Hong Kong 13-18 Dec. 2005

The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference  
Hong Kong, China, 13 to 18 December 2005.

Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Chowdhury spoke of the possibility of protest at a dialogue on the sidelines of the plenary session on the second day of the sixth session of the 6-day WTO meet in Hong Kong, a member of Bangladesh delegation told UNB over telephone from Hong Kong.

Bangladesh will use veto if the developed countries do not give duty and quota-free market access to all least developed countries' (LDCs), Chowdhury told the meeting.

Ambassador of Zambia and the LDC coordinator in the WTO trade talks, Love Mtesa, however, said the time is yet to come to say anything about veto. "If the developed countries try to divide LDCs, it will not be possible. The LDCs are all together. They swim together; if drowned, it'll be together," Mtesa declared.

Trade experts said veto in the past. When negotiation comes close to an end, every country looks after the national interests instead of the group interests, they observed.

At a sideline meeting with Altaf Chowdhury earlier in the day, Zambian Commerce Minister Dipak Patel, who is the chief coordinator of the LDCs in the talks, said the LDCs would raise the 'red flag' if they do not get free market access.

INDIA, AUSTRALIA TURN LDC SUPPORTERS
Meanwhile, India and Australia have joined the EU, USA and Brazil in backing the LDCs' demand for duty- and quota-free market access of their products at the ongoing conference.

"Developed countries and the developing countries in a position to do so should provide duty-free and quota-free access without any staging and on a secure and predictable basis," India told the plenary session of the conference yesterday.

The LDCs' demand was the dominant issue of discussion on the second day of the six-day meet, according to a message received here. Brazil, which is representing the interests of the developing country group in the trade talks, reportedly supported the demand. So did the EU and the USA.

The latest text of the conference released by the WTO General Council endorsed the main demands of the LDCs, but experts voiced concern and uncertainty as the developed and the developing countries were at loggerheads over the issues.

The demand of the LDCs for duty and quota-free market access met with strong support at an informal meeting on 'specific development' held on the sidelines. Guyanese Foreign Trade and International Cooperation Minister Clement Rohee, who chaired the meeting, stressed the importance of such an access for the LDCs.

EC Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson also supported the demand at another sideline meeting of the LDC group.

Besides the EU, a number of developed countries including Australia, Canada, Norway and Sweden have already provided duty-free market access to the LDCs, Altaf Chowdhury informed the meeting.

He said, "It's the legitimate claim of the LDCs that they must be accorded this access without any delay or discrimination."

Chowdhury, who leads an 18-member Bangladeshi delegation, also mentioned that China has granted duty-free access for 83 and Korea for 139 tariff lines to Bangladesh.

He sought the EU's support to the LDCs' concern of duty- and quota-free market access with realistic and simplified rules of origin into the markets of rich nations.

"The market access is very crucial for a meaningful unification of the LDCs with the multilateral trading system," he told Mandelson and requested him to support the LDCs' demands in the light of Livingstone Declaration, which the LDC ministers had adopted at a pre-Hong Kong meeting.

The Bangladesh delegation also drew attention of the EU trade negotiator for the need of meaningful technical assistance.

Altaf Chowdhury reiterated the LDC position at yet another sideline meeting organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD), a leading independent think-tank of Bangladesh, in Hong Kong yesterday.

The Bangladesh delegation was engaged in trade negotiations in three groups to follow up the progress of discussions on market access of non-agricultural products from the LDCs to the developed and developing countries, farm products and other issues.

Altaf Chowdhury also met the heads of delegations and trade leaders, who gathered in Hong Kong from across the world to attend the sixth session of the WTO Ministerial Conference, on the sidelines to exchange views on mutual interests.

He held discussions with Commerce Minister of Turkey Kermad Tuzmen and Sri Lankan Commerce Minister Joyraj Fernandos to examine the prospects of bilateral trade. He had trade talks with the British minister for international development, foreign and commerce ministers of Japan, WTO director general and Afghan trade minister. He also took up the possibility of exporting less-skilled workers with UAE Finance and Planning Minister Eshaikha Hubna Al Qasimi.