LDCs ADOPT COMMON POSITION FOR HONG KONG

Least-developed countries (LDCs) recently adopted a common negotiating position in the Doha round WTO talks ahead of the global trade body's December Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong. LDC trade ministers met in Livingstone, Zambia, on 27 June, to deliberate on bargaining positions and strategy in the ongoing multilateral trade negotiations. The 'Livingstone Declaration' articulates a shared LDC position on the Doha round. It also calls for rich countries to grant immediate, non-reciprocal and binding commitments on duty- and quota-free market access for all products from LDCs.

Zambian Commerce Trade and Industry Minister Dipak Patel, who chairs the group of 50 LDC WTO Members, noted that the main areas of concern for the LDCs were agriculture, non-agricultural market access (NAMA), special and differential treatment (S&D) for LDCs, services trade and issues related to trade facilitation.

LDCs worried about EU sugar reform

The ministers also expressed concern that the EU's recent proposal to reform their sugar market by cutting the intervention price for sugar by 39 percent (see related story, this issue) could adversely impact LDC sugar exports to the EU. They urged the EU not to cut prices so steeply and quickly, arguing that more time would help the LDCs build up their sugar industries.

LDCs are not scheduled to receive duty free access to the EU for sugar until July 2009 under the EU's 'Everything But Arms' initiative, which offers LDCs tariff-free market access for most products. EU Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel has said that when this happens, sugar from LDCs could flood the EU market if the current guaranteed EU price was not cut. Patel expressed the concern of many of his colleagues in a 26 June letter to Ms Fischer Boel, arguing that "[for LDCs] to now be cited as one of the principal reasons for radical reform is an inaccurate representation of the truth." EU sugar producers have also expressed concerns over "triangular trade," implying that cheap sugar from third countries would be exported duty free via LDCs to the EU market.

Civil society organisations call for pro-poor trade policies

Civil society organisations, meeting on the sidelines of the conference, called on the WTO and major trading partners to adopt pro-poor policies in trade talks to facilitate development and poverty eradication. A statement by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) from several African countries including Zambia, Malawi, Tanzania, and Nigeria noted that the lack of progress on S&D for LDCs reflected an absence of commitment by major trading countries to promote development within the multilateral trading system.

Supachai pledges support for G8 aid-for-trade initiative

At the meeting, WTO Director-General Supachai Panitchpakdi pledged to lend his support for the aid-for-trade initiative at the 6-8 July G8 summit in Scotland (see BRIDGES Weekly, 9 February 2005). He noted that the success of the "aid-for-trade initiative" would help extend more significant trade development benefits to LDCs and other poor countries. Supachai also highlighted key decisions taken in favour of LDCs since the Doha round,
including: the adoption of the WTO work programme for LDCs; the extension of the transition period for LDC members until 2016 with respect to intellectual property and pharmaceutical products; and the adoption of the accession guidelines for LDCs to facilitate their accession into the WTO.

ICTSD reporting; "Poor countries call for immediate free trade," FINANCIAL TIMES, 28 June 2005; "Poor Countries Adopt Common Stance In World Trade Talks," NOTICIAS.INFO, 28 June 2005; "WTO director general pledges support for LDCs at G8 summit," XINHUA, 27 June 2005.