°ÄÃÅÁùºÏ²Ê¹ÙÍø×ÊÁÏ: 2005 NEWS ITEMS
14 September 2005
TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE
Lamy
opens “new phase” in trade talks
Director-General Pascal Lamy, on 14 September 2005, opened his first Trade Negotiations Committee meeting by expressing the hope that it marks a new and more productive phase for the TNC. He urged intensification of work on the core issues in the run-up to the Hong Kong Ministerial, adding that the Round will only succeed if “the development dimension is at the centre of the negotiations”.
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DG's statement
I would like to start by recalling my intentions regarding the
procedures for our meeting today which I sent out in a fax received by all
delegations on 6 September. We are all perfectly aware of the immediate
challenge facing us — to prepare the basis for success at the Hong Kong
Ministerial Conference — and we all know that we have very little time for
those preparations, including the organization of TNC meetings which I hope
will be brief, business-like, realistic and action-oriented, starting with
today's meeting.
As I said in my fax, I intend to close this meeting at 1 p.m., and this
means that every one of us, beginning with myself, but you as well, must
avoid lengthy and repetitive statements. If you feel that I am talking too
much and dwelling too long on general considerations, speak up please. I
will gladly be called to order on one condition — that I be permitted to do
the same if I see that any of you are going on too long on general
considerations.
So I would like to open our discussions today by making a few brief points.
For the sake of economy and to live up to what I have just said, I do not
intend to engage in a general diagnosis of our current situation or to
qualify it as good or bad, urgent or non-urgent. We can all do so ourselves,
and that is not really our essential task. What we really have to do is to
put ourselves back on course towards an objective for the Ministerial
Conference, namely — and this is what I propose we adopt as a common goal —
to ensure that Hong Kong takes us two thirds of the way. When I say two
thirds of the way, I mean two thirds of the path that still remains to
complete the round of negotiations by the end of 2006. We all know that Hong
Kong is not the end of the round, but we also know that if we have not
reached the two thirds mark by Hong Kong, the prospects of concluding the
round by the end of 2006 will be seriously jeopardized. I think this is the
target on which we should be focussing all of our efforts, and it is in that
spirit that I shall now present you with a precise diagnosis of the
essential key issues which, in my view, are those that we will have to
resolve if we want to achieve a coherent outcome in Hong Kong. This list of
key issues is not exhaustive — that is, it does not contain all of the
issues that we will be settling. I am simply trying to identify those which
are strategic, those which will have to be settled if we are to turn the
current vicious circle into a virtuous circle.
I will start with Agriculture. Let me highlight some points where
progress is needed urgently. In export competition, we need to prepare
agreement by Hong Kong on an end date for the elimination of export
subsidies, plus the issue of parallelism for exporting state trading
enterprises, export credits and food aid.
On domestic support, we also need a clear understanding on what will
be done, which in my view must include the reduction commitments and, in
particular, a tiered formula for reductions of the final bound total AMS. As
we all know, this presupposes agreement on the Blue Box and Green Box
criteria.
On market access, we also need a solid package, which is of
equivalent ambition. This means a tiered formula for tariff cuts
together with certain flexibilities, in particular the selection and
treatment of sensitive products and of special products.
I want to add to this list, all elements of the Cotton dossier.
This is a short list, but it is by itself a very tall order. The Agriculture
Special Session has restarted its work this week, and I will give the floor
to the new Chairman of that body, Ambassador Falconer, shortly. I want to
thank him for having so rapidly taken up this task and with an energy and a
level of understanding of the details of the issues which is really
remarkable. As he knows, I will be giving very close and supportive
attention to the group's work, along with all the others.
In NAMA, the core elements, as I see them, are (1) formula, (2)
flexibilities and (3) unbound tariffs. The Negotiating Group will start
on this in the coming days, after Agriculture. However, within these three
core elements there are issues which are clearly going to require a lot of
work, and we need to find the right balance between the formula and the
flexibilities. Other elements, such as preference erosion, the sectoral
component and non-tariff barriers, also need to be part of the Hong Kong
picture in my view.
In Services, what is new, as compared to previous rounds, is the
importance that a number of developing countries attach to it, which in
itself should suffice to energize this part of the negotiations. From now
until Hong Kong, Members should develop different approaches in services,
leading to an increased number and to an enhanced quality of the
commitments. What we must have are commitments which effectively open trade
in services, with the corresponding improvements in the rule-making area.
In Rules, Members should in my view arrive as closely as possible to
draft negotiated texts in anti-dumping, subsidies and countervailing
measures and in fisheries subsidies. I think we also need third-generation
proposals with clear drafting proposals as soon as possible, so that Members
can focus on the improvements to the Agreements.
In the other sectors of the negotiations, we have yet to clarify what will
be needed for Hong Kong, and this should be done as soon as possible.
Let me end this short list by saying a few words about Development.
