Don’t wait for farm deal, warns WTO

GENEVA – Negotiators at the WTO who are trying to free up commerce in industrial goods should not wait for a deal in deadlocked farm talks before forging ahead, the diplomat leading discussions said yesterday.

Iceland’s ambassador Stefan Johanesson told a World Trade Organisation meeting he was “deeply disturbed” by the lack of progress in the negotiations, less than two months before a crucial summit in Hong Kong. Resolving problems in the farm talks is widely seen as the key to success in the WTO’s stumbling trade liberalisation negotiations, but Johanesson cautioned against this.”I warn you against making any assumption that because agriculture falls into place – if it falls into place – NAMA will do so automatically.There is no such guarantee,” he said.In WTO jargon, NAMA refers to non-agricultural market access, meaning trade in everything except farm produce or services, such as banking.The 148 governments in the WTO are struggling to prepare for their December 13-18 summit, which is meant to cap the Doha Round talks, launched in 2001.The specific aim is to approve the outlines of a multilateral accord tearing down barriers to commerce, such as subsidies and tariffs.Most attention is currently focused on deadlocked farm trade talks.There, the European Union is under pressure from the United States and developing countries to make more concessions on its customs duties, but is also gripped by an internal split, as France warns against giving up too much.-Nampa-AFPResolving problems in the farm talks is widely seen as the key to success in the WTO’s stumbling trade liberalisation negotiations, but Johanesson cautioned against this.”I warn you against making any assumption that because agriculture falls into place – if it falls into place – NAMA will do so automatically.There is no such guarantee,” he said.In WTO jargon, NAMA refers to non-agricultural market access, meaning trade in everything except farm produce or services, such as banking.The 148 governments in the WTO are struggling to prepare for their December 13-18 summit, which is meant to cap the Doha Round talks, launched in 2001.The specific aim is to approve the outlines of a multilateral accord tearing down barriers to commerce, such as subsidies and tariffs.Most attention is currently focused on deadlocked farm trade talks.There, the European Union is under pressure from the United States and developing countries to make more concessions on its customs duties, but is also gripped by an internal split, as France warns against giving up too much.-Nampa-AFP