MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Main trade nations agree to save Doha negotiations

The current ministerial summit in the framework of the WTO Doha Round of world trade talks has been extended until Wednesday in an effort to save the negotiations from collapse.

Some European countries have expressed concerns over proposed concessions they believe will harm their farmers but about thirty trade ministers are in Geneva trying to reach a deal aimed at boosting world trade and avoiding a collapse of the seven year round. Trade ministers are wrangling over a proposed settlement, mediated by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, with compromises ranging from caps on farm subsidies to limits on special treatment for developing countries. Several European countries, notably Italy, France and Ireland, are critical of concessions made by European Union Trade Negotiator Peter Mandelson on farm subsidies. They think the cuts are too deep and will harm their farmers but Mandelson says these fears are misplaced. "There is nothing that we are negotiating in this deal that would undermine any part of European agriculture" he said. "The beef industry, like others in European farming, has a strong future. I believe that as a result of this round, they will be equipped and strong to compete effectively in our European market and I believe that they can look forward to that strong future". Mandelson says the agreements being discussed would lead to more open markets and trade liberalization, and this will benefit both developed and developing countries. The proposed settlement calls for cutting European farm subsidies by 80% and cutting US agricultural supports by 70% to 14.5 billion US dollars. The compromise proposal also calls for cuts in tariffs on agricultural imports and on industrial goods. A number of countries, including the United States, Brazil, Australia and India say they welcome some of the agreements on the table and are hopeful a deal, which is good for the global economy is possible. Bt WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell says if a deal does not emerge, the ministers might take a break from the negotiations. "To say that members would be prepared to abandon the sort of work that they have put in here, which is intensive, certainly over the course of the last 12 months. It is not in the nature of negotiators to walk away from the kinds of things that they will have constructed. So, I do not know what would happen," said Rockwell. "But, I would not say that all is lost under any circumstances by the end of this week regardless of what happens." However trade ministers have a lot of work to do during the next few days particularly the prospects of liberalizing services such as banking and telecommunications. The outcome of those negotiations will have a bearing on the outcome of the farming and industry talks. By Wednesday, it will be clear whether governments are willing to make the necessary trade offs to agree on a deal that economists say could boost the world economy by 50 billion a year. But in spite of the "pre-agreement" India expressed concern about some of the details and was insisting on extra safeguards for its farmers, while China angered other developing nations by demanding that some of its key manufacturing sectors - such as chemical and machinery - be excluded. Doha round negotiations began in November 2001 but have been dogged by repeated crises and long periods of stalemate.