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TWN
Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Jul26/07) WTO:
Reform talks expose North-South divide over written-only proposals Geneva, 8 Jul (D. Ravi Kanth) -- The United States and the European Union, among other industrialized countries, have apparently insisted that discussions on reform of the World Trade Organization be confined to "written submissions" made by members, to the exclusion of oral interventions - a stance that seems to impose new burdens on developing and least-developed countries, given their resource and capacity constraints, said people familiar with the development. At an informal transparency meeting at the level of Heads of Delegation on 7 July, the two major members, backed by the so-called "Friends of the System" group led by Switzerland, appear to be setting new benchmarks in the long-stalled WTO reform negotiations, said people familiar with the development. In line with this newfound emphasis on only written proposals, Switzerland has now circulated its non-paper on "Delivering through Flexible Multilateralism - A Contribution to the WTO Reform," alongside the Australian paper on plurilateral initiatives and the Argentinian proposal on advancing plurilateral negotiations. The US and EU are yet to float any formal proposals after the failed WTO's 14th ministerial conference (MC14) in Yaounde, Cameroon, in late March this year. Privately, several developing countries have voiced suspicion that the WTO Secretariat appears to be lending a helping hand to these dominant industrialized countries in preparing these proposals, said an Asian trade envoy, who asked not to be quoted. INFORMAL MEETING At an informal General Council (GC) meeting on 7 July, the chair, Ambassador Clare Kelly of New Zealand - which is a member of the Friends of the System group - provided a general report on the "kick-off" sessions held since 30 June on the WTO reform issues, including "level playing field", "decision-making," and "foundational issues." The GC chair's statement was followed by initial reports from the three facilitators - Ambassador Elmer Jose German Gonzalo Schialer Salcedo (Peru) for level-playing-field issues, Ambassador Katsuro Nagai (Japan) for decision-making, and Ambassador Sumathi Balakrishnan (Malaysia) for foundational issues. The three facilitators seemingly walked through the statements made by members in their respective sessions. They also indicated that their reports, along with guiding questions, would be issued alongside the GC chair's report on 7 July. However, at the time of writing, their reports had not yet been circulated, according to people familiar with the development. During their respective interventions, apparently many developing countries and their coalitions - such as the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group and the African Group - raised concerns over the alleged lack of legitimacy, the need for ownership, and, more importantly, process-related issues, said people familiar with the development. Several developing countries, including the ACP, highlighted the capacity constraints of small members and the challenges posed by the convening of parallel meetings, said participants who asked not to be quoted. "REFORM CASINO" The highlight of the informal meeting - though some members dismissed it as being merely routine - seemingly exposed a strategy to narrow the discussions exclusively to "written submissions," with facilitators reportedly advised to disregard oral positions, general conceptual considerations, and other verbal proposals, said several participants who asked not to be quoted. Several developing and least-developed countries apparently saw this as a new trend that renders them powerless in the discussions, cloaked in the rhetoric of a "member-driven" process that leaves them unable to defend their views without the currency of written proposals, said a trade envoy from an African country, who asked not to be quoted. Privately, on a background basis, the African envoy coined a new term to describe the emerging reality on the ground: a "reform casino," where one can only play if they have chips - otherwise, they are rendered redundant. The US also seemingly added "development" to the GATT Article XXI security exceptions, on a par with "essential security," while another member apparently paired "development" with "environment," said people familiar with the development. Some members of the Friends of the System group, such as Korea, appear to have pushed back on "development" and "foundational issues," instead linking them to "decision-making" and "level-playing-field" issues on grounds that no proposals exist on the former. In an attempt to steer toward the seemingly implausible proposal of "flexible" decision-making - based on the Swiss non-paper - and to legitimize plurilateral negotiations anchored on the Argentinian and Australian proposals, Korea has apparently underscored the need to focus only on these two tracks, said people familiar with the discussions. Also, for several members of the Cairns Group of farm-exporting countries and other developing nations in Asia, as well as Brazil, agricultural subsidies need to be an integral component of the level-playing-field issues - issues that are primarily aimed at industrial subsidies allegedly provided by China to its state-owned enterprises, a construct that originated from the US-Japan-EU talks, said people familiar with the discussions. China, however, appears to be a strong supporter of "flexible" decision-making while opposing the level-playing- field issues, said people familiar with the development. +
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