Dhaka for duty-free access of all LDC exports to developed markets
Saturday, 29 December 2007
Bangladesh called Friday for duty- and quota-free access of all exports from the least developed countries (LDCs) to the developed markets to ensure that the Doha Development Round promotes the LDCs' interest, reports UNB.
"This should be done pending agreements on agricultural subsidies or NAMA. It is an imperative to ensure that the Doha Development Round promotes the interests of the LDCs," Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told a seminar on Future of Doha Round.
The adviser also pleaded for liberalised movement of low-skilled labour that would benefit Bangladesh too to make the Doha Round a true development round.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised the seminar at BRAC Centre Inn, where Dr Shishir Priyadarshi, director (Development Division), WTO secretariat, and Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Bangladesh Permanent Representative to WTO and UN offices in Geneva, made their presentations on the future of Doha Round.
Dr Rajani Alexander, acting high commissioner of Canada, also addressed the seminar presided over by CPD Chairman Prof Rehman Sobhan.
Painting a slightly gloomy picture of the outcome of negotiations at Doha Development Round that began in November 2001, the foreign adviser said the developing countries welcomed the new round of trade talks believing that it would remove the inequalities of the previous rounds.
Six years later, he said, the "Doha Round enlists more skeptics than optimists."
He added: "An even smaller minority expects that the Round will at the end offer substantial concessions to the developing countries."
Iftekhar said that even after the Hong Kong ministerial meeting in December 2005, many trade ministers claimed a win-win outcome. But by July 2006, most of the euphemism disappeared and the talks came to a complete halt.
He said apparently trade negotiations from the EU and the US failed to reach an agreement on reducing farm subsidies. A consensus on NAMA (National Agri-Marketing Association) was also missing.
"In the clash of the Titans, interests of the developing countries, especially that of the LDCs, have taken a backseat. It almost looks like the epitaph 'development' has become the collateral damage," he said in an apparent pessimistic note.
The foreign adviser observed that ambitious agenda along with controversial Singapore issues and the process followed in the Doha Round were the real reasons of the debacle.
He said flawed negotiating process largely stems from the WTO Principle of Single Undertaking that requires WTO members to accept or reject an agreement in its entirety.
The Single Undertaking Principle, the adviser said, imposes 'an inordinate cost' on the developing countries, especially on those with small negotiating teams.
He said countries like Bangladesh with limited resources and expertise were constrained to focus on issues of immediate concerns, often at the expense of its long-term interests in other areas.
"The Single Undertaking Principle forces us to accept unfair deals - for example in NAMA - when our negotiating resources are trapped in the discussion on special and differential treatment," Iftekhar said, adding that the Single Undertaking Principle only contributes to perpetuate the inequalities in trade regimes.
Referring to the formation of Groups like G-6, G-20, G-90, he said these groups were formed to facilitate an agreement, but the group members often fail to represent the interests of those left outside.
The adviser said the trade negotiations should not also face the pressure of deadlines, saying that LDCs should not accept an agreement that is not in their best interest.
He referred to the four working documents circulated by Ambassador Crawford Falconer, chairperson of the agriculture negotiations, reflecting the latest progress in the talks on Overall Trade-Distorting Domestic Support.
Although this sheds some lights at the end, Iftekhar said: "We should remain cautious against a hurried settlement if it ignores our vital interest. We should remain focussed on the issue of special and differential market access for LDC export."
"This should be done pending agreements on agricultural subsidies or NAMA. It is an imperative to ensure that the Doha Development Round promotes the interests of the LDCs," Foreign Affairs Adviser Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury told a seminar on Future of Doha Round.
The adviser also pleaded for liberalised movement of low-skilled labour that would benefit Bangladesh too to make the Doha Round a true development round.
Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised the seminar at BRAC Centre Inn, where Dr Shishir Priyadarshi, director (Development Division), WTO secretariat, and Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, Bangladesh Permanent Representative to WTO and UN offices in Geneva, made their presentations on the future of Doha Round.
Dr Rajani Alexander, acting high commissioner of Canada, also addressed the seminar presided over by CPD Chairman Prof Rehman Sobhan.
Painting a slightly gloomy picture of the outcome of negotiations at Doha Development Round that began in November 2001, the foreign adviser said the developing countries welcomed the new round of trade talks believing that it would remove the inequalities of the previous rounds.
Six years later, he said, the "Doha Round enlists more skeptics than optimists."
He added: "An even smaller minority expects that the Round will at the end offer substantial concessions to the developing countries."
Iftekhar said that even after the Hong Kong ministerial meeting in December 2005, many trade ministers claimed a win-win outcome. But by July 2006, most of the euphemism disappeared and the talks came to a complete halt.
He said apparently trade negotiations from the EU and the US failed to reach an agreement on reducing farm subsidies. A consensus on NAMA (National Agri-Marketing Association) was also missing.
"In the clash of the Titans, interests of the developing countries, especially that of the LDCs, have taken a backseat. It almost looks like the epitaph 'development' has become the collateral damage," he said in an apparent pessimistic note.
The foreign adviser observed that ambitious agenda along with controversial Singapore issues and the process followed in the Doha Round were the real reasons of the debacle.
He said flawed negotiating process largely stems from the WTO Principle of Single Undertaking that requires WTO members to accept or reject an agreement in its entirety.
The Single Undertaking Principle, the adviser said, imposes 'an inordinate cost' on the developing countries, especially on those with small negotiating teams.
He said countries like Bangladesh with limited resources and expertise were constrained to focus on issues of immediate concerns, often at the expense of its long-term interests in other areas.
"The Single Undertaking Principle forces us to accept unfair deals - for example in NAMA - when our negotiating resources are trapped in the discussion on special and differential treatment," Iftekhar said, adding that the Single Undertaking Principle only contributes to perpetuate the inequalities in trade regimes.
Referring to the formation of Groups like G-6, G-20, G-90, he said these groups were formed to facilitate an agreement, but the group members often fail to represent the interests of those left outside.
The adviser said the trade negotiations should not also face the pressure of deadlines, saying that LDCs should not accept an agreement that is not in their best interest.
He referred to the four working documents circulated by Ambassador Crawford Falconer, chairperson of the agriculture negotiations, reflecting the latest progress in the talks on Overall Trade-Distorting Domestic Support.
Although this sheds some lights at the end, Iftekhar said: "We should remain cautious against a hurried settlement if it ignores our vital interest. We should remain focussed on the issue of special and differential market access for LDC export."