Pretoria - Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies is in Nairobi, Kenya, where he will participate in the World Trade Organisation’s (WTO) 10th Ministerial Conference.
In a statement on Sunday, Minister Davies said the main challenge will be how the Ministerial Conference is going to define the work programme of the WTO after Nairobi.
The World Trade Organisation is divided over the Doha Development Round.
“Most of the membership, including South Africa, say that the mandate of the Doha Round remains import. The principles as well as the work issues are important and the agenda has to be completed before anything else can be picked up.
“On the other hand, there are a few members who are of the view that the Doha Round is effectively dead and the work programme can address some of the issues but not within the current framework and the mandate of Doha,” said Minister Davies.
The Doha Round is the latest round of trade negotiations among the WTO membership. Its aim is to achieve major reform of the international trading system through the introduction of lower trade barriers and revised trade rules.
The work programme covers about 20 areas of trade.
The Round is also known semi-officially as the Doha Development Agenda as a fundamental objective is to improve the trading prospects of developing countries.
The Ministerial Conference, which is held every two years and is the highest decision making body of the World Trade Organisation, is being hosted in an African country for the first time.
The conference will take place from 15 to 18 December.
Minister Davies earlier told the National Consultative Conference preparation for the World Trade Organisation’s 10th Ministerial Conference in Pretoria that ditching the Doha Development Round will have negative implications for developing countries.
“We need a developmental oriented outcome that will address a number of distortions that disadvantage developing countries. Any other subject that comes on the agenda of the WTO should have a developmental focus even if they are technical subjects, they should address the issue of escalating the value chain of the developing countries,” said Minister Davies.
According to the Minister, ditching the Doha Development Round is not an option and failure to advance the round would certainly be a lost opportunity for Africa and many developing countries around the world.
Minister Davies adds that it is important to note that the Doha Development Round is important that it delivers benefits for developing countries and least developed countries.
He adds that there is a need to resist any attempts to bury the Doha development agenda (DDA) in Nairobi.
At the informal trade ministerial meeting that was convened on the margins of the annual Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) meeting in Paris this year, the developing countries trade ministers, among others, demanded a comprehensive post-Bali work program for concluding the DDA negotiations.
Minister Davies said African countries need policy space for carrying out industrial policies which will become difficult with the increase in the ambition in market access for industrial goods.
South Africa’s delegation to the WTO 10th conference include Parliamentarians, business, labour and senior officials. – SAnews.gov.za
