Trade ministers disagree on WTO Doha talks
Posted: 01 December 2009 1316 hrs

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GENEVA: Ministers meeting at a key WTO conference made renewed pledges to conclude long-running negotiations for a global trade pact, but also remained locked in differences on where concessions should come from.

The United States called Monday on developing countries to make "meaningful market opening" but Brazil said it was "unreasonable" to expect developing countries to be the only ones making further concessions in order to secure the Doha round of global trade talks.

Meanwhile, World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy warned ministers gathered at a key meeting in Geneva until Wednesday that time was running out to secure the pact.

"Time is running out, and it is not credible at this stage to see issues in isolation from the work and the achievements of the past eight years," Lamy said in opening remarks Monday to ministers and high-level officials from 153 member states attending the WTO meeting.

World leaders have pledged to conclude the Doha Round of global trade negotiations by 2010, but little progress has been made.

Since the start of Doha talks in 2001, deadlines have been repeatedly missed amid differences between developed and developing economies over the level of cuts to agriculture subsidies and industrial product tariffs.

US Trade Representative Ron Kirk signalled that his country was prepared to enter the final stage of negotiations if developing nations hastened moves to open their rapidly growing markets.

"For our part, the United States negotiating team is ready to move into the endgame," he said.

Citing figures from the International Monetary Fund, Kirk said 58 per cent of global economic growth between now and 2014 will be provided by China, India, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and Southeast Asian countries.

"The creation of new trade flows and meaningful market opening, particularly in key emerging markets, is required to fulfill the development promise of Doha," he said.

However, Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim handed the ball back to the United States and other developed countries, saying: "It is unreasonable to expect that concluding the Round would involve additional unilateral concessions from developing countries."

Meanwhile Indian Commerce Minister Anand Sharma also stressed the "development" aspect of the Doha Round.

m,He pointed out that key sticking points such as cotton - which is being held up by disagreements over US subsidies - needed to be dealt with "sympathetically."

Meanwhile, China, whose rapid growth has helped the world emerge from the worst recession in decades, cautioned that the Doha talks needed to be hauled back from stalemate to help nations prosper from trade.

"Looking back at the 60 years of the multilateral trading system, we see that free trade has always been navigating through choppy waters," said Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming.

He warned that results derived from the Doha talks so far must not be withdrawn.

"What is on the table is hard won and cannot be overturned for any excuse," he said.

- AFP/yb