WTO Members to Pause for Thought on Ag Talks

Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest • Volume 12 • Number 37 • 6th November 2008

Members need more time to analyse complex issues, the chair of the WTO agriculture negotiations has said, explaining a decision to call no further meetings of the full membership until the week of 17 November. Slow progress in small group discussions prompted his decision, he indicated.

The chair, Ambassador Crawford Falconer (New Zealand), has been holding informal consultations with Members on tariff simplification, tariff quota creation and the special safeguard mechanism (see BRIDGES Weekly, 23 October 2008, http://ictsd.net/i/news/bridgesweekly/31623/). While Members have expressed willingness to engage, “no tangible movement” has taken place, sources said.

Delegates confirmed Falconer was unlikely to host another ‘room E’ meeting, with around three dozen delegations representing a cross-section of the membership, until there was more to report. At present, “there’s kind of nothing to say,” one negotiator acknowledged.

While some Members (such as Brazil) have suggested that a ministerial meeting could still be held before the year end, possibly preceded by revised draft texts on agriculture and industrial goods, most others remain sceptical that the round can be concluded soon. The US elections may also have influenced the general mood, as negotiators await signals of political will from the new administration (see related article, this issue). In the meantime, discussions appear to be in limbo, with one delegate describing the talks as “very quiet.”

ICTSD reporting.

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