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The Sixth WTO Ministerial Conference
Hong Kong, China, 13 to 18 December 2005.
SUMMARY OF
18 DECEMBER 2005
Day 6: Ministers agree on declaration that ‘puts Round back on
track’
Ministers from the WTO’s 149 member governments approved a
declaration that many described as significant progress both
since the July 2004 “package” and after six days of intensive
negotiations in Hong Kong which the chairperson described as
“working like a dog”.
Despite the
long hours and hard work, “it was worth it,” WTO
Director-General Pascal Lamy told a press conference late in
the evening of the final day. “We have managed to put the
Round back on track after a period of hibernation.
Hong Kong’s Commerce, Industry and Technology Secretary John
Tsang, who chaired the conference, outlined the achievements
in the declaration:
“We have secured an end date for all export subsidies in
agriculture, even if it is not in a form to everybody’s
liking.
“We have an agreement on cotton.
“We have a very solid duty-free, quota-free access for the 32
least-developed country members.
“In agriculture and NAMA (non-agricultural market access), we
have fleshed out a significant framework for full modalities.
“And in services, we now have an agreed text that points
positively to the way forward.”
The declaration was agreed after several days of meetings late
into the night, the last two continuing to the morning. “It’s
been a hard day’s night. And I’ve been working like a dog,”
Secretary Tsang said, quoting John Lennon and Paul McCartney.
With the 44-page document now agreed, members face intense
pressure in the new year to complete “full modalities” in
agriculture and non-agricultural market access by the new
deadline they have set themselves, 30 April 2006.
Compared to the draft forwarded to Hong Kong from Geneva, a
number of issues have been settled or partly settled. The most
straightforward is the agreement to end export subsidies in
agriculture by 2013, but this was only agreed at the last
minute, and members paid tribute to the European Union which
had the greatest difficulty on this issue.
The declaration makes clear that the agreed date is
conditional. Loopholes have to be plugged to avoid hidden
export subsidies in credit, food aid and the sales of
exporting state enterprises.
For cotton the elimination is accelerated to the end of 2006.
In addition, cotton exports from least-developed countries
will be allowed into developed countries without duty or
quotas from the start of the period for implementing the new
agriculture agreement. Ministers have also agreed to aim to
cut trade-distorting domestic subsidies on cotton by more than
would normally apply under the new agreement, and to do so
more quickly.
The two sides negotiating this difficult subject paid tribute
to each other for what they described as the spirit of
compromise: United States and the four countries pushing for
an agreement on cotton (Bali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali).
A number of other details have been agreed in agriculture,
non-agricultural market access and services.
Closing session back to top
Formal plenary 10.15 pm
The Ministerial Conference adopted the declaration with
amendments proposed by the chairperson on behalf of the United
States and the “Cotton Four”.
Cuba and Venezuela formally expressed their reservations on
the texts on non-agricultural market access and services and
the meeting noted these.
The meeting also noted statements made by ministers in the
preceding informal heads of delegations meeting. Almost all of
them described the agreement as not fully meeting their
expectations but most urged fellow-members to accept it as a
good basis for making progress in the negotiations.
Many delegations thanked Hong Kong for providing excellent
facilities, good organization and a secure environment for the
negotiations. They said future Ministerial Conferences would
find it difficult to top Hong Kong’s record.
Most delegations praised the “bottom-up” approach (inputs
coming directly from members rather than from above) as
contributing to the success of the conference.
Many delegations welcomed the agreement on 2013 as deadline
for eliminating of agriculture export subsidies although most
of them said they would have preferred an earlier date. Some
delegations commended the “statemanship” of the EU and the US
in achieving agreement.
A number of delegations underlined the positive results in the
development issues — particularly in cotton and the package
for least-developed countries — and the importance of
capturing these by adopting the draft declaration. The new
draft was a step in the right direction, and a good basis for
continuing work in Geneva next year.
Some delegations expressed disappointment with what they said
was lack of ambition in non-agricultural market access and
services, while others said the level in these areas were too
high.
Delegations emphasized the importance of future WTO work in
products of export interest to them, in particular bananas and
cotton.
A touch of colour: director-general’s summing up back to
top
Speaking to journalists afterwards, WTO Direct-General Pascal
Lamy said that in the last night alone, negotiators consumed
350 cups of coffee. During the week, 450 meetings were
organized, six major gatherings and over 200 consultations by
facilitators. The result:
“There has been a rebalancing in favour of developing
countries, whose interests have now been placed at the heart
of our negotiations as we provided for in 2001 when we
launched this round.
“And more importantly, we have built the political energy
necessary to advance technically during 2006, and believe me,
there will be plenty to do next year. We now have enough fuel
in the tank to cruise at the right negotiating altitude new.
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