Doha modalities mini-ministerial likely to be delayed

WTO Members “have only a few weeks, not months” to conclude framework agriculture and industrial goods trade pacts if they want to conclude the Doha Round this year, the global trade body head has said.

“This is a very tight schedule, but it is still doable,” Director-General Pascal Lamy said. The current world food price crisis stressed the need for completing the round at the earliest. “The conclusion of the Doha Round is more urgent today than it was yesterday,” he said.

However, chances are bleak that trade ministers could be gathered in Geneva by May-end to finalise 'modalities' deals with formulae and figures for subsidy and tariff cuts, and the terms for contentious exceptions to these. Slow progress in the farm trade talks has pushed back the release of a crucial negotiating text from April-end to May-mid.

It is expected that some 30 ministers may held a meet in June to do the job. Then in the second half of the year, the tariff schedules based on the modalities will be drawn up, other issues (like services and intellectual property) will be settled, and the whole Doha deal will be sewn up by December.

That text, along with a companion draft deal on manufacturing trade, is supposed to become the basis for a 'horizontal' negotiating process of cross-sectoral tradeoffs, first among senior officials, and ultimately among ministers.

Following the meeting, WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell acknowledged, “It would be extremely difficult under this time constraint and given the importance of substance to this process to have such a meeting in May,” reports AFP.

Lamy told the WTO's top permanent decision-making body that “it is clear that the primary focus of the next weeks has to be on modalities in agriculture and NAMA.” He pointed to ongoing work on services trade, where developed countries in particular have been eager to see signs of progress in parallel with the agriculture and NAMA negotiations.

Lamy said the chair of the rules talks would come up with a “document which would not prejudice Members' positions” on controversial issues such as anti-dumping rules and fisheries subsidies. (Source: ICTSD + Suns)

May 12, 2008