Commonwealth Heads of Government Send Ministers on Trade Talks Mission

High ranking cabinet ministers from Commonwealth countries are on a nine-day mission to Geneva, Washington, Tokyo and Brussels to drive home the concerns of developing countries on trade issues.

The mission aims to urge the major global players on trade to negotiate positively and flexibly to reinvigorate the Doha Round of trade talks which collapsed at Cancún, Mexico, in September 2003, and to move expeditiously towards a final agreement.

On 9 February 2004, the ministers met with Commonwealth Ambassadors in Geneva. They then met with World Trade Organisation Director-General Dr Supachai Panitchpakdi. Following that meeting, Dr Supachai said: "I very much welcome this initiative by Commonwealth Ministers. I have often said that enhanced involvement by capitals is among the best ways to bring about agreement in the Doha negotiations."

The mission is chaired by Alhaji Idris Waziri, Minister of Commerce, Nigeria, who is representing President Olusegun Obasanjo, Commonwealth Chair-in-Office. Other members include Dame Billie Miller, Head, Caribbean Region Negotiations on Doha Round, and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Barbados; and Kaliopate Tavola, Pacific Region representative and Minister of Foreign Affairs and External Trade, Fiji Islands. They are supported by a team from the Commonwealth Secretariat led by Deputy Secretary-General Winston Cox.

Today (11 February) the ministers will hold meetings in Washington with Horst Köhler, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, the Congressional Black Caucus, and senior staff of the World Bank. On 12 February they will meet with Alan Larson, Under Secretary for Economic, Business and Agricultural Affairs, US State Department.

On 16 February the mission is expected to meet with Shoichi Nakagawa, Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, in Tokyo. On 19 February, the Commonwealth ministers will meet Pascal Lamy, European Union Trade Commissioner. The mission concludes at the Commonwealth Secretariat in London on 19 February, with a meeting with Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon and a concluding press conference.

Speaking in advance of the mission Mr McKinnon said, "The mission follows a decision made by Commonwealth Heads of Government at their Meeting in Abuja in December at which they reaffirmed their commitment to a transparent, rules-based multilateral trading system."

In the Aso Rock Statement on Multilateral Trade issued by Commonwealth leaders at the Abuja summit, they recognised that the time that remained for a successful conclusion of the round of trade talks was short.

"We regret the breakdown of negotiations in Cancún. We support immediate re-engagement by all concerned and urge that all show the flexibility and political courage necessary to deliver a balanced Round," the Statement said.