SA takes fresh tack on Doha talks

DEVELOPING countries were ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the pro-developmental position adopted by South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry Rob Davies at last week’s ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

In addressing the formal plenary session and at informal working sessions at the ministerial meeting, Davies is reported to have strongly expressed the need for tariff flexibility and policy space to build South Africa’s productive capacity.’It is evident that the South African government is questioning the view that free trade leads to development,’ said Michelle Pressend, the trade strategy co-ordinator for the Economic Justice Network, an international NGO.In what was described by a spokesman from another NGO, Third World Network, as a ‘seismic shift’ from former minister Alec Erwin’s approach, Davies criticised the WTO for placing unfair demands on developing countries ‘to enhance market access for the benefit of narrow commercial lobbies in parts of the developed world’.Davies went on to say that the WTO should rather give priority to ‘the advancement of outstanding reforms that are of urgent need to developing countries, like cotton and the LDC (least developed countries) package.’In his address to the conference, Davies gave notice of South Africa’s tougher stance towards developmental issues. He said that recent attempts to ‘re-energise’ the Doha round had done nothing to bring the WTO close to a successful developmental conclusion.In a speech described by Third World Network as ‘a breath of fresh air’, Davies went on to say that recent WTO agreements were ‘imbalanced and reflect too much accommodation of the sensitivities of developed countries in agriculture, while demanding too much from developing countries in terms of reducing their applied industrial tariffs and policy space for industrial developments’.While last week’s meeting ended with calls for the Doha development round to end next year, one trade analyst from Third World Network described the meeting as a ‘farce’, highlighting the growing tension between the developed and developing countries.Emphasising the growing gap between these interests was the announcement by a group of 22 developing countries that they had agreed to reduce tariffs. The deal, facilitated by the UN Conference on Trade and Development, affects only trade between the 22 and is not linked to the Doha round.The US’s goals for the WTO talks were spelt out by US Trade Representative Ron Kirk. ‘When the world’s markets are more open to American goods and services, and trade occurs in a rules-based system, American businesses get to make and sell more products and hire more workers at home. The US engages with other economies and plays a leadership role at the WTO in order to boost American exports and grow the well-paid jobs Americans want and need,’ Kirk said.’This ministerial meeting is an important opportunity for the 153 WTO members to take stock of the trading system, to build on the foundation of our rules-based trading system, and to consider the potential of a balanced and ambitious conclusion to the Doha round.’ – Business Report

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