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WTO: 2008 NEWS ITEMS

WTO NEWS — DDA JULY 2008 PACKAGE: SUMMARY 22 JULY

NOTE:
THIS NEWS ITEM IS DESIGNED TO HELP THE PUBLIC UNDERSTAND DEVELOPMENTS IN THE WTO. WHILE EVERY EFFORT HAS BEEN MADE TO ENSURE THE CONTENTS ARE ACCURATE, IT DOES NOT PREJUDICE MEMBER GOVERNMENTS’ POSITIONS.

SEE ALSO:
> July 2008 package
> Briefing notes

Meeting summaries:
> 21 July
> 23 July
> 24 July
> 25 July
> 26 July
> 27-28 July
> 29 July
> 30 July

Another 17 delegations spoke in the informal Trade Negotiations Committee meeting, continuing from the 31 who spoke on Monday 21 July. The themes were similar, reflecting members’ various perspectives on development and the issues that concern them, several again saying that the Doha Round is needed to deal with economic uncertainties.

Some called on Mr Lamy to ensure that the talks are transparent, particularly to make sure that delegations not in the “Green Room” are kept fully informed.

In his opening statement Mr Lamy described the smaller-group talks as a “consultative process”. He said its main purpose is to help members build consensus on the remaining issues in the agriculture and non-agricultural market access drafts. The process would be “fully transparent and inclusive”, he assured delegations.

Consultations on Monday

Mr Lamy reported that the consultative meeting on Monday 21 July explored overall political questions and covered the general relationship and balance between the agriculture and non-agricultural market access texts. Participants represented a broad range of the membership, including regional groups and coalitions, he said.

Members showed a strong sense of collective responsibility to work towards a balanced agreement. “Not surprisingly, balance means different things to different people” and members recognized that in their discussion, he observed.

Next

For Tuesday afternoon’s session with the representative group, Mr Lamy said he would move to detailed work based on the texts, including numbers. Another informal meeting of heads of delegations will be held on Wednesday morning.

Asked who would produce the revised texts that would come out of the next few days’ talks, WTO spokesperson Keith Rockwell said in the end the texts will have to come from the members. “It’s the members who are the ones who will need to do the negotiations.”

He added that some of the more technical questions could be handled in separate “parallel” negotiations among senior officials, working with the chairs of the agriculture and non-agricultural market access talks, ambassadors Crawford Falconer and Don Stephenson.

Speakers

Today’s meeting of the full membership concluded the round of opening statements. Speakers over the two days were: the EU, the least-developed countries (Lesotho speaking), the US, Brazil, China, Japan, Australia, the African Group (Kenya speaking), Venezuela, Switzerland, Indonesia, Malaysia, Peru, Norway, the African-Caribbean-Pacific (ACP) group (Mauritius speaking), Singapore, the Cotton Four (Burkina Faso speaking), Argentina, Canada, Caricom (Guyana speaking), Rep. of Korea, New Zealand, Paraguay, Hong Kong China, Costa Rica, Jamaica, Pakistan, Uruguay, Bangladesh, the Small and Vulnerable Economies Group (Barbados speaking), India, Oman, Cameroon, Ecuador, the recent new members (Recently Acceded Members or RAMs, Chinese Taipei speaking, also for itself), Cuba, Colombia, Israel, Bolivia, Mongolia, Chile, Ghana, South Africa, Turkey, Nepal, and Sri Lanka.

Texts of some of the statements can be found here.

Audio:

> Opening remarks by Chair

> Closing remarks by Chair

> Press Conference: Mr. Keith Rockwell, WTO Spokesman

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> More Audio/podcasting

Video:

> Highlights from Pascal Lamy’s statement

> More Webcasting

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