Ministers to sign final contract on industrial products - WTO talks
03 Jul '06
2 min read
Pascal Lamy
Lack of progress in discussions immediately before the weekend's deliberations on template agreements — known as modalities — is “sobering”, Director-General Pascal Lamy told an informal meeting of the full membership on 30 June 2006.
A number of countries shared his concern that continuing deadlock could wreck the chances of concluding a deal that would boost global economic growth, correct imbalances and promote development.
Opening an informal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee, which he chairs, Mr Lamy said discussions with ministers and other delegates over the past few days show that “some numbers remaining on the table at this stage do not create a landing zone. … To reach agreement, we need to close numbers.”
Members in WTO are trying to reach agreement on “modalities” in agriculture and industrial products. These will include formulas for cutting tariffs in both and subsidies in agriculture, along with other details such as flexibilities for political and developmental purposes, along with other disciplines.
The “modalities” are needed so that countries can list their new commitments to reduce tariffs on thousands of products and to cut farm subsidies. The lists will be in documents known as “schedules” that will run to several hundred pages per country and to tens of thousands of pages for the whole membership.
“What we need from these hours is to move the negotiations to the next phase, i.e., the phase where schedules can be drafted,” Mr Lamy said. “In order to do this, you need full modalities — which means parameters which cover the subjects identified by the chairs of the agriculture and NAMA (non-agricultural market access) negotiating groups.
“This means real negotiations. This is why ministers have come here. Yet, I regret to say that, at this hour, it is not clear that real negotiation will take place.”
His message was blunt. “The question before all of you today is how you are going to reconcile the commitment you have all made to finishing the round this year, with your apparent inability to negotiate in any real sense. This is a question which cannot any longer be avoided.”
-Ltd..jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Thermore (Far East) Ltd.")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation Limited (TSllC Ltd)")
.jpg?tr=w-120,h-60,c-at_max,cm-pad_resize,bg-ffffff "Taiwan Textile Federation (TTF)")
