Britain gave warning last night that time was running out for the global trade summit in Cancun as negotiators prepared for a weekend of crisis talks to save the meeting from collapse.
Margaret Beckett, the environment secretary, said the standoff between rich and poor nations had to be resolved quickly to secure a deal by tomorrow night’s deadline.
The United States and European Union urged developing countries to compromise after the Group of 21 bloc, headed by Brazil, China and India, prevented any real progress in the first 48 hours of talks.
”I absolutely welcome the G21 coming together and speaking with a strong voice about what it wants,” said Beckett. ”This is an important step forward, but it is also crucially important that we very soon begin real negotiations. There is only limited time and we must do more than merely exchange positions.”
As protesters prepared for a mass anti-globalisation rally in Cancun today, negotiators were only just beginning to get to grips with the two most contentious issues last night: farm subsidies and a proposed global treaty on investment and competition.
”This really is the crunch,” said a British official. ”It is a hell of a lot to resolve. It is hard to see this falling into place very easily over the weekend.”
Washington and Brussels blamed the G21 for the impasse, accusing it of making demands on rich countries but offering nothing in return.
”The G21 has shown no ambition at all. We have shown flexibility, we are showing flexibility and we will show flexibility but there are limits,” said Franz Fischler, Europe’s agriculture commissioner. ”Without flexibility on their side, the talks will go nowhere.”
Al Johnson, the chief US agriculture negotiator, said: ”It’s not clear whether the G21 will negotiate. It’s easy to issue a set of demands but not easy for such a diverse group to negotiate.”
Observers said there was a real danger ministers could leave the Mexican resort without an agreement on a framework for the rest of the negotiations, due to be completed by the end of next year.
”There is only a 50-50 chance of a deal,” said one senior trade source.
The EU and the US denied accusations that they were trying to use their economic clout to undermine the united front of the G21.
Pascal Lamy, Europe’s trade negotiator, said: ”We are listening very carefully to the G21 position. We are not so arrogant as to think that it is enough for the US and the EU to cook up a deal.”
Development lobbyists said the poorer countries were revelling in their new-found negotiating power.
”Having been pushed around in trade negotiations for far too long, developing countries now have the organisation and determination to match the EC blow for blow,” said Oisin Coghlan of Christian Aid. ”It’s going to be much harder for the EC and US to stitch up a deal behind their backs.”
Senior trade sources said China’s membership of the G21 represented a shift in the WTO’s balance of power. China joined the organisation only two years ago, but with its 1,3-billion people and the world’s fastest-growing market, it cannot be ignored by Washington and Brussels.
The EU and US also face a tough battle to get the rest of the WTO to agree to an extension of the ”peace clause” that prevents the poorer south from taking legal action at the WTO to challenge the richer north’s lavish farm subsidies.
Digby Jones, the CBI director general, said a breakdown in Cancun could lead to the trade talks being put on hold until after next year’s US presidential election. ”If the NGOs [non-governmental organisations] think they can push the Americans down to the wire they are playing with fire,” he said.
Jones felt that France was the barrier to the EU offering deeper farm subsidy cuts, adding: ”It is vital France should be persuaded to move.” – Guardian Unlimited Â