|
||
|
TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Jun22/09) Geneva, 8 Jun (D. Ravi Kanth) — The World Trade Organization’s Director-General Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala on 7 June acknowledged that “many gaps remain but we are making progress”, despite the fact that the progress made on “four-plus deliverables” remains insignificant and somewhat modest as the WTO’s 12th ministerial conference (MC12) takes place in just five days’ time, said people, who asked not to be quoted. The chair of MC12, Mr Timur Suleimenov, first deputy chief of staff of the President of Kazakhstan, said there are still “outstanding issues that need to be resolved, including the WTO response to the pandemic, food security and agriculture, WTO reforms, fisheries subsidies and the TRIPS waiver.” He expressed hope that “in the coming days we will be able to overcome differences, demonstrate flexibility, and agree on meaningful results on all of these issues.” A special General Council (GC) meeting on 7 June confirmed the appointments of the three MC12 vice-chairs: the Trade Minister of Barbados Mr Jerome Xavier Walcott; the Trade Minister of Uganda, Ms Harriet Ntabazi; and the Trade Minister of Australia, Mr Don Farrell. At the special GC meeting, the reports presented by the DG, the chairs of the various Doha negotiating bodies, the chair of the General Council, Ambassador Didier Chambovey of Switzerland, the chair of the TRIPS Council, Ambassador Lansana Gberie of Sierra Leone, and the facilitator on the WTO’s response to the pandemic, Ambassador Dacio Castillo of Honduras, suggest that there is still considerable work that needs to be done to resolve the gaps, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Increasingly, MC12 appears destined to be a somewhat “chaotic” conference, with little or no clarity on what could happen in a “pressure-cooker” atmosphere seemingly created by the DG, said people familiar with the development. All the so-called deliverables for MC12 seem to be up for a toss, with likely alleged “rigged” methods of deciding issues by five or more trade ministers while the rest of the membership remains in the dark, as had happened at the WTO’s tenth ministerial conference (MC10) held in Nairobi, Kenya, in December 2015. Even though the WTO is a rules-based, member-driven, and intergovernmental organization, the DG allegedly appears to be bypassing the rules with abandon, said a trade envoy, who asked not to be quoted. For example, the envoy said without convening a meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC), the DG instead chose to put on the TNC chair’s hat at the special GC meeting on 7 June. Moreover, there is no procedural clarity as to how MC12 will be conducted when she likely plans to take several issues to ministers to decide on in “green room” meetings, while the rest of the membership is likely to be kept out, as had happened at MC10. According to several people, the DG plans to send reports to ministers to indicate the state of play in various areas either on 11 or 12 June, the day that MC12 begins. Until now, the DG’s reports on the state of play in areas listed for the ministerial conference were circulated 10 days before the start of the meeting. DG’S PRONOUNCEMENTS At the special GC meeting on 7 June, the DG said that “the next hours will be critical … We need to use each hour effectively to close as many gaps as possible.” “The people outside are waiting for us and, believe it or not, I really think we will do it,” she said. However, the DG did not delve into the ground realities which seem to indicate that there is no clarity yet as to which issue could “wreck” MC12 on the ground, said several trade envoys, who preferred not to be quoted. Interestingly, the DG summarized the state of play in “four pillars plus” that seem to include fisheries subsidies, agriculture, services, the WTO response to the pandemic (including the TRIPS waiver) and WTO reforms plus development and least-developed country (LDC) issues. Ms Okonjo-Iweala said “members agreed to close gaps in these areas before MC12” to enable ministers “with a manageable agenda and ensure productive ministerial engagement.” “MISLEADING” PICTURE At the special GC meeting, the chairs of the various Doha negotiating bodies presented somewhat upbeat, and “feel-good” reports, which apparently do not correspond to ground realities, said two trade envoys, who asked not to be quoted. Take, for example, the negotiations on fisheries subsidies, which, according to the DG, witnessed “progress made by ambassadors who have been engaging under the chairmanship of Ambassador Santiago Wills of Colombia to push the limits of their national positions in search for compromise”. Hours before the special GC meeting on 7 June, the DG is understood to have held a meeting with select trade envoys on fisheries subsidies. During that meeting with select trade envoys, many differences came into the open, namely on: (1) the architecture of Article 5 of the draft fisheries text dealing with “hybrid” disciplines for big subsidizers to continue with their harmful subsidies, and the time limit for availing of special and differential treatment (S&DT); (2) the de minimis provisions; (3) the right to carry out fishing activities within the EEZ of 200 nautical miles for artisanal fishermen; (4) the unresolved differences over the US proposal on forced labour in the fisheries sector; (5) the issue of territoriality; and (6) non-specific fuel subsidies, as well as several other issues. Hence, Ambassador Wills’ rather upbeat statement at the special GC meeting does not appear to correspond with what he witnessed at the meeting of select trade envoys, said people familiar with the discussions. AGRICULTURE On agriculture, there appears to be a “tug of war” taking place on several issues, particularly over the DG’s three “Plan B” draft decisions on the one side, and on the other side, a proposal from more than 80 countries on the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security and other issues, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Despite the DG’s several “green room” meetings on agriculture, there is little convergence on these issues, said people, who asked not to be quoted. In fact, the alleged non-transparent process adopted by the DG on agriculture came under scrutiny at the special GC meeting. Sri Lanka complained that its proposal on food security has not been discussed, suggesting that it is not being invited to the “green room” meetings where it could have explained its proposal. Sri Lanka had earlier submitted its draft ministerial declaration on the food security crisis on 3 June. It asks ministers to decide on the following issues:
