By Daisy Ayliffe - 7th November 2005
A world trade blue print setting a WTO agenda for December is “unlikely” this week, EU negotiator Peter Mandelson conceded on Monday.
The European Trade Commissioner had previously described this week as “make or break” for the Doha development round ahead of a WTO summit in Hong Kong this December.
“The overall objective is to arrive at a situation where we have, a first blueprint for Hong Kong. Achieving it this week will be a tall order and unlikely,” he admitted on Monday.
US negotiators now fear that Hong Kong will be reduced to a damage limitation exercise where negotiators attempt to salvage what they can from the trade talks.
“If Hong Kong is not as successful as we hoped it would be, we just keep pushing,” US trade representative, Rob Portman said.
“Otherwise there is a danger of backtracking on current offers that could lead to a complete unravelling of the talks.”
Negotiators from the EU, India, Brazil, Japan and the US will hammer out disputes on Monday evening ahead of a meeting with other ministers and officials in Geneva on Tuesday.
Ministers will focus on trying to narrow differences over opening markets for agricultural goods, the main bottleneck to progress in the round.
Last month a new US proposal for cutting domestic farm subsidies seemed to give the Doha talks new momentum.
But Washington, Brazil and Australia called on the EU to make a more ambitious offer by cutting agricultural tariffs.
They say the EU's “bottom line” market access offer - cutting farm tariffs by an average of 38 per cent - does not fit the bill.
On Monday, Mandelson reaffirmed his insistence that EU offers on agricultural market access were “comprehensive” and fair.
“I have no doubt that had we not done this, the political consequences we would have found ourselves in would have been extremely damaging – and unsustainable for the EU.”
“There are many complications. But having made this offer Europe is in a much stronger position to negotiation and unlock the talks. We have started to inject more realism into the negotiations, on agriculture but also in other areas,” he said.
The commissioner finds himself between a rock and a hard place - with countries such as the US calling on him to go further on tariff cuts while EU member France insists he has already gone too far.
In an attempt to quieten French unease, Mandelson urged EU member states to unite behind the commission’s position.
“This is a two way exercise,” he affirmed on Monday.
“The commission will remain the judge of the tactics, will stick to the mandate, and will defend the limits you have set.”
“It is reasonable for the commission in return to expect member states to avoid taking public positions on the Doha Development Round that undermine or contradict community positions.”
NGOs Oxfam and Action Aid attacked trade proposals currently on the table– saying they looked “very negative” for the developing world.
“We’d rather not have a deal than a bad deal that would make matters worse,” a spokesman for Action Aid insisted on Monday.
NGO’s have criticised the “horse trading and tit for tat games” employed by WTO members.
Oxfam said the “spectacular announcements” will do little for developing countries and said promises on trade distorting subsidies will not prevent dumping.
Trade ministers will meet over dinner on November 21, and Mandelson has suggested the state of the global trade talks will also be considered at meeting of foreign ministers on the same day.
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