Emerging markets converge to assess Doha collapse

SAO PAULO – Trade ministers from an influential bloc of 21 emerging market nations head to Rio de Janeiro this weekend to assess why World Trade Organisation talks collapsed, and whether negotiations for a global trade treaty can be salvaged.

The G-20 group of developing nations led by Brazil and India will hold two days of talks at Rio’s famous Copacabana Palace hotel, and in a sign of the meeting’s importance, top trade officials for the US and the EU are also scheduled to participate. But a top Brazilian official cautioned that no breakthroughs are expected over the weekend after the halt in July of five years of trade liberalisation negotiations, known on the Doha Round, that failed to reach an agreement on freeing up farm trade.”They’re going to talk about the future, they’re going to talk about how to restart the negotiations,” said Roberto Azevedo, the top aide on trade issues to Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.Other top trade officials scheduled to participate include WTO chief Pascal Lamy, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, and Japanese Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa.At most, trade experts said, the session would end up with a call for a fresh round of bargaining for the 149-member WTO.Mandelson said earlier this week that he doubted any serious attempt by the WTO to jump start the trade talks can take place until after November 7 congressional elections in the US.Countries that belong to the G-20 and represent the interests of poor nations are under pressure to open up their markets for manufactured goods from rich, industrialised nations, but have resisted during the WTO negotiations, saying the US and the EU haven’t done enough to remove barriers to agricultural trade.But no one is expecting the Rio meeting will result in an offer by developing nations to reduce their industrial tariffs or open up their service sectors to greater international competition.”The G-20 won’t make a breakthrough on Doha unless they come out of the meeting with proposals for deep cuts in their own tariffs, and substantial liberalisation in service markets, and that seems unlikely,” said Gary Hufbauer, a trade expert and senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics in Washington.The trade talks, named after the Qatari capital of Doha where they were started in 2001, aimed at slashing trade barriers across the planet.Supporters say a successful round will boost the global economy and lift poor countries out of misery, while opponents contend a binding WTO trade treaty will simply lead to more profits for multinational companies while virtually enslaving workers in developing nations.US Trade Representative Susan Schwab warned last month that the talks would be suspended for several years if there is no breakthrough over the next six to eight months.The entire process is rapidly running out of time because US President George W Bush’s authority to “fast track” the trade deal – enabling US envoys to negotiate an agreement that can be submitted to Congress for a yes-or-no vote without amendments – runs out in mid-2007.Days after the G-20 meeting, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will host the heads of states of India and South Africa in Brasilia to discuss strengthening economic links between those countries and South America’s Mercosur bloc – made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.The G-20 talks come just a week before another international meeting of 18 farm exporting countries that compose the Cairns Group in Australia, billed by that country’s trade minister as the last hope of salvaging WTO global trade liberalisation talks.The G-20 was formed in 2003 with Brazil as one of its leading member nations.The other members are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, the Philippines, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, South Africa, Thailand, Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.The Cairns Group – which accounts for more than a quarter of the world’s agricultural exports – comprises Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Uruguay.Nampa-APBut a top Brazilian official cautioned that no breakthroughs are expected over the weekend after the halt in July of five years of trade liberalisation negotiations, known on the Doha Round, that failed to reach an agreement on freeing up farm trade.”They’re going to talk about the future, they’re going to talk about how to restart the negotiations,” said Roberto Azevedo, the top aide on trade issues to Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim.Other top trade officials scheduled to participate include WTO chief Pascal Lamy, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, and Japanese Agriculture Minister Shoichi Nakagawa.At most, trade experts said, the session would end up with a call for a fresh round of bargaining for the 149-member WTO.Mandelson said earlier this week that he doubted any serious attempt by the WTO to jump start the trade talks can take place until after November 7 congressional elections in the US.Countries that belong to the G-20 and represent the interests of poor nations are under pressure to open up their markets for manufactured goods from rich, industrialised nations, but have resisted during the WTO negotiations, saying the US and the EU haven’t done enough to remove barriers to agricultural trade.But no one is expecting the Rio meeting will result in an offer by developing nations to reduce their industrial tariffs or open up their service sectors to greater international competition.”The G-20 won’t make a breakthrough on Doha unless they come out of the meeting with proposals for deep cuts in their own tariffs, and substantial liberalisation in service markets, and that seems unlikely,” said Gary Hufbauer, a trade expert and senior fellow at the Institute for International Economics in Washington.The trade talks, named after the Qatari capital of Doha where they were started in 2001, aimed at slashing trade barriers across the planet.Supporters say a successful round will boost the global economy and lift poor countries out of misery, while opponents contend a binding WTO trade treaty will simply lead to more profits for multinational companies while virtually enslaving workers in developing nations.US Trade Representative Susan Schwab warned last month that the talks would be suspended for several years if there is no breakthrough over the next six to eight months.The entire process is rapidly running out of time because US President George W Bush’s authority to “fast track” the trade deal – enabling US envoys to negotiate an agreement that can be submitted to Congress for a yes-or-no vote without amendments – runs out in mid-2007.Days after the G-20 meeting, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva will host the heads of states of India and South Africa in Brasilia to discuss strengthening economic links between those countries and South America’s Mercosur bloc – made up of Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela.The G-20 talks come just a week before another international meeting of 18 farm exporting countries that compose the Cairns Group in Australia, billed by that country’s trade minister as the last hope of salvaging WTO global trade liberalisation talks.The G-20 was formed in 2003 with Brazil as one of its leading member nations.The other members are Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, the Philippines, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, South Africa, Thailand, Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.The Cairns Group – which accounts for more than a quarter of the world’s agricultural exports – comprises Argentina, Australia, Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Philippines, South Africa, Thailand and Uruguay.Nampa-AP