However, several South American countries led by Uruguay apparently opposed the Sri Lankan proposal at the GC meeting, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Apparently, the DG seems to be banking on guidance from Australia and Brazil, which are opposed to the developing country proposals, said a person, who asked not to be quoted. TRIPS DISCUSSIONS Consider also the TRIPS Council chair’s report at the special GC meeting stating that there has been significant movement in the negotiations following a small group meeting of select trade envoys on Monday, as reported earlier in the SUNS. The TRIPS Council chair said delegations “entered into real negotiation mode [on Monday] in an effort to try to iron out their differences, particularly with regard to the waiver discussions.” At that meeting, the chair Ambassador Gberie is understood to have remained silent while the DG and her deputy Ms Anabel Gonzalez conducted the negotiations in which differences came into the open over attempts by the United Kingdom and Switzerland to narrow down the scope and several other provisions of the draft agreement, said people familiar with the meeting. Yet, the TRIPS chair presented a somewhat upbeat picture, contrary to the continued differences on a range of issues in the DG’s TRIPS COVID-19 draft text. The DG said at the meeting to go back to her initial draft outcome document. The negotiations on the TRIPS COVID-19 draft outcome document are continuing with little progress, said a person, who asked not to be quoted. At the special GC meeting on 7 June, the DG said that “while the negotiations have been difficult, I strongly believe that we have a real chance to deliver. We should seize the current opportunity while a credible response remains relevant.” WTO RESPONSE TO PANDEMIC The negotiations on the WTO response to the pandemic being conducted by the facilitator, Ambassador Castillo of Honduras, seem to be stuck due to the intransigent positions adopted by the United States over the TRIPS trigger, said people, who asked not to be quoted. At the special GC meeting, the facilitator informed members that delegations are working with “clean” texts including on general provisions, trade facilitation, regulatory cooperation, intellectual property, services, food security and some aspects of future work. Ambassador Castillo said that the entire document remains in square brackets and that “nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”. The issue of automaticity/TRIPS trigger is being demanded by the ACP (African, Caribbean, and Pacific) group and several developing countries including Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, South Africa, and Uganda among others. Interestingly, in an apparent attempt to accommodate the US concerns on the automaticity issue following its walk-out from a meeting on 3 June, the facilitator Ambassador Castillo on Tuesday introduced a compromise text on this issue, said people, who asked not to be quoted. The new text proposed by Ambassador Castillo at the “green room” discussions, seen by the SUNS, states: “We reaffirm the need to review and build on all the lessons learned and the challenges experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic, to build effective solutions in case of future pandemics including on intellectual property, technology transfer, export restrictions, trade facilitation, services, food security and regulatory cooperation in an expeditious manner.” It appears that the US has not yet come back to the negotiating table on the facilitator’s compromise text, said people familiar with the discussions. MC12 OUTCOME DOCUMENT The GC chair, Ambassador Didier Chambovey of Switzerland, provided an update at the GC meeting on the MC12 outcome document, the e-commerce work program and moratorium, and on graduation from LDC status. In these three areas, differences persist between the major developed countries, especially the US, on the one side, and developing countries, on the other, said people, who asked not to be quoted. The compromise language proposed by the GC chair to address the challenges states: “We acknowledge the need to take advantage of available opportunities, address the challenges that the WTO is facing, and ensure the WTO’s proper functioning. We commit to work towards necessary reform of the WTO, we envision reforms to improve all its functions. The process should be open, transparent, inclusive, and must address the interests of all members, including development issues. The General Council will oversee the process, review progress, and consider decisions, as appropriate, to be submitted to the next Ministerial Conference.” However, there is no agreement yet on the compromise language proposed by the GC chair because of opposition from the US and several other countries including India, said people, who asked not to be quoted. India has proposed that discussions on WTO reforms must be conducted under the auspices of the General Council and all other WTO bodies. The process should not be outsourced to McKinsey & Company as was done on the reform of the WTO secretariat, said people, who asked not to be quoted. Against this backdrop, attempts to hype up what appears to be insignificant progress in all areas may not augur well for the WTO at MC12, as several outcomes in agriculture and other areas could constitute “Plan B” decisions which involve “kicking the can down the road.” +
|
||
