Africa the big loser if Doha talks fail: WTO chief

Agence France Presse
January 16, 2007
By Emmanuel Goujon

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Africa must change its stance to prevent the failure of the Doha Round of trade opening talks or face being the big loser, World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy said Tuesday. "If we conclude this round, there will be many winners. If the negotiations fail, no doubt who will be the biggest loser: Africa. We all know that. This is the reality," said Lamy. Africa states must "alter their position in negotiations to avoid a return to deadlock," added Lamy during a visit to the African Union's headquarters in Addis Ababa for talks with trade ministers from the continent.

The WTO suspended the round in July last year after negotiators failed to reach agreement after five years of talks. The round, launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001, is in an impasse as Western and developing countries remain split on issues such as agricultural subsidies and market access.

Developing countries want lower tariffs on their agricultural exports to US and European markets while industrialised nations seek greater access to developing and emerging nations for their industrial services and goods.

However recent bilateral talks between Lamy and senior US officials and European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson have raised hopes that a deal can be salvaged. Discussions will also continue at a ministerial meeting on January 27 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

The AU trade ministers are expected to adopt a common line on Doha after their talks with Lamy but the organisation's trade commissioner indicated the bloc was not willing to back down on its "just and legitimate demands".

According to a copy of the draft declaration, obtained by AFP, the ministers will call for governments outside the continent to stop underwriting exports.

"The results of the negotiations should guarantee substantial and effective reduction in trade distorting domestic support of developed countries coupled with ... substantial improvement in market access and expeditious elimination of all forms of export subsidies," the draft statement said.

Elizabeth Tankeu, the AU's commissioner for trade and industry, said the impasse could "be attributed largely to the intransigence and the failure of the major players to show necessary flexibility" in negotiations.

"The great expectations generated by the adoption of the Doha declaration have not materialized," she said. "A quick outcome must not be at the cost of the sacrifice of the just and legitimate demands of Africa for a WTO that has development at its heart," she added.

Lamy said the AU would strengthen its hand in negotiations if it took "an unambiguous position" on Doha.

Africa "more than any other region" must deliver a clear signal of the seriousness of the situation, the former European trade commissioner said.

But Tankeu said Western countries had to rise to the challenge and stop just thinking above their own interests. "The focus of the negotiations has increasingly shifted from the issue of development of poor countries to the pursuit by the developed countries of their narrow national interest," said the commissioner.

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