|
||
|
TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Jul24/01) Geneva, 28 Jun (D. Ravi Kanth) — The World Trade Organization on 26 June touted that the Aid for Trade (AfT) initiative unlocked USD 648 billion between 2006 and 2022, seemingly remaining silent on the contribution of South-South cooperation, as well as China’s Belt & Road Initiative (BRI) to AfT, said people familiar with the figures. At the 9th Global Review of Aid for Trade at the WTO on 26 June, a group of countries led by New Zealand, and including the United States and China, pitched for an early conclusion of the Fisheries Subsidies Agreement (FSA) concerning disciplines on subsidies contributing to overcapacity and overfishing, said people familiar with the development. In her opening remarks posted on the WTO’s website, the WTO Director-General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said: “One of the most remarkable changes since 1995 is that trade-enabled growth has lifted over 1.5 billion people out of extreme poverty.” The AfT initiative was launched at the WTO’s sixth ministerial conference in Hong Kong (China) in 2005 to assist developing countries in complying with the Doha Development Agenda commitments as and when the Doha Round is concluded. The former WTO DG, Mr Pascal Lamy of France, highlighted the AfT as a framework to assist developing and least-developed countries. To recall, Mr Lamy had also made some rather “astronomical” claims that a trade facilitation agreement, which was dropped at the WTO’s Cancun ministerial conference in 2003 but included in the July 2004 package, would create trade gains to the tune of $1 trillion, a figure that remained a mirage, according to former trade envoys and negotiators. However, after major developed and several developing countries, particularly the US and the European Union, secured the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) at the WTO’s ninth ministerial conference in Bali, Indonesia in December 2013, the Doha Round was almost spiked at the 10th ministerial conference in Nairobi, Kenya, in December 2015. It is against this backdrop that the AfT initiative continued and became a window for trade-related investments and loans both from bilateral donors, particularly China, and multilateral donors like the World Bank. But the global trade landscape appears to be severely fragmented because of the ongoing national security-driven geopolitical and geoeconomic trade wars. “We are now in troubled times,” the DG said at the opening of the AfT meeting. Being a strong proponent of globalization which seems to be rapidly disappearing, the DG lamented: “We see increasing protectionism, the return of industrial policy, and the shaping of a narrative about trade that casts it as anti-people and anti-planet.” “We see signs of fragmentation in the trade data, with like-minded countries beginning to trade more with each other than with others that are not so like-minded,” she commented. In sharp contrast to the critical remarks made by the US Trade Representative Ambassador Katherine Tai on the inequalities and loss of jobs created by globalization, the DG said, “just as poor countries left behind during the recent wave of globalization look to benefit from the open, predictable multilateral trading system, they are being told that globalization is over, and presumably that they should find another way to fend for themselves.” “Aid for Trade remains a vital instrument to help them do just that,” the DG said. According to the Secretary-General of the Paris-based Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Mathias Cormann, “Aid for Trade continues to be an effective channel for building synergies between the trade and economic development objectives of donor and developing countries.” “Our latest report shows, in 2022, disbursements and commitments hit a record high of USD 51.1 billion, up 14% from 2021,” Cormann said. The foreign minister of Barbados, Mr Kerrie D. Symmonds, emphasized the AfT’s enduring relevance in integrating developing economies and least developed countries into the global trading system, reducing trade- related adjustment costs, and enhancing the supply-side capacity of small economies. He mentioned the so-called Bridgetown Initiative that seemingly established “guardrails” or robust frameworks to ensure effective implementation of Aid for Trade. “CONFUSING” AfT FIGURES Meanwhile, in chapter 2 of “Aid for Trade at a Glance 2024”, a co-publication of the WTO and the OECD, released on 26 June, it is claimed that total AfT disbursements since 2006 are to the tune of USD 632 billion, comprising USD 369 billion from bilateral donors and USD 263 billion from multilateral donors. However, it would have been useful if the report provided a break-up of the bilateral donors, and whether China’s huge BRI investments and loans were included in the report, said an analyst, who preferred not to be identified. Also, there appears to be no mention of South-South cooperation, without which it is difficult to measure the actual impact of the AfT initiative, the analyst said. Writing in a blogpost on the WTO website, the former Chinese trade envoy and now a WTO deputy director- general, Mr Xiangchen Zhang, said that “AfT projects comprise three main types: (I) economic infrastructure (i.e. roads, ports, telecommunications), which accounted for 54.6 per cent of funding in 2022; (ii) productive capacity building (support to productive sectors with high export potential), 43.6 per cent; and (iii) trade policy and regulations, 1.8 per cent.” “Within these three categories, transport and storage attracted the highest share of funding (27 per cent), followed by energy generation and supply (23 per cent), agriculture (18 per cent) and banking and financial services (12 per cent).” However, he did not mention the contribution of China to AfT, particularly China’s huge BRI investments in economic infrastructure or productive capacity. AfT “CARROT” FOR ADVANCING FSA The AfT meeting also became a venue for advancing the stalled Fisheries Subsidies Agreement (FSA), which continues to suffer from alleged historical asymmetries. New Zealand, which leads the “Friends of Fish” group, along with the US and China, two big beneficiaries of the proposed agreement, as well as 27 other countries called for an urgent conclusion to the FSA at the end-July WTO General Council meeting. The 30 countries that signed onto the statement on the FSA include: Argentina; Australia; Barbados; Belize; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Canada; Chile; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Dominica; Ecuador; Fiji; Hong Kong, China; Malaysia; Mauritius; New Zealand; Nigeria; Norway; Panama; Peru; Philippines; Saint Lucia; Samoa; Seychelles; Singapore; South Africa; Suriname; Switzerland; United Arab Emirates; United Kingdom; United States; and Vanuatu. Surprisingly, the EU, which is a supporter of the FSA, seems to not have signed onto the proposal. Other major countries such as Brazil, India, and Indonesia are also absent from the list of signatories. In their statement (WT/COMTD/AFT/10), New Zealand said at the meeting on 26 June that “we take this opportunity to affirm our support for the entry into force of the WTO Agreement on Fisheries Subsidies as soon as possible this year. We also affirm our support for conclusion of the negotiations on additional provisions relating to overcapacity and overfishing in July ahead of the European summer break, building on the significant progress made by Members at the Thirteenth Ministerial Conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi.” The countries noted “the critical contribution of this agreement for advancing the WTO’s sustainable development objectives, in line with UN Sustainable Development Goal target 14.6. In particular, we note the importance of a comprehensive agreement for protecting ocean health, the livelihoods of fisher-folk, and the communities they support.” The proponents acknowledged “the leadership of many WTO Members in seeking to reach a comprehensive agreement. We encourage all Members to engage constructively in order to bring the negotiations to a successful conclusion without delay.” They also appeared to dangle the proverbial “carrot” by pointing to “the WTO Fisheries Funding Mechanism and look forward to it being operational upon the entry into force of the Agreement.” As reported in the SUNS, the FSA was opposed at the WTO’s 13th ministerial conference (MC13) in Abu Dhabi in March because of the alleged specific carve-outs being given to some of the big fisheries subsidizers, who are held to be responsible for the global depletion of fish stocks, said people who asked not to be quoted. +
|
||
