Crucial To Build Trade Capacity Of Small States
24 March 2005
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| The 'Hub and Spokes Project' is a partnership between the Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Commission and La Francophonie in collaboration with the ACP Secretariat. |
The briefing on 21 March 2005 on what is known as the 'Hub and Spokes Project' -- a partnership between the Commonwealth Secretariat, the European Commission and La Francophonie in collaboration with the ACP Secretariat -- took place at the Commonwealth Secretariat's headquarters in London, UK. This meeting was part of a series of consultations with collaborating parties and beneficiary countries.
The event provided a platform for an exchange of ideas and experiences on some of the critical trade capacity constraints faced by the ACP countries, and how the Commonwealth Secretariat and La Francophonie can co-ordinate their efforts in addressing these problems.
The Deputy Secretary-General pointed out the need to ensure that the outcomes of trade negotiations were related to national development strategies and targets. "It is important for trade policies and negotiating goals to take account of the overall development strategy and poverty-reduction targets. All stakeholders must be involved in the identification of capacity gaps and development goals."
Mr Cox called for more substantial assistance for the Hub and Spokes Project and greater support for a strong development agenda in the Doha Development Round negotiations.
"All of you are aware that the issues of trade-related capacity-building and technical assistance are diverse, complex and in constant evolution. These are increasingly challenging, bringing into play as they do, issues such as trade in services, intellectual property rights and e-commerce. These issues are under consideration in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations, providing challenges for countries with limited trade negotiating capacity. It is in the mutual interest of both developed and developing countries, for developing countries to be assisted in overcoming capacity gaps, so that all countries can negotiate effectively and provide some credibility to the outcomes of the negotiations."
Apart from the Doha Round, Mr Cox said several trade-related negotiations involving developing country members are taking place at the same time, such as the Economic Partnership Agreements with the EU; the Free Trade Area of the Americas negotiations for the Caribbean states; and regional negotiations and integration efforts. He said these will overstretch the negotiating capacity of most ACP countries.
"Capacity-building support is needed to translate potential into actual gains particularly in areas such as agriculture, market access for non-agricultural products including textiles, temporary movement of persons and other areas where the benefits to developing countries are likely to be greatest."
The Deputy Secretary-General stressed the importance of phasing out export subsidies; reducing trade-distorting domestic support for goods produced in the developed world; and increasing market access for goods from the developing world. He said strong emphasis must be given to special and differential treatment for developing countries, including lower tariff reductions and longer implementation periods of WTO rules, and expanded technical assistance and support for countries adversely affected by loss of trade preferences.
Mr Cox noted that agriculturally dependent countries have faced falling prices in their commodities due to unfair competition in the world market against exports from developed countries, which benefit from subsidies.
He said many preference-dependent economies will struggle to adjust to the challenges of exporting to liberalised global markets without external assistance, and pointed out that these countries may incur net losses from multilateral liberalisation, given their high poverty levels, limited market size and vulnerability of export sectors.
Professor Maria Niculescu, Director of Economic Co-operation of l'Agence Intergouvernementale de la Francophonie, said both La Francophonie and the Commonwealth Secretariat are strengthening co-operation in joint planning to enhance the Hub and Spokes Project. This includes the production of information materials in English and French on the role of regional policy advisers and trade policy analysts.
CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service Issue 227 23 March 2005
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