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by Cecilia Oh

The World Trade Organisation held a public symposium on 'The Doha Development Agenda and Beyonds' in Geneva from 29 April to 1 May. It was intended as a forum for debate and dialogue between the WTO and the public; namely, representatives of civil society, academia, the business community, parliamentarians and the media, who were described by WTO Director-General Mike Moore as the 'end users' of the multilateral trading system.

The most interesting session of the symposium must have been the opening session. If one had to pick a theme that arose from the presentations during this session, it would have been 'No New issues for the Doha Development Agenda'.

Opposed

Former Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo, free-trade economist Jagdish Bhagwati, China's WTO permanent representative Ambassador Sun Zhenyu and two NGO leaders (Jeremy Hobbs of Oxfam International and Tony Juniper of Friends of the Earth International) spoke out against the inclusion of investment, competition and other proposed new issues in the WTO's negotiating agenda. Zedillo even warned about the danger of the whole process 'imploding', whilst Bhagwati cautioned about the trade system falling into disrepute.

It must have been discomfiting for the WTO Director-General that so many of the first panel's speakers opposed the 'new issues', given that he himself has been vigorously campaigning for investment and competition to be brought under the WTO's wings through negotiations for new treaties.

Mike Moore, in his introductory remarks, had said he expected tough debates during the symposium on issues such as whether or not the WTO needed investment and competition rules. But there did not seem to be much disagreement on this point with the panel of speakers. Five of the six speakers made it clear that they did not support the inclusion of new issues in the WTO.

Jeremy Hobbs of Oxfam International first clarified that Oxfam's recently launched trade campaign is against the way rich countries and the institutions under their control - the IMF, World Bank and the WTO - have rigged the rules of international trade to suit their interests. He wanted to dispel the notion that Oxfam has been 'born again as a cheerleader for free trade'.

He called it an 'upside down world', where rich countries preached the gospel of free trade that they were unwilling to practise themselves. Another feature of this 'topsy-turvy' world is the fact that in the so-called 'development round', developing countries were now being asked to take on new issues that will benefit rich economies and TNCs, in return for progress on things they were promised 10 years ago. 'Developed countries are pushing developing countries into multilateral rules on investment and competition which they don't need and cannot afford', Hobbs said. He added that there was no evidence of increased investment flows as a result of the bilateral investment treaties entered into.

Renaissance

'But there is little doubt that rules on the model or NAFTA or the MAI (multilateral agreement on investment) put governments at risk of losing millions of dollars whenever they try to exercise their legitimate right to regulate the activities of foreign investors to minimise environmental costs or respect labour rights.

The second speaker, Ernesto Zedillo, the former President of Mexico, hailed the Doha agenda as a renaissance of multilateralism, and noted that this new multilateralism has, as its central issue, the development of developing countries and least-developed countries. However, he pointed to signs of trouble emanating from the US, in the form of the fast track legislation and the steel safeguards decision. These, he said, would 'reverse the good that was achieved at Doha'.

He also criticised the recent US farm bill, which increases subsidies for US farmers. 'It is a contradiction for the US to do this at the moment when agriculture is to be negotiated seriously ', he said. He also had criticism for the Doha mandate on investment, competition and environment. Zedillo questioned 'whether it is wise to condition the success of the other issues on the success of the new issues'. He said that the new issues pose a problem for the Doha development agenda.

He was concerned that there would not be full consensus to negotiate the new issues by the 5th Ministerial Conference. 'There must be a formula to solving these issues before the 5th Ministerial Conference. Otherwise, the whole process will implode', he warned.

China's Ambassador to the WTO Sun Zhenyu, in his address talked about his country's role as a new member of the WTO, and outlined the measures taken to implement its obligations. China, he said, as a responsible member shall abide by the WTO rules, but he asked for understanding and sympathy from other members because 'while China is opening its market, the domestic industries and agriculture are facing great pressure from foreign products flowing into China, especially the agricultural products heavily subsidised by the rich countries'.

China's obligations

He also criticised the US steel safeguard measures, stating that Chinese steel export has been seriously affected by the measures. 'China's domestic steel market is under serious threat of diverted steel exports', he said, adding that Chinese steel import in the first quarter of 2002 increased by 17.5% to 4.9 million tons, while exports dropped 33.9% to 1.2 million tons.

He said that implementation of the trade rules is not only with China, 'it involves all members of the WTO and particularly the developed members. Their thorough implementation of the obligations under the agreements of the Uruguay Round would set a good example for others to follow'.

He pointed to the disparities between developed and developing countries in securing benefits of trade liberalisation. 'The interests and requests of the developing members have not been adequately taken into consideration and ensured for a long time. This phenomenon is, of course, unequal and unfair... It is high time to change this situation', he said. 'Nobody would like to see a development round in name only. What we want to see is a development round in real terms'.

When asked for his final comments on the presentations, Ambassador Sun said he shared the concerns expressed by the other panel speakers on the new issues. He said that there were too many subjects for the next round. 'The WTO is trying to do too much and to achieve too much. The more subjects we have the more difficult the task. I doubt if we can make the deadline. We'll have to consider this seriously to make the new round a successful one'.

(Third World Network Features)

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