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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (May26/04) Geneva, 7 May (D. Ravi Kanth) -- The new chair of the World Trade Organization's General Council (GC) on 6 May apparently stated that her consultations with members since the failed WTO's 14th ministerial conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon, in March, have yielded no progress in resolving the impasse over the extension of the e-commerce moratorium and on WTO reform. During the GC meeting to discuss the "follow-up" to the failed MC14, the new GC chair, Ambassador Clare Kelly of New Zealand, said she would continue her consultations with members until the next GC meeting in July on the two issues: the moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions and the allegedly controversial WTO reform, according to participants familiar with the proceedings. The seemingly plain statement made by the new GC chair suggests that Brazil is maintaining its position on not extending the e-commerce moratorium beyond two years - a practice that has been in place since 1998 - while Turkiye, the other country that opposed the extension of the moratorium beyond two years, revealed its decision to agree to a four-year moratorium at the GC meeting. US pursues plurilateral initiative At the GC meeting, the United States took the floor immediately after Cameroon, apparently to announce that it had waited until the first GC meeting after MC14 for an outcome on the e-commerce moratorium, but with the impasse continuing, Washington will now pursue a plurilateral initiative with like-minded countries, said people familiar with the development. The US, which normally speaks at the end of a meeting, intervened unusually early to suggest that the WTO has apparently failed the "litmus test" of delivering on a four-year moratorium on customs duties on electronic transmissions, while arguing that it will now pursue a plurilateral initiative on the moratorium. The US trade envoy, Ambassador Joseph Barloon, appeared to suggest that it was a test for the WTO whether it could deliver on a permanent moratorium - later scaled down to four years - indicating that Washington was ready to accept a package of three issues. The three issues highlighted by Ambassador Barloon are: a four-year e-commerce moratorium (even though the US objective was a permanent moratorium), a moratorium on TRIPS non-violation and situation complaints, and a development-oriented e-commerce work program, said people familiar with the development. In the spirit of compromise, the US seems to have said that it aligned its positions on these three issues while reserving its position until this first GC meeting after the Yaounde fiasco. It seemingly bemoaned that any outcome on these issues is not even feasible at this GC meeting, said people familiar with the development. Against this backdrop, the US is understood to have said that Washington will focus on a plurilateral initiative on the e-commerce moratorium, insisting that is the only way to make progress here in the WTO, said people familiar with the development. However, the US - which was originally a party to the proposed Joint Statement Initiative (JSI) on digital trade - boycotted the plurilateral deal announced by other JSI members at Yaounde, a deal that was hailed by WTO Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at MC14. US stance on WTO reform unchanged Even on the controversial WTO reform, the US said that its position remains unchanged: the reform discussions should be based on concrete proposals rather than a prescriptive framework on the three issues - changing the practice of decision-making by consensus, differentiation among developing countries for availing of special and differential treatment (S&DT), and "level-playing field" issues, said participants who asked not to be quoted. In effect, the US insisted that WTO reform work be conducted through submissions made by members, said participants who asked not to be quoted. China regrets MC14 outcomes China's trade envoy, Ambassador Li Yongjie, said "it is regrettable that outcomes, especially concerning the reform work plan and e-commerce work programme and moratorium, slipped through our fingers at the end of the meeting; we have made significant progress in building convergence." The Chinese trade envoy called for keeping "the positive momentum post-MC14 and continue our work based on what we have converged at MC14, to support a rules-based multilateral trading system by action." As regards the next steps, Ambassador Li said that "China would like to echo the call on members to follow the reform work plan, on which we spent a lot of time discussing and converging, both before and at MC14." China said it "supports the GC chair to carry out consultations with members, including a structure to organize reform discussions in an inclusive, transparent and efficient way, as well as potential facilitators, with an immediate aim of reporting back to the GC in July. We also stand ready to work with the DSB chair." China said it will "support continued work under the GC on the basis of the draft Ministerial Decision on Work Programme on E-commerce, with a view to arriving at a multilateral outcome, together with a moratorium on TRIPS Non-Violation and Situation Complaints." China emphasized that "the LDC package is an important part of the development agenda. China supports further work to deliver results and call [on] members to engage in constructive discussion." The Chinese envoy welcomed "Comoros as the 130th member party to the IFDA [Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement]," adding that it also welcomes "the launch of the Joint Ministerial Declaration on the IFDA, as well as the Declaration on the Interim Arrangement for the ECA [Electronic Commerce Agreement]." Turkiye's compromise draws applause Turkiye, which opposed the four-year extension of the e-commerce moratorium at MC14 on grounds of lack of consensus on the scope and definition of what would constitute electronic transmissions, appeared to indicate at the GC meeting that it is ready to accept the four-year moratorium, said people familiar with the development. Turkiye said that its key concern was to understand the nature of electronic transmissions, as customs duties are levied on trade in goods, adding that the proposed ministerial decision was apparently pushed without proper technical discussion in Geneva, said people familiar with the discussions. Ankara said there was no clarity on whether the e-commerce moratorium included internal taxes in addition to customs duties, said people familiar with the development. However, in a spirit of compromise, Turkiye said that it is willing to join the consensus announced by the Minister-Facilitator at MC14, said people familiar with the discussions. Turkiye's announcement apparently led to a round of applause at the GC meeting, as was also the case when Ankara announced that it would join the controversial plurilateral IFDA at MC14, said participants who asked not to be quoted. EU calls for holistic agriculture talks Aside from its normal support for the e-commerce moratorium and WTO reform, the European Union appeared to call for a holistic, overarching discussion on agriculture that is not text-based, said participants who asked not to be quoted. Among other participants, the Russian Federation made a rather emphatic statement on the need for plurilaterals within the WTO, suggesting that they should be guided by the multilateral system, said participants who asked not to be quoted. Russia apparently said it believes plurilateral initiatives must be pursued within the WTO, not outside - unlike the systemically and procedurally inconsistent JSI on e-commerce, according to participants who asked not to be quoted. In short, the Russian approach, said one participant, is somewhat different from the kind of plurilateral initiatives being pushed by the US and other members without regard for the fundamental rules of the Marrakesh Agreement that established the WTO in 1995, said people familiar with the development. The Russian position somewhat strangely appears to resemble the Indian position, which emphasized conducting plurilaterals based on the WTO's rule-book, said another participant who asked not to be quoted. Meanwhile, Costa Rica apparently announced at the GC meeting that it will join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), the regional trade agreement that emerged after the Trump administration pulled out of the original TPP signed by the Obama administration. Costa Rica justified joining the CPTPP on grounds that it is almost based on WTO rules, said participants who asked not to be quoted. Several countries, including Brazil and India, apparently did not speak at the GC meeting on 6 May. In his final statement, the outgoing GC chair, Ambassador Saqer Abdullah Almoqbel of Saudi Arabia, who arrived at the meeting in his traditional robes, lavished praise on the DG Ms Okonjo-Iweala, referring to her as "her highness", apparently because of her royal family background, said people familiar with the proceedings. The DG, in her statement at the GC meeting, appears to have said that MC14 was a success, adding that she has been specially invited by other organizations like the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank to share the MC14 success story, said participants who asked not to be quoted. The DG's statement is being likened to that of "a delusional head" of a country or organization - willing to put a gloss on even grand failures, as is the case in contemporary events, said a participant who asked not to be quoted. The DG's remarks were not posted on the WTO's website at the time of writing. +
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