|
From Africa Recovery, Vol.17 #4 (Janaury 2004), Briefs page WTO members urge resumption of talks Unexpectedly, the European Union has joined the Group of 21, a coalition of developing countries with which it had previously clashed, to call for a quick resumption of negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO). The G21, which includes Brazil, China, India and South Africa, disagreed with the EU at a failed WTO ministerial meeting in Cancún, Mexico, in September over curbs in farm subsidies, among other issues. Following the collapse, talks were set to resume on 15 December. A few days before that deadline, the EU attended a G21 meeting in Brazil to jointly declare that there is "general agreement that we need to intensify negotiations early next year [2004]," in effect dropping the 15 December deadline. The aim is still to finalize the current round of trade talks by 2005. "The impression I had is that we [the EU and G21] not only want to pursue negotiations, but also to show some flexibility," said EU Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy. "If we start where we were [after Cancún], we will not succeed." Divisions remain on the fundamental issues, however. "After
two months of consultations," said Mauritius's WTO Ambassador
Jaynarin Meetoo, "we have not been able to reach any agreement
on the framework of agriculture or the framework of non-agriculture
market access," among other deadlocked issues. This article may be freely reproduced, with attribution to
"Africa Recovery, United Nations". Africa Recovery Tel: (212) 963-6857
|