Global trade deal within reach, Lamy says
Sunday, 9 September 2007
GENEVA, Sept 8 (Reuters): World Trade Organisation (WTO) Director-General Pascal Lamy said Saturday a global trade deal was now within reach but political leaders needed to give a "final push" to complete the current round of negotiations.
Lamy warned that the consequences of failure could be dire, saying protectionism historically had paved the way to war, and that poor countries would feel slighted if the industrialised world continued to enjoy favour under the existing trade regime.
"A deal is now do-able but we need a final push, which needs leaders' constant attention and mobilisation," Lamy said, speaking at a conference on military conflict and security.
"There is not a wide difference to be narrowed, but there remains some differences-much less than there was last year or two years ago," he said.
Trade diplomats returned to the negotiating table in Geneva earlier this week in an attempt to wrap up the so-called Doha development round, named after the Qatari capital where negotiations were launched in November 2001 and intended to help poor countries improve their lot through freer trade rules.
Lamy has repeatedly urged countries to complete the talks by the end of this year to avoid the negotiations running into the US presidential election year, when Washington is expected to have little flexibility to negotiate.
Lamy called on the United States to accept deeper reductions in farming subsidies, for Europe and Japan to lower tariff protections and for developing nations to reduce tariffs on industrial goods in order to reach a global deal.
Arguments over the size of needed cuts to farming subsidies and tariffs, especially in rich nations such as the United States and France, are among the toughest challenges in the way of a WTO deal on agriculture, industrial goods and services.
The talks have struggled to overcome many countries' resistance to opening their farm and manufacturing industries to more competition.
Lamy warned that a collapse in talks could initiate a period of legal bickering, trade disputes and indeed aggravate diplomatic tensions that have in the past led to armed conflict.
Lamy warned that the consequences of failure could be dire, saying protectionism historically had paved the way to war, and that poor countries would feel slighted if the industrialised world continued to enjoy favour under the existing trade regime.
"A deal is now do-able but we need a final push, which needs leaders' constant attention and mobilisation," Lamy said, speaking at a conference on military conflict and security.
"There is not a wide difference to be narrowed, but there remains some differences-much less than there was last year or two years ago," he said.
Trade diplomats returned to the negotiating table in Geneva earlier this week in an attempt to wrap up the so-called Doha development round, named after the Qatari capital where negotiations were launched in November 2001 and intended to help poor countries improve their lot through freer trade rules.
Lamy has repeatedly urged countries to complete the talks by the end of this year to avoid the negotiations running into the US presidential election year, when Washington is expected to have little flexibility to negotiate.
Lamy called on the United States to accept deeper reductions in farming subsidies, for Europe and Japan to lower tariff protections and for developing nations to reduce tariffs on industrial goods in order to reach a global deal.
Arguments over the size of needed cuts to farming subsidies and tariffs, especially in rich nations such as the United States and France, are among the toughest challenges in the way of a WTO deal on agriculture, industrial goods and services.
The talks have struggled to overcome many countries' resistance to opening their farm and manufacturing industries to more competition.
Lamy warned that a collapse in talks could initiate a period of legal bickering, trade disputes and indeed aggravate diplomatic tensions that have in the past led to armed conflict.