The glacial pace at which developed countries have moved to cut
their agricultural subsidies is mainly to blame for the World Trade
Organization's (WTO) failure to meet the end of April deadline for
trade talks.
But complaining about the missed opportunity will not help
deliver the development promise set by the Doha round.
Director-General Pascal Lamy announced on Monday that the WTO
had to abandon plans to hold a major ministerial meeting this week.
It is now time for action. All members of the global trading body
should work together to press for a rapid termination of
trade-distorting subsidies for agriculture in the developed
economies.
As the first round of multilateral trade negotiations after the
establishment of the WTO, the Doha round trade negotiations aim to
further liberalize the world trade market, particularly giving
developing nations bigger benefits from trade.
With the Doha development round set to conclude by the end of
this year, time is particularly tight for trade negotiators from
all WTO member economies.
The end of April deadline to agree on precise formulas for
cutting farm and industrial tariffs is a crucial step towards
making the entire Doha round a success.
By missing it, the WTO is exposed to even higher risks now of
losing a rare chance to boost the global economy and lift millions
out of poverty worldwide.
The necessity to lower trade barriers across all sectors, with
particular emphasis on developing countries, has proved
self-evident.
Yet, out of shortsighted protection for domestic agricultural
interest groups, both the United States and the European Union have
been dragging their feet on removing huge trade-distorting
agricultural subsidies.
The existence of such huge farming subsidies in developed
countries, in the first place, was an unfair stopgap arrangement
poorer developing countries have had to accept to integrate
themselves into the world economy.
After reaping numerous benefits from the tremendously expanded
global market, rich countries are obliged to make concessions on
farm aids now.
It will be unacceptable if the WTO allows the Doha development
round to be derailed time and again by such shortsighted
protectionism in rich countries.
Let all WTO members wake to the urgency of the Doha round and
fix the so-called differences between rich nations on farming
subsidies, an issue on which advocates of fair and free trade
agree.
(China Daily April 26, 2006)
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