JEDDAH, 17 October — A Saudi official said developing countries stand to lose at next month’s conference of the World Trade Organization if they failed to take decisions on merits and not in the face of empty threats while taking into account their best interests.
"An important issue at stake for developing countries would be the decision making process in the WTO. Though the WTO and its predecessor, GATT, formally follow consensus as the basis of decision making, in practice decision making is dominated by a few powerful countries," said Muhammad Saleem of the Kingdom’s Ministry of Commerce. Saleem said that in the past developing countries opposed to a particular decision have generally been pressurized to join consensus. "The real test (for these countries) will come at Doha Ministerial Conference. (The question) shall be whether the decisions will be taken on the basis of a genuine consensus of which the developing countries are part. That will set the tone of the future," he told a consultative meeting for Muslim countries held in Jeddah over the past two days in preparation for the forthcoming WTO ministerial conference.
Next month’s conference was to launch a new round of negotiations to lower barriers to global commerce. It comes in the wake of the 3rd WTO conference in Seattle which ended at an inconclusive note. The venue however was thrown into doubt by concerns about security in the aftermath of the bombings of New York and Washington and the US-British military actions in Afghanistan.
Saudi Arabia is one of the world’s four largest economies still outside the WTO and the only state in the six-member Gulf Cooperation Council yet to join. Over the past years it engaged in continuous talks with the WTO to pave the way for its accession. The world body was demanding that the Kingdom undertake substantial reforms before it can join. Experts say lack of clarity in the legal system was making WTO accession difficult for the Kingdom. They argue that most of country’s laws are ambiguous and that there is no clear system to rule on legal disputes. The Kingdom has pledged to introduce the necessary reforms after it gains membership for which no date has yet been suggested. Commerce Minister Osama Faqeeh has supplied the WTO with details of existing and new legislation planned for intellectual property protection, technical trade barriers, custom evaluation and food health regulations.
Saleem said apart from the decision making process, other issues at stake for developing countries cover trade interests and special and differential treatment. He said decisions in international organizations are not always and necessarily taken on a rational and ideal basis. "If a decision is taken to start a new round, the next question for decision would be: What should be the subjects of a new round, should the agenda be comprehensive, broad-based or should it be a small, manageable agenda?" he asked. He said it would be unrealistic for developing countries which are still struggling with the implementation of the Uruguay Round agreements to enter a new round with a vast agenda including new subjects which they are not fully familiar with.
"Developing countries have been pleading and pressing for the effective implementation of the results of the Uruguay Round. Doha Conference is an occasion for them to get satisfactory progress and appropriate decisions on implementation. Developing countries have also pointed to the inequalities of the multilateral trading system and are now asking for making the special and differential treatment operational and legally. Whatever decisions emerge from Doha or in the run up to Doha, (these) would have implications for the developing countries," he explained in a paper presented to Jeddah meetings hosted by the Islamic Development Bank and attended by delegates from member countries of the Organization of the Islamic Conference and regional as well as international organizations including WTO.
The two-day meeting called for allowing developing countries to play a greater and more active role in the new world trade order envisaging unhindered movement of goods and people. The OIC said the danger these countries felt is that their confidence in the multilateral trading system could be eroded and warned that the temptation to retreat in the misguided protectionist policies could grow. The meeting issues recommendations on issues to be discussed in Doha Conference covering agriculture, services, goods, investment and government procurements.
