The World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been extraordinarily successful in preserving peaceful trading relations between nations and generating conditions for economic growth.
I have consistently argued that if governments and their constituents lose faith in the ability of the world trade negotiations in Doha to deliver, we can expect a growing imbalance between multilateral and bilateral deal-making and a wider gap between strong and weak countries. The foundations of transparency and non-discrimination, on which multilateral trade is built, are at stake here. These principles make the international trade environment less complex. If we don’t conclude these negotiations successfully the poorest countries stand to lose the most.
This year is crucial for Doha and the multilateral trade system in general. We are again at a crossroads. Since the beginning of the year we have seen a number of important initiatives and inputs to help move the process forward.
I witnessed a new, and much-needed, level of political commitment at important ministerial gatherings such as those held in Paris by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development and in Senegal by the group of least- developed countries. WTO members are showing a remarkable sense of political urgency, combined with the willingness to negotiate. They are determined to reach framework agreements by July.
This was made particularly clear when the European Commissioners, Pascal Lamy and Franz Fischler, recently revealed courageous solution-oriented plans for important groups.
The atmosphere in which we are working has clearly changed and will, no doubt, be further influenced by upcoming gatherings, such as those of the African Union in Kigali and the Asia Pacific economic cooperation countries in Chile.
But we must not be overconfident. We are still faced with real and complex difficulties.
The strong and unequivocal message of political confidence that has come out of recent international gatherings needs to be translated into action and solid progress at the Geneva negotiating table.
Our time is limited and we should not forget that, if we fail to seize this opportunity, we run the risk of losing opportunity for the rest of this year, as well as most of 2005. It is important thus that WTO members balance their ambition with realism.
At moments of apparent success, it is tempting to look for more than is feasible and pre-empt the final outcome of the negotiations. But the July package is not the end of the Doha negotiations. We are looking for framework-level agreements that will provide a solid platform to conclude the negotiations. — IPS
Supachai Panitchpakdi is the Director General of the World Trade Organisation