Commonwealth Trade Ministers complete mission to key capitals

Commonwealth trade ministers are optimistic about the revival of the Doha Round of trade talks after a successful mission to Geneva, Washington, Tokyo and Brussels, where they urged their hosts to negotiate positively and flexibly to reinvigorate the Doha Round of talks which collapsed in Cancún. The nine-day mission began in Geneva on 9 February 2004, concluding in London with a press conference at Marlborough House on 19 February.

The ministers were encouraged that Europe, Japan and the United States all reiterated their commitment to delivering on the Doha Development Agenda.

Addressing the media, Chair of the mission, Nigeria's Minister of Commerce, Alhaji Idris Waziri said, "The response we received from the key cities we visited and those we met was very, very positive and encouraging. We were able to detect from this kind of response a genuine commitment and willingness on all sides to get back to work, in a very constructive manner and in the spirit of give and take."

The ministers said the major players in global trade recognised that a breakthrough on agriculture was crucial for the successful conclusion of the Doha Round of talks; also that the EU, Japan and US appeared to recognise the importance of non-agriculture market access and special and differential treatment for developing countries.

Fiji Islands' Foreign Affairs and External Trade Minister Kaliopate Tavola said, "We have got to negotiate successfully on agriculture before we can move on to other areas because 80 to 90 per cent of Commonwealth countries depend on agriculture as their trade.

"As it is, it is very difficult for us to compete with America, Europe and developed partners in agriculture because of domestic support and export subsidies. Therefore there must be movement in these sectors for us to be able to negotiate properly. That is our concern."

Head of the Caribbean Region Negotiations on the Doha Round, Barbados Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade Dame Billie Miller said, "The subjects which I pursued in all of the capitals were to do with smaller economies, the non-agricultural market access issues, special and differential treatment. I was pleased with the reaction … to the points that we made about the importance of smaller economies and where they have to find their place in the multilateral trading system."

However, the ministers fully recognised that there were still difficult issues that had to be resolved, often of a sensitive political nature. They emphasised that as a first step, negotiating frameworks need to be in place by mid-year on the key issues.

Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon said, "Ministers were of the view that the mission had reinforced the political will to conclude the Doha Development Round and enabled them to convey to the three major players in the multilateral trading system the special interests and concerns of poor and vulnerable economies.

"It enabled them to understand better the positions of the EU, Japan and US, as well as the political pressures that impacted on their decision-making. The meetings at the WTO, IMF and World Bank enabled Ministers to obtain at first hand information on the current work of these institutions in the trade policy area. They also had the opportunity to elaborate on the special needs of capacity-constrained countries."

Deputy Secretary-General Winston Cox, who accompanied the mission, said, "The message I took away from the mission is the very strong political commitment by the major global players to ensuring that this trade round, when it is concluded, has development at its core.