TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues (Nov05/12)
By Kanaga Raja, Geneva, 9 Nov 2005
Agriculture lies at the centre of the Doha Round and is the engine of the negotiations, the Group of 20 developing countries stressed on 9 November in a Ministerial press statement.
In what appeared to be a response to the efforts of the US and EC to link high expectations of theirs in Non-Agricultural Market Access and Services with minimal movement in agriculture, the G20 Ministerial press statement said: “Additional movement in agriculture, in line with the Doha mandate and the July Framework, would find a response in terms of proportionate contributions in other areas of the negotiations.
“Reaffirming that agriculture remains the main focus of the G20, the Group considers it to be contrary to the Doha Mandate to expect that linkages with other negotiating fronts could lead to unbalanced results for developing countries in the negotiations.”
The G20 statement was released just as a mini-ministerial ‘Green Room’ meeting of some 28 countries was held Tuesday and Wednesday at the WTO, which was convened by the WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy in his capacity as Chair of the TNC in an attempt to provide some political momentum for the preparatory process for the Hong Kong meeting.
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