APEC pushes with Doha talks
By Yoko Kubota |
June 7, 2010, Monday
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Print Edition
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TRADE ministers of the Asia-Pacific region agreed yesterday to press on with stalled Doha talks on global trade and planned to relay the political momentum for this to a Group of 20 meeting later this month.
The ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum also agreed to craft by November a plan outlining possible ways to reach a regional free trade area, although bringing together the economically diverse members will face hurdles.
"As APEC, we were able to send a clear message to the next G20 on our political will to speed up the (Doha) negotiations," Japanese trade minister Masayuki Naoshima told a news conference after a two-day meeting in northern Japan.
The Doha round of world trade talks was launched in 2001 to correct some of the imbalances in the global trading system.
Under a current draft deal, rich countries would lift barriers to their food markets and cut trade-distorting farm subsidies while developing countries, excluding the poorest, would open their markets to more products and services.
But agreement on an overall package has proved elusive, with the United States arguing that big emerging economies such as Brazil, China and India should do more to facilitate a deal.
While the APEC ministers shared a resolve to conclude the Doha round swiftly, the US also called for more substantive talks.
"There is no shortcut at the end of the day for the actual act of sitting down across the table from each other and having a negotiation," Michael Punke, the US ambassador to the World Trade Organization, told Reuters over the weekend, adding that more effort from China had yet to be seen.
As the Doha talks struggle, regional trade deals are gaining impetus. APEC aims to achieve its own trade area - Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.
The ministers of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum also agreed to craft by November a plan outlining possible ways to reach a regional free trade area, although bringing together the economically diverse members will face hurdles.
"As APEC, we were able to send a clear message to the next G20 on our political will to speed up the (Doha) negotiations," Japanese trade minister Masayuki Naoshima told a news conference after a two-day meeting in northern Japan.
The Doha round of world trade talks was launched in 2001 to correct some of the imbalances in the global trading system.
Under a current draft deal, rich countries would lift barriers to their food markets and cut trade-distorting farm subsidies while developing countries, excluding the poorest, would open their markets to more products and services.
But agreement on an overall package has proved elusive, with the United States arguing that big emerging economies such as Brazil, China and India should do more to facilitate a deal.
While the APEC ministers shared a resolve to conclude the Doha round swiftly, the US also called for more substantive talks.
"There is no shortcut at the end of the day for the actual act of sitting down across the table from each other and having a negotiation," Michael Punke, the US ambassador to the World Trade Organization, told Reuters over the weekend, adding that more effort from China had yet to be seen.
As the Doha talks struggle, regional trade deals are gaining impetus. APEC aims to achieve its own trade area - Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific.
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