No. 161/2003

2 December 2003                                                      

Regional Views on WTO Negotiations placed in sharper focus

(CARICOM Secretariat, Georgetown, Guyana) Two months after the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Round of talks broke down in Cancun Mexico, CARICOM Ministers of Trade seek to assert the Caribbean's position for the resumption of negotiations and offer their perspective on the way forward.

Meeting with Director General of the WTO, Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi in Georgetown last weekend, the Ministers together with representatives from Mexico, Cuba and the Dominican Republic put forward the Caribbean's main preoccupations as building trade capacity, special and differential treatment for small economies (including the Caribbean), Agreement on Modalities for consensus, adoption of multilateral frameworks and technical and financial support.

Hon. Clement Rohee, Guyana's Minister of Foreign Trade and International Affairs and the region's ministerial spokesperson on WTO Negotiations, in providing an update on the status of CARICOM's position in the post Cancun Impasse, reported that a series of national and regional negotiations had been held to devise a regional strategy for the re­start of the trade negotiations. Speaking to the Press at the end of the Meeting, Minister Rohee assured that "emissaries in Geneva are adequately prepared to contribute to the next WTO General Council Meeting scheduled for Geneva on 15th December 2003."

The minister added that negotiations for the Caribbean region will extend beyond the said December target in order to strengthen and intensify its standing through to the 2005 DOHA Developmental Round of Discussions.

The Caribbean region is currently involved in simultaneous negotiations in three theatres and this was described as, "a great challenge" by Barbados's Senior Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Honorable Billy Miller, also in attendance at the Meeting. Minister Miller said that the Region is happy to be part of the ­multilateral negotiations. “It is our best advantage that we are at the table, especially to bring priority issues on the table again and again."

As the WTO enters a new stage of dialogue, the issues of concern to the region will proceed on the same basis as in Cancun, except with some level of flexibility.

St Vincent’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Commerce and Trade, Hon. Louis Straker, in observing that the Region must of necessity, be a part of the WTO negotiations in the interest of the development of its people, asserted that, "we cannot opt out of the WTO. If we do, we will face marginalization. Multilateralism is the best strategy as it allows for a collective approach, and facilitates the development of alliances.”

The WTO Director General described the Guyana Meeting as one of great value and committed to considering the issues in preparation for the WTO General Council Meeting. He assured that the December Meeting would set the momentum for the negotiations and put forward discussions for 2004. 'We do not want to emulate Cancun." he said. 'The intention is to continue to advance discussions so that the work­programme could be implemented."

The Meeting with CARICOM Ministers of Trade was one in a series held in different regions in an attempt to salvage discussions on trade negotiations, which ended at a deadlock in Cancun, Mexico last September.

Dr. Supachai indicated that so far there was a clear sign that all members were moving in support of the resumption of talks.