Essay on the Fifth Ministerial Conference at Cancun !
The fifth Ministerial Conference was held at Cancum at Mexico during 10-14 September, 2003. Cambodia and Nepal and acceded as the first least- developed countries to the WTO since its establishment. All participants have worked hard and constructively to make progress as required under the Doha mandate. The member countries have made considerable progress.
However, more work needs to be done in some key areas to enable them to proceed towards the conclusion of the negotiations in fulfilment of the commitments they took at Doha. They have not concluded any agreement. They reaffirmed all Doha Declarations and Decisions and recommitted to working to implement them fully and faithfully. They determined the negotiations launched at Doha successfully by the agreed date of January, 2005.
ADVERTISEMENTS:
As per the Draft Cancum Ministerial Text, they agreed as follows:
TRIPS & Public Health:
They welcome the decision on implementation of paragraph 6 of the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health set out in document WT/L/540.
Agriculture Negotiation:
They reaffirm their commitment to the mandate on agriculture as set out in paragraph 13 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. They take notice of the progress made by the special session of the Committee on Agriculture in this regard and agree to intensify work to translate the Doha objectives into reform modalities. They decided to adopt the framework set out on the market access, export competition and domestic support as the basis for concluding the work in these areas.
NAMA Negotiations:
They reaffirm their commitment to the mandate for negotiations on market access for non-agricultural (NAMA) products as set out in paragraph 16 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. They direct the negotiating group to conclude its work on established modalities and to take the necessary further steps to ensure the conclusion of negotiations by the agreed date.
Service Negotiation:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
They are committed to intensify their efforts to bring the negotiations on specific commitments to conclusion. They stress the importance of full engagement by all participants inter alia through the continuous exchange of requests and offers with a view to concluding the negotiations by the agreed date. With a view to provide effective market access to all Members, due regard shall be given to the quality of offers, particularly in sectors and modes of supply of export interest to developing countries.
They declare that they are committed to intensifying their efforts to conclude the negotiations on rule – making under GATS Articles VI: 4, X, XIII and XV in accordance with their respective mandates and deadlines noting the deadline of 15th March 2004 for emergency safeguard measures. The special session of the council for trade in services shall review progress in these negotiations by 31st March 2004.
They reaffirm that the negotiations aim to achieve progressively higher levels of liberalisation with no a priori conclusion of any service sector or mode of supply and shall give special attention to sectors and modes of supply of export interest to developing countries. They welcome the adoption of the Modalities for the special treatment for least-developed country. Members in the Negotiations on Trade in Services and look forward to their implementation by all participant.
Rules Negotiations:
They instruct the Negotiating group on Rules to accelerate its work on anti-dumping and subsidies and counter vailing measures, including Fisheries subsidies, with a view to shifting its emphasis from identifying issues to seeking solutions. The members encourage the group to reach a provisional decision soon on its work on transparency and to accelerate its work on the classification and implement of RTA disciplines under existing WTO provisions, taking into account the developmental aspects of RTAs.
TRIPS Negotiations:
ADVERTISEMENTS:
They take note of the progress made in the negotiations on the establishment of a multilateral system of notification and registration of geographical indications for wines and spirits and instruct the special session of the council for TRIPS to continue the work as mandate in Article 23.4 of the TRIPS Agreement and paragraph 18 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.
Environment negotiations:
They take note of the progress made by the Special session of the Committee on Trade and Environment in developing a common understanding of the concepts contained in its mandate in paragraph 31 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration.
DSU Negotiations:
They take note of the progress that has been made in the negotiations on dispute settlement and determine to pursue these negotiations with the aim of completing them not later than May 2004.
S&D treatment:
They reaffirm that provisions for special and differential treatment are an integral part of WTO Agreement. They recall their decision in Doha to review special and differential treatment provisions with a view to strengthening and making them more precise, effective and personal. They instruct the committee on trade and development in special session to pursue expeditiously, within the parameters of the Doha mandate, the work on remaining agreement specific proposals and other outstanding issues referred to in TN/CTD/7 and report with recommendations as appropriate, to the general council and in its turns it shall submit a report on all these issues to our next session.
Implementation:
The member countries reaffirm the mandates they gave in paragraph 12 of Doha Ministerial Declaration and their Decisions on Implementation Related Issues and concerns, and they renew their determination to find appropriate solutions to these issues — they instruct the Trade Negotiations Committee, negotiating bodies and other WTO bodies concerned to redouble their efforts to find appropriate solutions as a priority.
Investment:
They note the valuable work that has been carried out in the working group on the Relationship between Trade and Investment under paragraphs 21 and 22 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and they commit themselves to provide technical assistance to developing and least-developed countries to respond to their needs for enhanced support in this area. They agree.
(i) To intensify the clarification process called for in paragraph 22 of the Doha Declaration, covering the elements listed in that paragraph as well as other elements raised by Members.
(ii) To convene the working group in special session to elaborate procedural and substantive modalities on the basis of paragraphs 20,21 and 22 of the Doha Declaration, and other elements raised by Members;
(iii) Modalities that will allow negotiations on a multilateral investment framework to start shall be adopted by the general council not later than the fixed date.
