EU-LDC Themes - WTO - Policy
|
The LDC position in the Millennium Round
The developing countries form a large and diverse
group in the WTO. Because of the diversity in their level of
development and their size, their interests will often differ in
multilateral trade negotiations. Nevertheless, during the
Ministerial Meeting of the G15 in August 1999 and a meeting of the
trade ministers of the G77 in September 1999 developing countries
have discussed their position for the next trade round in the WTO.
The G77 meeting only addressed negotiations on
the built-in agenda. Possible negotiations on competition policy,
investment, government procurement and industrial tariffs are not
mentioned in the declaration, indicating the lack of consensus among
developing countries on these subjects. These items were addressed
in the G15 meeting. In both meetings there was consensus that
implementation of existing agreements should be a priority issue for
the negotiations. The issues of labour and environment should not be
included in the WTO negotiations.
Here we present the LDC position for the next
trade round according to these meetings on specific sectors and
issues. We first present the four issues that were discussed in both
the G15 and G77 meetings:
The remaining issues were only discussed in the
G15 meeting and include:
Further liberalisation in this sector is
necessary. Greater equity should be introduced in the Agreement of
Agriculture and trade-distorting measures should be eliminated.
Developing countries need flexibility to adopt domestic policies
intended to improve production levels in order to achieve food
security and to enhance the income levels of the rural poor through
assured rural employment. In addition, the decisions of the
Marrakech Agreement regarding the food security situation of least
developed and net food-importing developing countries should be
implemented.
Both the G15 and G77 stressed the importance of
the implementation of existing agreements. Developing countries face
problems of implementing existing agreements as a result of
financial, time and institutional constraints and lack of adequate
technical assistance. The delegates noted that
-
inequities should be removed from the existing agreements to
restore the balance in the multilateral trading system;
-
developed countries should meet their obligations in the areas
of interest to developing countries, especially in the area of
textile and clothing;
-
special and differential treatment provisions for developing
countries in WTO Agreements should be made operational and
implemented.
Specific implementation problems or objections to
the existing agreements include the following:
-
Under the Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS)
Agreement, transfers of technology provisions have not been made
operational and there are no mechanisms for balanced protection
of biological resources and no disciplines to protect
traditional knowledge;
-
As a result of provisions in the Trade Related Investment
Measures (TRIMS) Agreement, and the Subsidies Agreement,
developing countries cannot use regulations or subsidies to
accelerate the industrialisation process or to support
development and diversification;
-
Special provisions in the Anti-dumping Agreement, the Dispute
Settlement Understanding, the Sanitary and Photo Sanitary (SPS)
Agreement and the Technical Barriers to trade (TBT) Agreement
meant to benefit developing countries have been virtually
ignored by the developed countries;
-
Non-reduction in tariffs in areas that benefit developing
countries.
Least developed countries need to integrate into
the multilateral trading system more fully. Because the Integrated
Framework for least developed countries had fallen short of
expectations, new steps need to be taken. The G77 ministers stated
that developed countries should provide duty-free and quota-free
access for the exports of least developed countries.
There is no need to change the current structure
of the GATS negotiations. Sectors of interest to developing
countries should be included in the negotiations. Liberalisation of
the movement of natural persons is of special importance to
developing countries.
Competition Policy
Developing countries considered it too early to
include competition policy in the negotiations, given the
complexities of the issue. They do want to discuss restrictive
business practices by multinational enterprises and the
anti-competitive effects of trade remedial measures.
Developing countries reject to the idea of making
the plurilateral Government Procurement Agreement (GPA) gradually
more multilateral.
There was no consensus on this issue. While
several delegates felt that the working group on trade and
investment had not been able to establish the need for multilateral
rules on investment under the WTO, other delegates said that they
would not object to multilateral rules, although they would not put
the subject on the trade agenda themselves.
There was no consensus among developing countries
regarding further tariff reductions. Some delegates did not want a
new round of tariff negotiations, because the benefits of tariff
reductions in the last round have not accrued to developing
countries to the expected extent. Other delegates were in favour of
a new round of tariff negotiations without excluding a single
industrial sector, to overcome the problem above. A final group of
delegates would not put the issue on the agenda, but would not
object to it either. All countries agreed however, that the issues
of tariff peaks, tariff escalations and non-tariff barriers in
developed countries must be addressed effectively for market access
to be meaningful.
The delegations at the meeting were firmly
opposed to any linkage between trade and labour standards.
Developing countries do not consider the
environment as a trade issue. According to them, environmental
concern can be solved through the existing WTO provisions. The
delegates stressed that environmental standards differ from country
to country and that instead of harmonisation of environmental
standards it would be better to mutually recognise only
product-related standards.
To show the mutual supportiveness of trade and
environment, it is believed that a) developed countries should
remove trade distorting agricultural subsidies; and b) biological
resources and traditional knowledge of indigenous communities should
be respected in WTO rules, and any benefits that arise from their
use should be equitable shared with these communities. In addition,
in case of proprietary technology or substance mandated for use by
international agreements or national environmental laws, owners of
intellectual property should be required to sell them at fair and
most favourable terms and conditions.
According to the delegates at the meeting,
facilitation issues are already reflected in several existing WTO
agreements, like Customs Valuation and Rules of Origin. Members can
autonomously pursue this issue.
It was noted that the Dispute Settlement Process
is a government to government exercise, and therefore, there is a
need to maintain confidentiality on all stages of proceedings. The
argument of developing countries is thus not so much about
transparency, but rather about the timing of disclosure of documents
and proceedings.
Top
| Back | Home
| 
