Even as the World Trade Organisation’s 164 member countries have begun hectic parleys in an attempt to reach accord on areas including agriculture, development, fisheries’ subsidies, domestic regulation of services and e-commerce, WTO Director-General Roberto Azevêdo observed there were still “wide” differences in members’ positions.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony of the WTO’s Ministerial Conference Mr. Azevêdo said, “There are still gaps between positions in most areas — and some of these gaps are very wide... the more open and flexible we are, the more likely we are to succeed.”
Mr. Azevêdo urged members to use the ministerial conference as an opportunity “to make progress wherever we can, and to set the direction for our future work.” “Today there are different questions and different challenges, including regarding the dispute settlement system. We will meet these challenges,” he said adding “we must continue this journey here in Buenos Aires — and beyond.”
‘Unable to bridge’
South Africa’s Xavier Carim, who is the chair of the General Council, said member nations had been engaged in Geneva in the process of drafting a possible outcome document, or a draft ministerial declaration, that could be adopted in Buenos Aires.
“But we were unable to bridge all the differences among members, and some of the issues were of a highly sensitive nature. As time was running out, my assessment was that there was no longer a basis to productively continue the drafting exercise on the opening paragraphs of a possible ministerial declaration, and we suspended further work in that regard,” Mr. Carim said.
On the issue of e-commerce, he said though eight textual proposals in the form of draft ministerial decisions were received from members seeking specific outcomes on e-commerce, “unfortunately we were unable to converge on a single recommendation to ministers.”
Mr. Carim also said the process of strengthening the WTO is ongoing. “In the WTO, an organization where all decisions are made by consensus, inclusivity and transparency are critical ingredients for the trust and cooperation that is needed to meet our challenges. To make progress… we have to listen to each other very carefully, and demonstrate a greater sensitivity to the challenges we all confront, particularly the developmental challenges of the poorest among us.” Mr. Carim said it was auspicious that the ministerial conference is taking place in Buenos Aires, the ‘city of fair winds’. “It is my hope that these winds will help us navigate a safe passage to a consensual and constructive outcome that puts the organisation on a positive track for the future.”
Latam grouping
Separately, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Guyana, Mexico, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname and Uruguay adopted a joint declaration “to coordinate actions in the WTO in order to pursue the process of reforming the rules of international trade in agricultural products, to work towards the prohibition of certain forms of fisheries subsidies, to make progress in domestic regulation in services, and to discuss topics of increasing relevance to the trade agenda of the 21st century, including e-commerce, micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, and investment facilitation.”
They also called on other WTO members to join their declaration, if they wished to do so.
( The writer is in Buenos Aires at the invitation of India’s Commerce Ministry )
