UK disappointment at missed fair trade opportunity
31 July 2008
Progress towards a global trade deal ground to a halt earlier this week at
international negotiations in Geneva. At the heart of the failure was a set of
measures that would have allowed countries to protect their farmers by raising
tariffs in the face of a surge in imports. India, China and the US were unable
to agree on when this "Special Safeguard Mechanism" could be used, and
by how
much tariffs could be raised.
Lost benefits for world economy
The UK is deeply disappointed by the collapse of the negotiations - which
were part of a series of meetings that began in Doha in 2001 aimed at making
trade work for the world's poorest people - and believes that this is a missed
opportunity. The global economy would have gained substantially from a deal on
the "Doha Development Agenda", particularly during this time of high global food
prices.
Pascal Lamy, Director-General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), said
that, had an agreement been reached, the world economy would have benefited by
$130 billion a year in tariff savings. In the words of Peter Mandelson, European
Trade Commissioner, the failure in Geneva was “heartbreaking”, and UK
Development Secretary Douglas Alexander described the talks' collapse as "bad
news for world businesses and consumers, and especially those in the world’s
poorest countries." Read Douglas
Alexander's statement.
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Committed to progress on trade
Despite the ultimate failure to arrive at a deal, the nine days of virtually
non-stop talks did see significant steps forward in other areas. These included
an outline agreement to end ongoing disputes in the WTO over bananas, and
progress in reducing levels of agricultural subsidies, opening up industrial
goods markets, and providing commercially meaningful duty- and quota-free market
access. Amongst those in attendance were dozens of trade ministers and hundreds
of trade experts from more than 30 countries.
A UK delegation to Geneva comprised staff from DFID, the Department for
Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Foreign and Commonwealth
Office (FCO). Gareth Thomas, joint BERR/DFID Minister for Trade and Development,
met ministers and officials from many developed and developing countries,
including South Africa, Lesotho and a number of EU member states. All the
countries he met indicated that they wished to see a deal and were prepared to
show compromise to achieve it.
Now, in the aftermath of the talks, DFID will join the European Commission
and others to reflect on what can be done to ensure progress in the future. DFID
remains committed to promoting sustainable economic growth and an open world
trading system which creates jobs, economic opportunities, and improves
livelihoods in developing countries.
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