May 2 , 2011
Lamy Addresses TNC on Doha Round Impasse
On April 29, World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy addressed an informal meeting of the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) on the situation in the Doha Round. He reviewed the many reasons put forward for the impasse in the Round, noting particularly the failure to reach an agreement on industrial tariffs. Commenting on the implications of a failed Round for the WTO, he said that "we need to be lucid and realistic: failure of the WTO to deliver on its legislative function, failure of the WTO to update the rules governing international trade - last updated in 1995 - by adapting them to the evolving needs of its Members, failure of the WTO to harness our growing economic interdependence in a cooperative manner risks a slow, silent weakening of the multilateral trading system in the longer term." In his closing remarks at the session, he said that "All Members are aware of the grave risks of the present stalemate, not only for the Doha Round but for our WTO system at large," and that no Member is "ready to throw in the towel." He called for a new approach that goes beyond "business as usual", and that leads to results this year.
Lamy's remarks followed the release of a series of reports the previous week that showed wide gaps among WTO members, in services, goods, agriculture, and other parts of the negotiating agenda. (See GSN update of April 22).
U.S. Business Community Statement on the Doha Round
Several major U.S. business organizations issued a joint statement today in response to the situation in the Doha Round, expressing regret that the Round "has not yet been able to achieve its intended objective of promoting world economic growth by expanding trade." The business organizations said that they "continue to seek an outcome that would open markets around the world, produce new trade flows, grow our economies and sustain and create jobs. But an agreement will not be possible unless all major economies make meaningful contributions...We continue to maintain strong confidence in the WTO as an institution, its system of rules, and its role as a bulwark for open trade and against protectionism as proven by the recent financial crisis. We encourage the United States and all WTO Members to devote their energy to finding a productive, trade-expanding direction for the Doha Round and the multilateral trading system."
For a copy of the statement, click here.