Most importantly, this is integrated across the various sides of the
negotiations. Substantial results must be achieved in each particular area
of negotiations, so that the sum of all areas delivers on the Development
Dimension of the Doha Round. The challenge is to maximize the development
value of every sector and of the Round as a whole. This in my view is the
bulk of what we have to look after and negotiate about development. We also
have a number of separate issues which are labelled “development-related”,
some of which come under the aegis of the General Council. Concerning the
work on Special and Differential Treatment, where the TNC has been
overseeing Faizel Ismail's strenuous efforts, there is still a clear need to
define an acceptable outcome for Hong Kong. I also believe that, on TRIPS
and Health we need to intensify work in order to reach agreement on the
amendment to the TRIPS text.
We all know that the DDA will only succeed if this Development Dimension is
at the centre of the negotiations and I am convinced that an “Aid for Trade”
window can help us translate the development package of the round into
reality. The IMF and the World Bank — which will hold their annual meetings
in less than two weeks — have started focusing on this issue, as has the
recent
G-8 Summit in Gleneagles.
So much for substance. As regards procedure, I think we should consider our
meeting today as marking the start of a new and, I hope, more productive
phase for this Committee, which must now fulfil its intended purpose of
being the focal point for progress in the different negotiating sectors. I
think we all need to remember that this Committee was set up by Ministers in
Doha to, and I quote, “supervise the progress of the negotiations”. While
detailed work must take place in the negotiating groups, it is here in the
TNC that we look at progress across the board, within the single
undertaking. We shall certainly be meeting in formal mode later on, but I
also intend to hold informal TNC meetings at the Heads of Delegation level
as a guarantee of transparency and inclusiveness in our negotiations. I
will, of course, also be reporting to you all on my other informal
consultations — and there will be many — through this channel.
I have no intention of announcing, today, the date of the next meeting of
the TNC. We already have the schedule of meetings of the negotiating groups
in place for the next couple of weeks, and it is only after they have met
that we will be able to see more clearly the way ahead. Thus, in the days to
come, I would like to give priority to the meetings of the negotiating
groups.
I would simply like to recall, on the procedural front, that yesterday was
13 September, and the Ministerial begins on 13 December. The calculation is
easy: three months — and three months does not necessarily mean three full
months of work. I think we should be looking at mid-October and mid-November
as marking two intermediate stages along our path. Obviously, we shall soon
have to determine what needs to be done in order to achieve our goal, and I
think that mid-October will be a good time to assess the progress made and
to come up with a clearer picture of our ambitions for Hong Kong. Then, in
about mid-November, that is one month before the Ministerial, the
negotiating groups will have to have produced substantive and specific
results. It goes without saying that all of us will be reviewing the
progress as we go along, and I would see this continual review, rather than
fixed benchmarks — which is why I speak of approximately mid-October and
mid-November — as the best way to keep ourselves on track. Today we are
entering a three-month period of permanent negotiations — and when I say
permanent, I mean a bit like a football team confining itself to a training
camp for the few weeks preceding a decisive match.
Still on the subject of procedure, I would also like to stress that the
Geneva process is the central process in the Round. Nothing else, in my
view, can replace it, and any events outside this central forum must be
organized in such a way as to reinforce what we are doing here, in terms of
both timing and subject-matter. In other words, any such events must also
feed back into the Geneva process, and contribute to it rather than
detracting from it.
As far as I, personally, am concerned, I shall obviously be fully hands-on,
and I shall encourage whatever cross-collaboration we need. I have already
established a very close working relationship with the General Council
Chairman and with the negotiating group Chairs. I have also started an
intensive series of contacts with delegations here, including the
coordinators of regional and other groupings. Together with my frequent
meetings with the negotiating group Chairs, I think that constant contact
with Ambassadors here in Geneva is the best way for me to keep my finger on
the pulse, and to play the role of honest broker that you have entrusted me
with.
Ultimately, we will need to bring together the work currently taking place
in the negotiating groups — in other words, stop working in “silos” and join
up the dots. We will do this from the bottom up, and not from the top
down, and in saying this, I realize that I am addressing a number of
concerns that have been expressed from time to time. I know that this will
not be done overnight, and my intention is to ensure a smooth transition
between a vertical approach by subject and a more integrated approach, which
is what will be submitted to the Ministerial Conference. It will be done in
close cooperation with the General Council Chairman and the negotiating
group Chairs. If all goes well, this process should enable us to have a
consolidated text in about mid-November, leaving sufficient time for you to
prepare your ministers before the Ministerial — while some of them are
permanently at the heart of the negotiating process, others are less so, and
experience has shown that you need time.
Let me end by applying the principle of economy mentioned earlier on, and
trying to confine myself to what is essential, as I trust you will all be
doing now, bearing in mind the two concerns that should be at the centre of
our attention during the weeks to come if we want to succeed in Hong Kong:
the first is to join together in resisting the temptation of the lowest
common denominator — in other words, we must not give in to the temptation
of reducing our ambitions, and I am convinced that it is not by doing so
that we will achieve success in Hong Kong. Secondly, we must — as I have
just tried to do under your scrutiny — properly target each one of the
crucial subjects and focus on the proper sequence of those subjects in order
to move forward and continuously assess our own progress.
These are the few ideas on the substance of the negotiations and on the
actual process that I wanted to share with you today.
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