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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Oct21/16) Geneva, 15 Oct (D. Ravi Kanth) – The decision by the chair of the Doha Rules negotiating body to postpone line- by-line discussions in the Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations this week appears to have caused consternation and fears over the likely attempts to foist a “take-it-or-leave-it” text in the eleventh hour of the talks at the upcoming WTO’s 12th ministerial conference (MC12), said people familiar with the development. Despite unbridgeable differences in all the three pillars of the Doha fisheries subsidies negotiations and the failure to accommodate proposals from the developing countries to bring balance to the text, the chair, Ambassador Santiago Wills from Colombia, decided to hold line-by-line discussions on his revised draft text from 11 October, according to the schedule served to members. However, on 11 October, it appears that the chair postponed the discussions to 18 October on grounds that members need more time to discuss among themselves, said a Doha fisheries subsidies negotiator from Asia. Losing one week of negotiations at this crucial juncture, when only a few weeks remain before MC12, which is scheduled to begin in Geneva on 30 November, has raised serious questions as to whether the negotiations on all the unresolved issues in the three pillars – (1) IUU (illegal, unreported, and unregulated) fishing, (2) overcapacity and overfishing, and (3) overfished stocks – could be completed, said people familiar with the development. Unless a “take-it-or-leave-it” text is foisted on the members at the eleventh hour, there seems to be no possible way for arriving at any decision on fisheries subsidies at MC12, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Apparently, Norway has made a compromise proposal in an attempt to break the impasse in the negotiations, but the elements of the Norwegian proposal have not been made public so far, said people, preferring anonymity. Clearly, the developing countries need to be prepared with their response if the chair sticks to his revised draft text. Already, at the recently-held informal Doha Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) meeting a fortnight ago, the chair blamed some countries for putting forward proposals that he claimed would take the negotiations back by several years, casting doubts as to whether such proposals should be included in any new revised draft text, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Despite the facts on the ground, the trade ministers of the developed countries, including the US, continue to reiterate the prospect of concluding an agreement on fisheries subsidies at MC12. USTR’S REMARKS IN GENEVA Speaking at the Graduate Institute’s Geneva Trade Platform on 14 October, USTR Ambassador Katherine Tai said, on fisheries subsidies, that “in the next six weeks, we also have an opportunity to conclude the two-decades-long fisheries subsidies negotiations and show that the WTO can promote sustainable development.” “We want to continue working with Members to bridge existing gaps in the negotiations,” she added. She wants WTO members to support the inclusion of the issue of “forced labor” as part of the fisheries subsidies deal. It is somewhat puzzling as to how an agreement on fisheries subsidies could be reached when the negotiations are in dire straits because of the “imbalanced” revised draft text issued by the chair as well as the unbridgeable differences that persist among members, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Interestingly, in her statement on fisheries subsidies at the virtual ministerial meeting on 15 July, Ambassador Tai had said “protecting the sustainability of our fisheries resources and positively impacting our fishers and workers are critical for an outcome to be considered meaningful.” She went on to say at that ministerial meeting that “it is precisely these reasons that WTO members must ask whether the current negotiating text reflects the best that we can do after 20 years of negotiations.” “Although it does include some of the basic elements needed to reach a meaningful conclusion, our work is not yet done, as other key elements are still missing,” she added. Between July and 14 October, there seems to be little to no progress made in the fisheries subsidies negotiations that would make any deal possible unless a “take-it-or-leave-it” text is imposed on members in the eleventh hour of the negotiations at MC12, according to several people, who spoke to SUNS after the G20 trade ministerial meeting in Sorrento, Italy, early this week. Also, the fisheries subsidies negotiations were linked to the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 14.6 at the WTO’s Buenos Aires ministerial conference in December 2017. Attempts to link it with promoting sustainable development, while ignoring the SDG 14.6 mandate and the Buenos Aires ministerial declaration, seem to be incompatible, said people, who asked not to be quoted. At the Graduate Institute talk on 14 October, Ambassador Tai emphasized that an agreement on fisheries subsidies that includes the issue of forced labor is essential at MC12. US POSITION ON TRIPS WAIVER RAISES FRESH DOUBTS On the issue of trade and health, the USTR said “it does not end at MC12”. This pandemic, she argued, “will not be over in December, and it will not be the last public health (crisis) we encounter.” She said that the discussions on the TRIPS waiver “have not been easy” and “members are still divided on this issue.” The US supported the text-based negotiations on the revised TRIPS waiver proposal submitted by the 64 co- sponsors. That revised proposal