Experts fear WTO talks will come to nothing

WORLD – More than two-thirds of global trade experts believe that World Trade Organisation talks to be held in Cancun, Mexico from 10-14 September will fail to reach an agreement on farm trade.

That is the finding of a University of Adelaide poll of over 100 policymakers. It said that only 29% of those polled believed the meeting would succeed in agreeing a framework for negotiations on agricultural subsidies and market access.

Former WTO director general Andrew Stoler feared the impact this would have on the final Doha Round of negotiations of wider issues. He said: “Coming on the heels of a series of missed negotiating deadlines, a failure for agriculture would have serious negative repercussions on other topics under negotiation in the Doha Round.” Even those respondents who believed Cancun would see an agreement reached said that the modalities would not be as comprehensive as were hoped when talks started almost a year and a half ago.
The problems stem from the polarised positions of the WTO’s member states. On the one hand, there is an alliance between the USA and the 17-member Cairns Group. That includes Australia, New Zealand and Canada, who want greater liberalisation of the agricultural trade market to satisfy their export surplus. On the other, more protectionist groups like the EU and Japan want changes to be phased in slower and less drastically, to avoid having their markets flooded by cheap imports.

The EU is also pressing for the addition of a ‘geographical indications’ clause, which would bar foreign producers from selling food products using European names.