Adhemar Mineiro represents the Brazilian Trade Network REBRIP. He is blogging from Geneva this week at the WTO Ministerial.
The WTO G-20 Ministers that have met this Sunday in Geneva reaffirmed their position agreed to at their last meeting in Delhi. On the one hand, they reiterated the centrality of Agriculture (or, more specifically, agriculture exports) in the Doha Round. They claimed to want to conclude the round of negotiations. But on the other hand, Ministers of the G-20 continue to wait for others to put forth new proposals on trade, particularly on the reduction of subsidies, before making another move.
Finally, there seem to be strategic differences on how to deal with WTO and the multilateral trade system among G-20 Ministers. While some countries seem to put much of their efforts toward strengthening the WTO and ensuring its main role in the international trade system, other countries seem to be full of skepticism about the WTO and the multilateral trade system. We can expect a number of very interesting debates among member countries of this important negotiating group in the coming years.
