WTO Meet On Doha Deal

| Monday March 22, 2010 00:00

The US and European Union trade chiefs have already acknowledged that it may not be possible to complete the Doha round of negotiations by 2010, as demanded by leaders at the last G20 summit and other meetings.

This week's 'stock-taking', mandated by ministers at a WTO conference last December, has been scaled back. The possibility that ministers would make the assessment has been dropped, leaving the announcement to senior officials, and the exercise has been brought forward to coincide with a week of meetings already planned for officials to negotiate on Doha.

'I have very low expectations,' said the WTO ambassador of an emerging economy. 'It's clear that 2010 is not on the cards.'

Many negotiators say the talks, launched in late 2001 to open up global commerce and help poor countries to prosper through more trade, are going backwards despite some progress on technical issues.

New Zealand's chief WTO negotiator, Crawford Falconer, who chaired Doha's key agriculture talks until last year, told a conference in Canberra this month that 2010 remained the target. 'But let's not kid ourselves. The reality is that the way we are going in Geneva, right now we won't make it,' he said.

The deal, which WTO DG Pascal Lamy says is needed to boost the world economy and provide a bulwark against protectionism, has been stuck in a political bind since ministers failed to clinch a breakthrough in July 2008.

Most other members say the United States is not really committed to the talks, as symbolised by President Barack Obama's failure to persuade Congress to approve a US ambassador to the WTO in Geneva.

Under affable Trade Representative Ron Kirk, the United States says it is trying to advance the talks but China, India, Brazil and other emerging economies are unwilling to offer enough to sell a deal to voters.

Obama has had bigger priorities than trade in his first year, such as healthcare and climate change, and few votes are to be had promoting trade deals now. ( Reuters)