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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Mar25/09) Geneva, 19 Mar (D. Ravi Kanth) — Pakistan’s trade envoy to the World Trade Organization, Ambassador Ali Sarfaraz Hussain, has been nominated to chair the Doha agriculture negotiating body, also referred to as the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session (CoA-SS), at a time when the WTO appears to be enveloped by growing uncertainty and a sense of gloom, said people familiar with the development. It appears that the WTO’s Director-General, Ms Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, is planning to visit Brussels to hold consultations on a range of issues, in the face of the uncertainty arising from the alleged unilateral tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on Canada, Mexico, China, the European Union, and other countries, said people familiar with the development. Aside from the tariffs already imposed on Canada, Mexico, and China, the US had also imposed a 25% tariff on imports of steel and aluminum from all countries, including the EU. Some of the affected countries had already imposed retaliatory tariffs on American goods, while the EU’s retaliatory measures against US goods will come into effect on 1 April. More crucially, the Trump administration is expected to announce reciprocal tariffs against several countries on 2 April, a move that is being seen as a frontal assault on the multilateral trading system, particularly the WTO, said people familiar with the development. So far, there has been no explicit comment/statement from the WTO leadership on these seemingly “epochal” developments, said people familiar with the development. The US Trade Representative (USTR), Ambassador Jamieson Greer, has severely criticized the EU for opposing the US’ efforts to “re-industrialize.” “The EU has rejected attempts under successive US administrations to cooperate effectively on dealing with global excess capacity on steel, aluminum, and other sectors, employing measures that are too little and too late,” he said, in response to the EU’s announcement of retaliatory tariffs against the US. Ambassador Greer also said that “the EU’s punitive action completely disregards the national security imperatives of the United States – and indeed international security – and is yet another indicator that the EU’s trade and economic policies are out of step with reality.” The DG’s planned visit to Brussels seems to coincide with the celebration of 50 years of partnership between the EU and China for which the leaders of both the EU and China are expected to participate, said people familiar with the development. AGRICULTURE CHAIR Meanwhile, the chair of the WTO’s General Council (GC), Ambassador Saqer Abdullah Almoqbel of Saudi Arabia, last week urged members to consider Pakistan’s trade envoy, Ambassador Ali Sarfaraz Hussain, as chair of the Doha agriculture negotiating body, said people familiar with the development. Ambassador Hussain seems to have blocked the candidature of Guyana’s trade envoy to the WTO, Ambassador Dr. Leslie Satruken Ramsammy, even though there appeared to be widespread support for Guyana’s trade envoy, including from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean countries (GRULAC), said people familiar with the development. However, working behind the scenes over the past few weeks, the Pakistani trade envoy seems to have garnered support for his candidature and also managed to be sponsored by the Asian Group, said a trade envoy who asked not to be quoted. It is against this backdrop that the GC chair sent an email to members on 14 March, seen by the SUNS, informing them that “the Asian Group has put forward” Ambassador Sarfaraz Hussain as candidate “for chairperson of the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session.” “I have asked group co-ordinators to consult their constituencies about this nomination, and I have reached out to Members that are not part of the regional groups,” said the GC chair. The GC chair said that he is pleased “to inform you [members] that I have not received any reservations to this nomination,” urging “the membership to consider this nomination positively.” The GC chair further said that if he does not “hear back from any Member by close-of-business on Thursday, 20 March, I take it that the nomination is acceptable to all, and I would issue a separate communication inviting the Committee on Agriculture in Special Session to formally [accept] Ambassador Hussain as its Chairperson at the next CoA-SS meeting.” It remains to be seen whether the US is agreeable to the nomination of Ambassador Sarfaraz Hussain as the chair of the CoA-SS given his track record of aligning with India and Sri Lanka on the permanent solution for public stockholding (PSH) programs for food security, a decision that the US has repeatedly blocked since 2015, said people familiar with the development. SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE RETREAT Meanwhile, in a separate development, the GC chair has informed members that he will convene a retreat on “sustainable agriculture” at the WTO on 5-6 May, building on Brazil’s extensive efforts on this issue as well as the inputs received from the membership. In an email sent to members on 18 March, the GC chair said the retreat will start on 5 May with preparatory plenary sessions where external stakeholders and experts will share their expertise. The chair said that he will soon issue fresh modalities for the retreat. +
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