This article caught my eye as it falls into place alongside the current book I am reading "Fair Trade for All' by Joseph Stiglitz and Andrew Charleston. This book sets out the framework of how fairer trade rules can promote development in the world's poorest countries. A must read for those involved with fair trade at the economic level.
Firstly, read on:
GENEVA - OUTGOING US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said on Wednesday that negotiations on a global trade deal should step back from the limelight over the coming year and focus on quiet confidence-building.
'I think there is an opportunity right now to step back, review where we are in the Doha Round and take some time to move forward,' she told journalists after a farewell meeting with WTO Director General Pascal Lamy here.
Ms Schwab, a key player in the faltering attempts to open up global markets for agriculture, industrial goods and services since she took office in 2006, is due to stand down on Jan 20 with the departure of the Bush administration in the United States.
Ms Schwab said that despite the repeated failure of high-profile meetings of ministers in recent years that were aimed at forging an agreement, a lot of incremental technical progress had been achieved in negotiations to prepare for each of those gatherings.
'I don't think that suspension is the answer so much as quiet behind-the- scenes kind of work,' she explained after being asked about the possibility of suspending the Doha negotiations in 2010.
Some trade specialists have suggested that the current global economic downturn is conducive to protectionist sentiment and that it would be risky to to relaunch free trade talks while industrialised, emerging and developing nations are more intent on defending their own economies.
Ms Schwab admitted that there were still 'a variety of irreconcilable differences' that had prevented a new ministerial meeting taking shape at the WTO last month.
The negotiations were launched in the Qatari capital in 2001 to help poor countries take advantage of free and fair trade but have missed several deadlines due to a range of disagreements between the 153 WTO members.
Developing countries - including the Asian powerhouses of China and India - want the industrialised world to scrap agricultural subsidies, while Western powers are seeking greater access for their products in emerging markets. -- AFP