sought the suspension of certain provisions in the TRIPS Agreement relating to copyrights, industrial designs, patents, and protection of undisclosed information, for a period of three years to ramp-up the production of diagnostics, therapeutics, and vaccines across countries to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. However, Ambassador Tai’s remarks did not indicate whether the US has played any role in bridging the differences in the discussions on the TRIPS waiver during the past several months to bring about an amicable solution. According to Ambassador Tai, “the discussions on the TRIPS waiver make certain governments and stakeholders uncomfortable. But we must confront our discomfort if we are going to prove that, during a pandemic, it is not business-as-usual in Geneva.” She did not specify which governments or stakeholders are “uncomfortable”. However, it is an open secret that the governments of Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, and Norway among others remain opposed to the TRIPS waiver. As regards the stakeholders, it is public knowledge that the representatives of Big Pharma, especially Pfizer, have carried out a systematic campaign against the TRIPS waiver with tens of millions of dollars spent on lobbying in Washington and other Western capitals, according to several news reports. When asked about the continued silence of the US during the discussions on the revised TRIPS waiver proposal and whether the US has relinquished the waiver, the USTR said it is not correct, alluding to the metaphor of a duck that may seem to stay in one place in the pond as its legs are constantly moving under the water. Ambassador Tai has not provided a clear response as to where the US stands on the TRIPS waiver, notwithstanding the fact that she made a different set of remarks on the waiver in Paris and Sorrento that suggested that it is possible only for vaccines, according to people familiar with those discussions. At a time when vaccine inequity has become the order of the day, with just about 2% of people in African countries having received doses of the COVID-19 vaccines, the continued meager provision of vaccine doses by the Northern countries has become a proverbial eyesore. This is more so when around 60% of people in these countries have received full vaccinations. Meanwhile, on 14 October, US President Joe Biden conveyed to visiting Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta that “the US will make a one-time donation of more than 17 million doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccines to the African Union”, according to a Reuters report based on a White House briefing. Clearly, for a population of 1.3 billion people in 55 African countries, “vaccine manufacturers are not giving members fair access,” the Reuters report said, adding that out of 5.7 billion doses of coronavirus vaccines administered around the world by mid-last month, Africa received only 2%. DISPUTE SETTLEMENT SYSTEM At the Graduate Institute talk on 14 October, the USTR said “it is essential to bring vitality back to the WTO’s negotiating function”, arguing that “we have not concluded a fully multilateral trade agreement since 2013.” The multilateral Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA), concluded at the WTO’s ninth ministerial conference in Bali, Indonesia in December 2013, was an integral part of the Doha Development Agenda. After concluding the TFA at Bali, the US washed its hands from the rest of the Doha issues, people said, preferring not to be quoted. The “cherry-picking” of issues by the US such as fisheries subsidies in the Doha Rules mandate has now been singularly responsible for weakening the WTO’s negotiating function, said people, who asked not to be quoted. The US, for example, has set aside other issues in the Doha Rules mandate such as improvements in the Anti- Dumping Agreement because that would require Washington to make fundamental changes in its anti-dumping laws. Also, the USTR’s comment on the reform of the dispute settlement system and the negotiating function of the WTO has raised eyebrows. “The reform of these two core WTO functions is intimately linked,” and amounts to saying that there is a quid pro quo between the reform of both these functions, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Ambassador Tai has insisted that “the objective of the dispute settlement system is to facilitate mutually agreed solutions”, rather than letting it continue with the litigation work. However, mutually agreed solutions in trade disputes could pose problems, as weaker members will always be at the receiving end in resolving trade disputes with the powerful countries. In a way, such mutually agreed solutions could turn out to be locked up in what seems like a “might is always right” framework, said people, who asked not to be quoted. On transparency-related issues, Ambassador Tai said that “we can use the upcoming ministerial to deliver result on achievable outcomes.” According to the USTR, “we can successfully reform the negotiating pillar if we create a more flexible WTO, change the way we approach problems collectively, improve transparency and inclusiveness, and restore the deliberative function of the organization.” She said the US “is also working on a draft ministerial decision aimed at strengthening resiliency and preparedness through trade facilitation.” The USTR, however, remained silent on any possible decision to be concluded on agriculture at MC12. In a nutshell, the remarks of the USTR has raised more questions than answers on the TRIPS waiver, fisheries subsidies, and the apparent linkage between the dispute settlement system and WTO reforms.
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