Australia’s G20 Sherpa, Heather Smith, has expressed regret at India’s refusal to ratify the Trade Facilitation Agreement of the World Trade Organisation, saying the development would hinder international trading system.
In a conversation with The Hindu , Dr. Smith — without referring to India directly — said it was regrettable that WTO members had failed their “first real test” in implementing the outcome of the Bali package.
“Our sense was we were going to get an agreement on the TFA … [in that sense] there is a lot of regret that it was no possible to meet the July 31 deadline for adoption of the agreement,” Dr. Smith said on Tuesday. “This is the first real test of the WTO members’ commitment in implementing the outcome of the Bali ministerial ... and we have obviously failed because of some members seeking to reopen and negotiate those discussions,” she said.
Dr. Smith said the failure of the talks would have an impact on the “confidence among WTO members given how much time and effort” had gone into negotiating the Bali package.
“This may be not just another delay … we may have to really think seriously about the consequences,” she said.
“Some countries may want to revisit the Bali package … some countries you could speculate might want to move forward independently … but it’s too early to say.
“The broader question is whether this helps or hinders the international trading system … and I think the latter … the ability of the WTO to land a deal and then deliver on that deal … has been weakened.”
Asked whether Australia would push for a ban on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s participation at the G20’s Brisbane summit in December, Dr. Smith said it was not Australia’s decision to make. “Any decision regarding attendance wouldn’t be made unilaterally by Australia … G20 is a consensus-based forum … we are very much focussed on doing everything we can to support the families [of the victims of the MH17 tragedy],” she said.
“We do look forward to seeing Russia’s full cooperation with the independent investigation on the crash.”
