APEC MINISTERS CALL FOR PROGRESS IN DOHA ROUND NEGOTIATIONS

In an attempt to break the current deadlock in the Doha Round negotiations, trade and foreign ministers from Asia Pacific Economic Conference (APEC) member countries have issued a "strong statement" urging WTO Members to overcome their differences.

The ministers drafted the document during an afternoon meeting on 15 November following a morning session which was attended by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy. The gathering occurred on the sidelines of the 21-member group's annual summit, hosted this year by Busan, South Korea.

The statement calls on WTO Members to "show flexibilities needed to move forward the negotiations by and beyond the Hong Kong Ministerial." The ministers will submit the statement to APEC heads of state who are set to meet on 18-19 November.

When speaking of the WTO negotiations, some ministers openly criticised the EU for failing to break the deadlock. "We are seeing the same old story of the EU versus the rest of us, like in Cancun,'' said, Malaysian Trade Minister Rafidah Aziz in Busan. "The US proposal, which many of us find we can live with, the EU has said 'no, that's too far.'"

Nevertheless, the ministers' statement stops short of explicitly laying blame for the impasse in the negotiations. Filipino Trade Minister Peter Favila said that the statement was "couched in such a way without pinpointing to any economies."

The Doha negotiations have quickly taken centre stage at the APEC summit, suggesting that ministers intend to use the Busan Summit as a platform to influence the negotiations at the Hong Kong Ministerial Conference, scheduled for 13-18 December.

The APEC ministers' statement also underscored their commitment to achieving the group's 'Bogor Goals' of "free and open trade and investment in the Asia-Pacific by 2010 for developed members and 2020 for developing members."

A copy of the APEC Minister's joint statement is available at http://www.ictsd.org/ministerial/hongkong/docs/apec_minister_statement.pdf.

"APEC Ministers Say World Trade Talks Hinge on Europe (Update5)," BLOOMBERG, 15 November 2005; "APEC ministers OK statement for WTO talks," ASSOCIATED PRESS, 15 November 2005; "APEC Ministers Agree on 'Strong Statement' Supporting WTO Goals," VOICE OF AMERICA, 15 November 2005.

NEW US COTTON PROGRAMME IN WEST AFRICA A PITTANCE COMPARED TO SUBSIDIES, SAYS OXFAM

On 10 November, during a series of meetings with trade and agriculture ministers in West Africa, US Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns and US Trade Representative Rob Portman launched a USD 7 million programme to improve cotton production and marketing in Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Mali, and Senegal. The US Department of Agriculture described it as a "direct response to request made in meetings of the 'development track' to cotton at the WTO." International charity Oxfam, however, expressed disappointment, pointing out that the sum was dwarfed by the losses incurred in those countries as a result of US cotton subsidies.

Funds from the 'West Africa Cotton Improvement Program' will be restricted to those five countries, leaving out the other 28 cotton-producing countries in Africa. The latter include Uganda and Zimbabwe, which have previously complained of being neglected in the WTO Sub-Committee on Cotton meetings (see BRIDGES Weekly).

Celine Charveriat, head of Oxfam International's Make Trade Fair Campaign, said "Ambassador Portman's offer will not address the damaging effects of US cotton subsidies. West African countries lose as much as USD 250 million in revenue each year because of US cotton dumping. They need genuine trade reform." She expressed hope that the cotton issue would be addressed at the WTO's Hong Kong Ministerial Conference in December.

Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, and Mali have requested that cotton be put on the agenda for the Hong Kong summit. They are seeking a date for the elimination of rich country cotton subsidies and budget aid, compensation for their cotton farmers, and an action plan for the development of the cotton trade. In the past, trade ministers from Mali and Chad have referred to cotton as their single interest in the talks and have hinted at blocking consensus if there was no satisfactory outcome.

The Joint USDA-USTR news release is available at http://www.usda.gov.

ICTSD reporting; " OXFAM: Disappointed On Cotton Issue In Africa," OXFAM INTERNATIONAL, 10 November 2005; "WTO Receives Requests to Put Bananas, Cotton on Hong Kong Ministerial Agenda," WTO REPORTER, 10 November 2005; "U.S. Officials Announce $7 Million Program to Assist Cotton Sector in 5 African Nations," WTO REPORTER, 14 November 2005.

SOUTH ASIAN COUNTRIES STILL AIMING TO IMPLEMENT FTA BY START-2006

Leaders from the seven members of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) reaffirmed their commitment to the 1 January 2006 target date to implement the South Asian Free Trade Area (SAFTA) during a 12-13 November summit in Dhaka. However, they were unable to agree on three crucial aspects of the pact: rules of origin, a mechanism for compensating least-developed country (LDC) members of the bloc for lost tariff revenues, and a list of sensitive products to be largely exempt from tariff reduction. If SAARC governments cannot finalise a deal on these issues by the end of 2005, it will complicate the implementation of tariff cuts, the first round of which are scheduled to take place in January.

Adopted in January 2004, SAFTA seeks to cut tariffs only on goods, and aims to phase out most regional tariff barriers by 2016. The agreement provides for India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to slash customs duties to 0-5 percent by the beginning of 2009 to exports from Bangladesh, Bhutan, the Maldives, and Nepal, the organisation's LDC members.

Although SAARC has been in existence since 1985, it has achieved little in the way of economic integration, due in part to bilateral squabbling among members and the limited product coverage of trade deals. If and when it comes into force, SAFTA is expected to dramatically increase intra-regional trade in South Asia, which currently accounts for only 6 percent of SAARC countries' total external trade, compared to 22 percent for members of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN). Some observers have suggested that SAFTA would increase trade among members by as much as 300 percent.

SAARC officials are set to meet in Kathmandu later in November to try reach an accord on the unresolved issues in the SAFTA talks.

A copy of the SAARC Dhaka Declaration is available at http://www.saarc-sec.org/main.php?id=159&t=7.1.

"SAFTA on track," KUENSEL ONLINE, 16 November 2005; "South Asia Pins Hopes on Free Trade Agreement," FINANCIAL TIMES, 12 November, 2005; "An Agenda for SAFTA's Dhaka Summit," FINANCIAL EXPRESS, 15 November 2005; "What is SAFTA, What are its Benefits?" FINANCIAL EXPRESS; 14 November 2005; "South Asia leaders leave free trade deal unfinished," FINANCIAL TIMES, 14 November 2005; "SAARC: lowering the bar on expectations," DAILY TIMES, 15 November 2005.