ID :
13192
Mon, 07/21/2008 - 09:43
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/13192
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Developed countries' concessions needed for Doha Round deal: Brazil
GENEVA, July 21 Kyodo - Brazil's top trade negotiator said Saturday it will be difficult to strike a deal on the Doha Round trade talks of the World Trade Organization unless richcountries make concessions that are favorable for developing countries, especially in the field of agriculture.
''We came here to search for a deal. But of course this is not an easy task,'' Celso Amorim, Brazilian foreign minister, said at a news conference at the WTOheadquarters in Geneva.
Amorim's remarks came ahead of a key ministerial meeting of a select group of countries, starting in the Swiss city on Monday, to push the long-delayedglobal free trade talks toward conclusion.
''A quick result is not easy,'' said Amorim with regard to complex formulas on how to cut tariffs -- the key agenda item at the meeting -- as industrialized countries have not fully taken into account the fact that the talks' originalspirit was to help poor countries.
Amorim said he is worried whenever he hears ''some myths'' circulated in Genevaregarding WTO trade negotiations.
''One of these myths is that agriculture is almost ready and the only problemnow'' is how to free up market access to industrial goods, he said.
''This is of course a self-serving assertion of those who do not want to do their tasks in agriculture, which was and has been and is the engine'' of theDoha Round, he said.
Brazil, along with India, is a key player in the talks, officially called the Doha Development Agenda, launched in the capital of Qatar in 2001, which has missed a succession of important deadlines as developed and developingcountries both refuse to make compromises on their key concerns.
Seen from Brazil, one of the world's biggest agricultural exporters, and other emerging economies, rich countries' farm subsidies and high tariffs remain amajor stumbling block to a deal on the talks, he said.
He said countries representing the voices of poor nations such as Brazil andIndia have been labeled a ''sort of devils'' for rich countries.
But he noted that public opinion in the world has been changing recently, increasingly calling for ''more development friendly figures'' from the DohaRound framework.
Amorim also said it will be important to have revised texts for negotiation after the meeting of 30-plus ministers, which is expected to run for about aweek.
''We have enough time to renegotiate on the basis of new texts, otherwise we may have a Cancun-like scenario,'' he said, referring to the collapse of theWTO ministerial negotiations in the Mexican resort in 2003.
==Kyodo
''We came here to search for a deal. But of course this is not an easy task,'' Celso Amorim, Brazilian foreign minister, said at a news conference at the WTOheadquarters in Geneva.
Amorim's remarks came ahead of a key ministerial meeting of a select group of countries, starting in the Swiss city on Monday, to push the long-delayedglobal free trade talks toward conclusion.
''A quick result is not easy,'' said Amorim with regard to complex formulas on how to cut tariffs -- the key agenda item at the meeting -- as industrialized countries have not fully taken into account the fact that the talks' originalspirit was to help poor countries.
Amorim said he is worried whenever he hears ''some myths'' circulated in Genevaregarding WTO trade negotiations.
''One of these myths is that agriculture is almost ready and the only problemnow'' is how to free up market access to industrial goods, he said.
''This is of course a self-serving assertion of those who do not want to do their tasks in agriculture, which was and has been and is the engine'' of theDoha Round, he said.
Brazil, along with India, is a key player in the talks, officially called the Doha Development Agenda, launched in the capital of Qatar in 2001, which has missed a succession of important deadlines as developed and developingcountries both refuse to make compromises on their key concerns.
Seen from Brazil, one of the world's biggest agricultural exporters, and other emerging economies, rich countries' farm subsidies and high tariffs remain amajor stumbling block to a deal on the talks, he said.
He said countries representing the voices of poor nations such as Brazil andIndia have been labeled a ''sort of devils'' for rich countries.
But he noted that public opinion in the world has been changing recently, increasingly calling for ''more development friendly figures'' from the DohaRound framework.
Amorim also said it will be important to have revised texts for negotiation after the meeting of 30-plus ministers, which is expected to run for about aweek.
''We have enough time to renegotiate on the basis of new texts, otherwise we may have a Cancun-like scenario,'' he said, referring to the collapse of theWTO ministerial negotiations in the Mexican resort in 2003.
==Kyodo
