A coalition of pro-trade NGOs:
“Friends of the Multilateral Trading System” from around the
world led by CUTS International have appealed to WTO members
to arrive at a deal at Bali, rather than not.
Speaking to the press here
today, Pradeep S. Mehta, the secretary general of CUTS
International, has said that this deal is still possible as
also stated by the WTO DG, Roberto Azevedo. Otherwise
history will not offer such an opportunity again and the MTS
would lose its strength as a fair trade regulator.
“Major countries have signalled
that they are open to talks to arrive at a mutually agreed
draft declaration at Bali so as to not only protect the poor
of the developing world but to restore the confidence in the
MTS”, said Mehta. “Alas, as on today the deal still remains
elusive”.
The U.S. in particular should
support multilateralism, rather than think that carving out
the world in different trading blocks will be healthy for
its own economy.
“A majority of Americans say the
benefits from U.S. participation in the global economy
outweigh the risks and support for closer trade and business
ties with other nations stands at its highest point in more
than a decade”, according to a recent survey conducted by
Washington-based Pew Research Center. “The US Trade
Representative should take this as a window of opportunity
to pave a deal at Bali,” added Mehta.
On the food stockholding issue,
the deal could recognise the need to reformulate the subsidy
equation within and not later than the agreed period of four
years (peace clause), as the WTO farm agreement has been
pegged on 1986 commodity prices, while today’s prices are
much higher.
The deal on trade facilitation
also needs to mutually satisfactory to all countries with
definitive commitments on capacity building and
infrastructural investment in the developing world.
For more information, please contact:
Pradeep S Mehta,
psm@cuts.org, +62-82144352083
Rashid S Kaukab,
rsk@cuts.org, +62-82236630478
Archana Jatkar,
aj@cuts.org, +62-82144352084
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