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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (May21/06)
WTO DG acknowledges her "mistake" on JSIs Washington DC, 4 May (D. Ravi Kanth) - The World Trade Organization director-general Ms Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala has admitted her "mistake" by bringing the non-mandated Joint Statement Initiatives (JSIs) into an informal Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) meeting, said people familiar with the development. In what appears to be a loss of face in her two-month-old stint at the global trade body, the DG was stopped in her tracks for promoting the non-mandated JSIs to the extent that she did not even mention the word "JSI" in her concluding statement, said people, who asked not to be quoted. At an informal Doha Trade Negotiations Committee meeting on 3 May, the DG intervened twice and accepted her "mistake" when a serious objection was raised by India at the very outset, said people familiar with the development. In her introductory remarks, the DG said that trade envoys conveyed a "word" about bringing the controversial JSIs into the discussion. She said that these issues had been discussed in the past by her predecessor, and went on to suggest that she will ensure an appropriate discussion on the JSIs, said people familiar with the proceedings. Following the above comment by the DG, India took the floor to raise a "serious objection" about the inclusion of the JSIs by the DG in the discussions. India's trade envoy Ambassador Brajendra Navnit said he wishes to raise a "serious procedural issue" arising from the notice the DG circulated on 27 April. "In this regard," he said, "we wish to point out that as Head of the TNC, the DG can only deliberate on the mandated issues," suggesting that the informal Heads of Delegation (HoD) meetings "are not negotiating forums and had been started only to exchange information on non-mandated issues, for the sake of transparency." He referred to the clarification provided by the previous DG at a meeting on 25 July 2017 after many members had "raised concern over the convening of Informal HODs itself, as they saw it as a back-door for bringing in non- mandated issues." Ambassador Navnit said members questioned the "creation of a parallel structure competing with the TNC without a mandate, since the Ministerial Conference is the only authority to create a negotiating forum." Accordingly, the previous DG had explained that "while the TNC was the sole negotiating forum, the Informal HODs serve a useful purpose for information sharing and transparency." Further, the previous DG had categorically stated that "the Informal HODs was not and will not be a negotiating forum, as such a negotiating forum can only be set up with an express Ministerial decision." India said that it has no objection "to the continuation of the existing practice of JSI Coordinators presenting their oral reports while delivering their country statements, but we object to any discussion on JSIs or any other non- mandated issue at this informal HODs Meeting." Moreover, "it is also not appropriate for the DG, as the Head of the TNC, to engage on the JSIs, both inside and outside the Informal HODs framework." India said that the Secretariat should have guided the DG on this issue. In her prompt response, the DG said that she takes responsibility for this "mistake" and the Secretariat is not responsible. Subsequently, several countries cautioned the DG to not bring the JSIs into the informal TNC meeting. Indonesia's trade envoy Ambassador Syamsul Bahri Siregar said that "while Indonesia is part of two Joint Initiatives (electronic commerce and investment facilitation), it is our policy not to discuss these non-mandated issues in the Trade Negotiations Committee." "But as you requested us to discuss this issue," said Ambassador Siregar, "Indonesia believes that it is important to address the legal status issue in accordance with the rules of procedure for amendments and decision-making as set out in the Marrakesh Agreement. By addressing this issue, members will have the same level of comfort." Subsequently, South Africa, while delivering its statement on its priorities, said the "mandate of the TNC emanates from paragraph 46 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration which outlines the negotiating issues that have a multilateral mandate that remain a priority for us and this mandate must be preserved." Ambassador Xolelwa Mlumbi-Peter said "the TNC has been established by Ministers to supervise the overall conduct of the negotiations under the DDA (Doha Development Agenda)." In the context of COVID-19, she said, "the conclusion of the long-outstanding issues within the mandate of the TNC is critical if the WTO is to deliver on its developmental imperatives." She said that the informal HODs "is solely a transparency exercise on multilateral issues that necessarily do not fit under the mandate of the TNC," adding that "the primary focus of the TNC must be on mandated issues." Pakistan expressed support for India's objection, suggesting that the informal TNC is not supposed to discuss non-mandated JSIs.
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