Business gloomy on chances for WTO treaty

GENEVA – International business groups said on Wednesday they were gloomy about prospects for a breakthrough in deadlocked World Trade Organisation talks to clear the way for a new global trade treaty this year.

WTO chief Pascal Lamy, who relaunched the long-running talks in January after a six-month hiatus, has said a deal must be struck in the next few months or the negotiations could be put on hold for years. The talks first began in 2001.The talks were designed to boost the global economy and help lift millions out of poverty through more trade and investment.”We are pessimistic,” said Peter Charlton, an Australian representative on the 63-strong Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group’s Business Council after meetings in Brussels and Geneva.”Is there any imminent, enormous breakthrough? No, definitely not,” said Charlton.He said he and colleagues from the Council, which reports directly to leaders of the 21-nation APEC, saw no sign recent high-level pledges of support for a deal were bringing advances.”There is no progress …and there is a very active blame game going on,” said Charlton, speaking by telephone.Charlton said the APEC group had heard from senior officials in Brussels that the European Union, under pressure to open up its farm market further, had already made an offer on tariffs and could not go further.At the same time there was no indication the United States was ready to make more concessions on cutting agricultural subsidies, as demanded by the EU and others.Leading developing countries, which must agree to cut tariffs on industrial goods and free up services’ markets, say the EU and the United States must first give ground in farm goods trade.After meeting negotiators involved in the WTO’s so-called Doha Round of talks, a Global Services Coalition pushing for an across-the-board deal covering their sector, agriculture and goods tariffs said there was at least new “energy” in the talks.But one of the group’s leaders, J.Robert Vastine, president of the US Coalition of Service Industries, said the position in the talks on freer trade in services was “pretty grim” with delegations sticking to offers they made two years ago.”We really need movement if we are going to get a deal done in time,” said Vastine.”Time horizons are very limited …and the pace of discussions and negotiations does not suggest that they can wrap this up.”Many see the end of June expiry of special US presidential rights to negotiate on trade as the ultimate deadline for a WTO pact for the foreseeable future because it is far from certain the US Congress will renew the powers.Nampa-ReutersThe talks first began in 2001.The talks were designed to boost the global economy and help lift millions out of poverty through more trade and investment.”We are pessimistic,” said Peter Charlton, an Australian representative on the 63-strong Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) group’s Business Council after meetings in Brussels and Geneva.”Is there any imminent, enormous breakthrough? No, definitely not,” said Charlton.He said he and colleagues from the Council, which reports directly to leaders of the 21-nation APEC, saw no sign recent high-level pledges of support for a deal were bringing advances.”There is no progress …and there is a very active blame game going on,” said Charlton, speaking by telephone.Charlton said the APEC group had heard from senior officials in Brussels that the European Union, under pressure to open up its farm market further, had already made an offer on tariffs and could not go further.At the same time there was no indication the United States was ready to make more concessions on cutting agricultural subsidies, as demanded by the EU and others.Leading developing countries, which must agree to cut tariffs on industrial goods and free up services’ markets, say the EU and the United States must first give ground in farm goods trade.After meeting negotiators involved in the WTO’s so-called Doha Round of talks, a Global Services Coalition pushing for an across-the-board deal covering their sector, agriculture and goods tariffs said there was at least new “energy” in the talks.But one of the group’s leaders, J.Robert Vastine, president of the US Coalition of Service Industries, said the position in the talks on freer trade in services was “pretty grim” with delegations sticking to offers they made two years ago.”We really need movement if we are going to get a deal done in time,” said Vastine.”Time horizons are very limited …and the pace of discussions and negotiations does not suggest that they can wrap this up.”Many see the end of June expiry of special US presidential rights to negotiate on trade as the ultimate deadline for a WTO pact for the foreseeable future because it is far from certain the US Congress will renew the powers.Nampa-Reuters