Competition:
They decided to consider the possible modalities for negotiation based on the elements contained in paragraph 25 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and that the working group shall report to the general council on this work. In accordance with relevant provisions of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, they commit themselves to continue to provide strengthened and adequately resources technical assistance to developing and least-developed countries to respond to their needs for enhanced support in this area.
Government Procurement:
Taking note of the work done by the working group on Transparency in Government Procurement under the mandate in paragraph 26 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, they decide to commence negotiations on the basis of the modalities.
Trade facilitation:
Taking note of the work done on trade facilitation by the council for trade in goods under the mandate in paragraph 27 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration, they decide to commence negotiations on the bases of the modalities.
Small Economies:
They reaffirm their commitment to the work programme on small economies and urge Members to adopt specific measures that would facilitate the fuller integration of small, vulnerable economies into the multilateral trading system. They take note of the report of the committee on Trade and Development in Dedicated session on the work programme on Small Economies to the general council and the recommendations made therein.
Trade, Debt and Finance:
They take note of the report transmitted by the general council on progress in the examination of the relationship between trade, debt and finance and agree that this work shall continue on the basis of the mandate contained in paragraph 36 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. The general council shall report to the next Ministerial Meeting.
Trade & Transfer of Technology:
They take not of the report transmitted by the general council on progress in the examination of the relationship between trade and transfer of technology and agree that this work shall continue on the basis of the mandate contained in paragraph 37 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and the progress made in the working group to date. The general council shall report to the next Ministerial Session.
Committee on Trade and Environment:
They take note of the report transmitted by the general council on the work undertaken by the Committee on Trade and Environment pursuant to paragraphs 32 and 33 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration. They agree that this work shall continue on the basis of the progress made thus far and instruct the general council to report to the next session.
TRIPS non-violation:
The members take note of the work done by the council for TRIPS pursuant to paragraph 11.1 of the Doha Decision on implementation. Related Issues and concerns and direct it to continue its examination of the scope and modalities for complaints of the types provided for under sub-paragraphs 1(b) and 1(c) of Article XXIII of GATT 1994 and make recommendations to the first Ministerial Conference to be held after 1 August 2004. It is agreed that, in the meantime Members will not initiate such complaints under the TRIPS Agreement.
They also take note of the work undertaken by the Council for TRIPS pursuant to paragraph 19 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and agree that this work shall continue on the basis of paragraph 19 of the Doha Ministerial Declaration and the progress made in the Council for TRIPS to date. The general council shall report on its work in this regard to the next session.
E-Commerce:
They take note of the reports from the general council and subsidiary bodies on the work programme on Electronic Commerce and agree to continue the examination of issue under that ongoing work programme, with the current institutional arrangements. They declare that Members will maintain their current practice of not imposing customs duties on electronic transmissions until the next session.
Technical Co-operation:
They welcome the report by the Director-general on the implementation and adequacy of the commitments on technical co-operation and capacity building they made in the Doha Ministerial Declaration and request him to report further to the next session. They welcome the improved collaboration and co-ordination with other agencies, including under the integrated framework for trade-related technical assistance for the least-developed countries and joint integrated technical assistance programme. They also recognize the successful efforts of the International Trade Centre to involve the business communities of the developing and transition economies in the context of the Doha Development Agenda and encourage it to continue in the same direction.
Least-Developed Countries (LDCs):
They welcome the report by the Director-general on issues affecting LDCs. They reaffirm their commitment to effectively integrate LDCs into the multilateral trading system. Building upon their commitment in the Doha Declaration they shall continue to expeditiously pursue the objective of duty-free and quota-free market access for products originating from LDCs. They urge Members to adopt and implement rules of origin so as to facilitate export from LDCs. They further commit themselves to provide effective trade-related technical assistance and capacity building to LDCs on a priority basis in helping to overcome their weak human, institutional and trade-related capacity.
Sectorial Initiative on Cotton:
They recognise the importance of cotton for the development of a number of developing countries and understand the need for urgent action to address trade distortions in these markets. The Director-General is instructed to consult with the relevant international organisations including the Bretton Woods Institutions (i.e. IMF and World Bank), the Food and Agriculture Organization and the International Trade Centre to effectively direct existing programmes and resources towards diversification of the economies where cotton accounts for the major share of their GDP Members pledge to refrain from utilizing their discretion to avoid making reductions in domestic support for cotton.
Commodity Issues:
Taking into account the dependence of many developing countries on a few commodities and the problems created by long-term declines and sharp fluctuations in the prices of these commodities, they instruct the committee on Trade and Development, within its mandate, to continue with its work on this issue in co-operation with other relevant international organizations and report on progress to the general council before the next session.
Coherence:
They appreciate the efforts that have been made by the Director- general to strengthen the WTO’s collaboration with the IMF and the World Bank to achieve greater coherence in global/economic policy-making and to promoting, without cross-conditionalities or additional conditions, consistent and mutually supportive policies.
Accession:
They welcome Armenia and Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as new members since last session. They completed the accession proceeding for Cambodia and Nepal on LDCs into the WTO. (25 Countries are negotiating for accession to WTO).