, which had earlier withdrawn its own candidacy to host MC10, thanked Mohammed, saying that her presence at the General Council meeting was a very encouraging and reassuring signal that there will be a successful organization of MC10. (SUNS7936)                             

Third World Economics, Issue No. 583, 16-31 Dec 2014, pp2-4