APEC - Doha Agenda 'unlikely in near future'

19th Apec Summit statement

THE Asia-Pacific leaders, His Majesty the Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam among them, do not foresee a conclusion in the "near future" to decade-old trade negotiations, under the umbrella of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), that have continuously been delayed.

"We have deep concerns regarding the impasse confronting the Doha Development Agenda (DDA) and the reality is that a conclusion of all elements of the Doha agenda is unlikely in the near future," leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (Apec) said in a statement at their 19th meeting here yesterday.

The DDA aims to achieve a major reform of the international trading system through the reduction of trade barriers and revision of trade rules. With a work programme of about 20 "elements" or areas related to trade, the agenda missed its deadlines in 2005 and in 2006. Efforts were also made in the subsequent and recent years to reinvigorate the talks.

Last year's Apec in Japan also led to the adoption of the Yokohoma Vision, which also called for more concrete steps towards the DDA.

A WTO workshop last year also found that "a Doha Round package on market access in all goods, and on agricultural subsidies, could add $121 billion to $202 billion to the world economy". Meanwhile, a "trade facilitation" deal could cut trade costs by more than the "impact of geographical distance" between countries.

In the Apec statement yesterday, known as the "Honolulu Declaration", the leaders recognised the need for further trade liberalisation as a means to achieve sustainable global recovery following the impact of the global economic crisis. Therefore, the leaders stressed they would not give up on the DDA. "We will not complete the DDA if we continue to conduct negotiations as we have in the past, but none of us intends to abandon efforts that would allow for better progress toward the ultimate conclusion of the DDA," the declaration said.

The leaders instructed their officials to enter the upcoming WTO ministerial conference and negotiations with "fresh" and credible approaches.

"These include possibilities that involve advancing specific parts of the Doha agenda where consensus might be reached on a provisional or definitive basis."

They also reaffirmed an earlier pledge against withdrawing to protectionism amidst the standstill of talks, extending their commitment to the end of 2015. They called for a similar pledge to be made by WTO members during their eighth ministerial conference next month.

"We direct Apec ministers responsible for trade to use the 2012 meeting in Kazan to assess ways to promote progress on the DDA in the WTO. We look forward to the conclusion of Russia's WTO accession process at the upcoming WTO Ministerial Conference," the statement said.

UBAIDILLAH MASLI

The Brunei Times

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