Trade: Failure of talks a serious setback, admits Lamy
31 Jul 2008
At a press briefing just hours after the collapse of the Geneva WTO talks on Tuesday night, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said there was no point beating about the bush about the serious setback caused by the failure of the negotiations.
He said the difference regarding the trigger for special safeguard mechanism (SSM) led to the failure.
"We had a mandate for SSM. Those who feared it would disrupt normal trade wanted as high as possible a trigger. Others wanted a lower trigger. After over 60 hours to bridge positions these differences were not reconcilable. The remaining issues including cotton were not negotiated.
"What happens to the package on table and Round? We need the dust to settle first, it is hard to see too far in future at this point, must see how members want to bring pieces together."
A sombre Lamy said what happened today will not strengthen the multilateral trading system (MTS) which gave insurance against protectionism for 60 years but the system is resilient and can go through the bumpy road ahead.
Asked if the failure was due to a lack of leadership by the US and India, Lamy said there would be no blame game on his side. Whether and when it can be back on track needs reflection.
The Ministers in the Green Room wanted the talks to be put back on track shortly. "Some asked for a last try to be made tonight on this difference in SSM. So we'll think about that and consult but as far as I am concerned, today is a serious setback, I will try to put it back on track."
Lamy said he told the Ministers their failure to bridge a difference meant they had to take a collective responsibility on what threatened the conclusion of this Round.
Lamy was then asked whether cotton should have been addressed up-front, and that it was not appropriate to say that the SSM issue is the cause of the collapse.
He replied: "We didn't negotiate cotton. The thing broke down on SSM. Why didn't we address cotton? Because it was linked to product specific caps and Blue Box.. These needed adjustment and cotton is linked to that. It is not in my capacity to oblige people to negotiate something if they believe in their own to-do list which is linked to other things.
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Source: Third World Network
"We had a mandate for SSM. Those who feared it would disrupt normal trade wanted as high as possible a trigger. Others wanted a lower trigger. After over 60 hours to bridge positions these differences were not reconcilable. The remaining issues including cotton were not negotiated.
"What happens to the package on table and Round? We need the dust to settle first, it is hard to see too far in future at this point, must see how members want to bring pieces together."
A sombre Lamy said what happened today will not strengthen the multilateral trading system (MTS) which gave insurance against protectionism for 60 years but the system is resilient and can go through the bumpy road ahead.
Asked if the failure was due to a lack of leadership by the US and India, Lamy said there would be no blame game on his side. Whether and when it can be back on track needs reflection.
The Ministers in the Green Room wanted the talks to be put back on track shortly. "Some asked for a last try to be made tonight on this difference in SSM. So we'll think about that and consult but as far as I am concerned, today is a serious setback, I will try to put it back on track."
Lamy said he told the Ministers their failure to bridge a difference meant they had to take a collective responsibility on what threatened the conclusion of this Round.
Lamy was then asked whether cotton should have been addressed up-front, and that it was not appropriate to say that the SSM issue is the cause of the collapse.
He replied: "We didn't negotiate cotton. The thing broke down on SSM. Why didn't we address cotton? Because it was linked to product specific caps and Blue Box.. These needed adjustment and cotton is linked to that. It is not in my capacity to oblige people to negotiate something if they believe in their own to-do list which is linked to other things.
Read More...
Source: Third World Network
