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For Immediate Release:                                                                                  No. 10/2008
July 30, 2008

MINI-MINISTERIAL FAILS – BUT NO ABSOLUTE LOSSES FOR CARIBBEAN

CHRIST CHURCH, BARBADOS – Having participated fully in the recent initiative designed to bridge differences on key issues in the Doha Round, the Caribbean was disappointed about yesterday’s announcement of the collapse of the Mini-Ministerial which was convened July 21, 2008.

However, the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery (CRNM) Director-General, Mr. Henry Gill, pointed out that important gains for the Caribbean were achieved during the process that should not be underestimated.

Mr. Gill highlighted that “Caribbean countries are especially pleased that the concerns and interests of the Small Vulnerable Economies (SVEs) Group, with the exception of the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM) and a Non-Agriculture Market Agriculture (NAMA) formula for SVEs, were given recognition at the multilateral level. In addition, securing the increase of the bound rates on a number of Suriname’s agricultural products was an important achievement for the Region.”

These successes, as the CRNM Director-General indicated, were attributable to the high level of coordination amongst Caribbean countries and the strength of their alliances with the ACP as well as the G-33 and SVE groups.

He said, “The leadership and energy exhibited by the CARICOM Ministerial Spokesperson on WTO, The Hon. Dr. Henry Jeffrey and by Barbados’ Minister of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Trade and International Business, The Hon. Chris Sinckler acting in the capacity of Barbados’ Chairmanship of the Small and Vulnerable Economies Group were very instrumental in these achievements, particularly during the Green Room process.

During the Mini-Ministerial process, agreement in TRIPS and Services negotiations also appeared possible. The level of compromise reached on such issues was largely attributable to the commendable leadership of the WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy. Despite his efforts and those of the WTO members, further development on a number of key development issues was stalled by failure to reach a suitable compromise on the trigger for the activation of the Special Safeguard Mechanism (SSM).

Mr. Gill explained that the breakdown was not attributable to the actions of any particular country or individual.

“It would be disingenuous to attribute blame to any particular country or group of countries. These negotiations have serious bearing on the future of the global economy but also present serious socio- political and economic implications for all WTO member states. The difficulties experienced with resolving the SSM issue, for example, are but a microcosm of wider systemic complexities.”

Addressing the implications of the failed talks in Geneva, Mr. Gill said that the range of implications is wide and extends to issues such as the future treatment of the interface between tropical products and preference products (sugar, rum and bananas), which is of major concern to the Caribbean.

In the Doha Round, on one hand, ACP countries argue that tropical products which are also preference products should be liberalized less aggressively to protect the margin of preference for these products. On the other, there is a call for tropical products to be treated with aggressive liberalization.

A conditional agreement on bananas between Europe and Central American countries was eventually drafted during the Mini-Ministerial. This draft agreement, the implementation of which was expressly tied to a successful outcome of the Mini-Ministerial, would have resulted in the acceleration of the erosion of preference for ACP bananas. However, the breakdown in the process means that, for now, the situation with bananas will remain unchanged and the disputed MFN duty of €176 per tonne applicable to all non-ACP bananas entering the European market will continue to stand.

Mr. Gill said, “I do not envisage that the Caribbean and the rest of developing would be interested in abandoning the Doha Development Agenda. The collapse of the Mini-Ministerial is not a definitive pronouncement on the Doha Round itself. However, exactly how the process will continue is, at this point, unclear. The gains that the Caribbean has made, particularly with respect to the recognition of SVE’s concerns, are encouraging. In going forward, the Caribbean would be optimistic about continuing to use our alliances to preserve that progress and using it to leverage further advance of the Doha Development Agenda.”

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