World leaders agree to seek WTO deal by year end
Monday, 17 November 2008
WASHINGTON, Nov 16 (AFP): World leaders pledged here yesterday to seek a framework agreement on a stalled new global trade deal by the end of the year as part of a strategy for countering the financial crisis.
The Doha round of multilateral trade liberalisation talks was launched in the Qatari capital Doha in November 2001 under the auspices of the 153-member World Trade Organisation (WTO), but has foundered ever since.
The last attempt to clinch an agreement fell apart in Geneva in July this year at a ministerial meeting because of differences between the United States and India.
"We shall strive to reach agreement this year on modalities that lead to a successful conclusion to the WTO's Doha Development Agenda with an ambitious and balanced outcome," the leaders said in a final communique after a summit.
They also said "within the next 12 months, we will refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or implementing WTO-inconsistent measures to stimulate exports."
The leaders, ranging from the United States and major European powers to Russia, China, India and Brazil, acknowledged that their economies "have the largest stake in the global trading system" and as such need to act decisively.
"There is determination that we will fight protectionism. One of the ways we can signal that protectionism is unacceptable is by signing a new trade agreement," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters.
India and the United States disagreed over technical provisions called special safeguard mechanisms.
These enable countries to impose a special tariff on imports of certain agricultural goods in the event of an import surge or price fall.
The host of Saturday's G20 leader meeting, US President George W Bush, said the renewed effort on the Doha negotiations "is a very important part of this summit."
Any framework deal reached before the end of the year would then have to be fleshed out before being put up for ratification by members of the WTO.
There are also doubts about the position of US president-elect Barack Obama on trade issues. He would be responsible for ratifying any agreement when he takes over from Bush in January.
Obama occasionally struck a protectionist note on the campaign trail.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, who recently announced he was seeking a second term at the helm of the WTO, repeated last Wednesday his view that a deal is "doable" if member states showed the necessary commitment.
The stalled WTO talks have pitted developed countries against emerging nations.
On Friday European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso warned the US that possible aid for its struggling automakers in the middle of the financial crisis could provoke an EU protest to the WTO.
The Doha round of multilateral trade liberalisation talks was launched in the Qatari capital Doha in November 2001 under the auspices of the 153-member World Trade Organisation (WTO), but has foundered ever since.
The last attempt to clinch an agreement fell apart in Geneva in July this year at a ministerial meeting because of differences between the United States and India.
"We shall strive to reach agreement this year on modalities that lead to a successful conclusion to the WTO's Doha Development Agenda with an ambitious and balanced outcome," the leaders said in a final communique after a summit.
They also said "within the next 12 months, we will refrain from raising new barriers to investment or to trade in goods and services, imposing new export restrictions, or implementing WTO-inconsistent measures to stimulate exports."
The leaders, ranging from the United States and major European powers to Russia, China, India and Brazil, acknowledged that their economies "have the largest stake in the global trading system" and as such need to act decisively.
"There is determination that we will fight protectionism. One of the ways we can signal that protectionism is unacceptable is by signing a new trade agreement," British Prime Minister Gordon Brown told reporters.
India and the United States disagreed over technical provisions called special safeguard mechanisms.
These enable countries to impose a special tariff on imports of certain agricultural goods in the event of an import surge or price fall.
The host of Saturday's G20 leader meeting, US President George W Bush, said the renewed effort on the Doha negotiations "is a very important part of this summit."
Any framework deal reached before the end of the year would then have to be fleshed out before being put up for ratification by members of the WTO.
There are also doubts about the position of US president-elect Barack Obama on trade issues. He would be responsible for ratifying any agreement when he takes over from Bush in January.
Obama occasionally struck a protectionist note on the campaign trail.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, who recently announced he was seeking a second term at the helm of the WTO, repeated last Wednesday his view that a deal is "doable" if member states showed the necessary commitment.
The stalled WTO talks have pitted developed countries against emerging nations.
On Friday European Commission head Jose Manuel Barroso warned the US that possible aid for its struggling automakers in the middle of the financial crisis could provoke an EU protest to the WTO.