By: Paul Redfern | Africa News
Even before the World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting begins, the European Union and the United States are being accused of bullying poor African and Asian countries into a new round of trade talks the don't want.
The Western weapons are threats of aid withdrawal and promises of cheap life-saving drugs.
Britain and Germany, in particular, stand accused of blocking moves to agree to a statement at this month's talks which would reform current international patent law and allow poor countries the right to import cheap drugs.
Life-saving drugs are now believed to be among the key issues which could yet derail the crucial discussion on the agenda for the talks, due to start in Doha, Qatar, tomorrow. Despite the South African government's court victory against the major Western drugs companies this year, the matter of patent laws remains unclear.
When those companies backed down in the face of unprecedented international media criticism, some felt Pretoria's victory would at last allow poor countries to import cheap generic anti-Aids drugs from countries such as India and Brazil.
Murky behind-the-scenes dealings going on
However, the controversial agreement over TRIPS - the UN's Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights treaty - remains in place. Technically, countries still have to prove they have an overriding national health emergency need to get round the TRIPS.
To simply say that millions face death from Aids does not appear to be enough.
Western media reports suggest some murky behind-the-scenes dealings are going on to ensure this month's talks do not end in failure, as happened in Seattle two years ago.
A subtle mix of threats and spurious promises appears to have been made to representatives of the Third World states opposed to any new round of talks until their concerns about the last round have been addressed.
A number of African countries have been told they will get cheap life-saving drugs if they wave through US liberalisation proposals. Other countries, notably Bolivia and the Dominican Republic, have been leaned on to agree to American demands on trade declarations or face aid reductions.
Moreover, while publicly Britain and America have gone out of their way to stress that this round of talks will focus on Third World interests, trade experts say this rhetoric betrays the reality.
It is claimed that the WTO draft agreement was sewn up last month at secret talks in Mexico and Singapore involving only 21of the 142 member-states. At these talks, virtually none of the key Third World concerns, in particular the opening up of US markets to their produce and the ending of export food subsidies, was raised.
While the EU is said to be backing down on this and is prepared to consider reform of the much derided Common Agriculture Policy, the Americans remain recalcitrant about subsidising their meat, grain and sugar exports.
The EU is also pushing for key legislation on the environment which poor Third World countries fear will hinder their development. But while the EU and the US are offering little, they are demanding that poor countries open up their education and health markets under the General Agreement on Trade and Services treaty.
African countries have affirmed their opposition to new issues, such as services, being included. But, behind the scenes, they are said to have been pushed close to acceptance.
One African delegate who didn't want to be named told London's Guardian newspaper: "If I speak out too strongly, the US will phone my minister. They will twist the story and say that I am embarrassing the United States.
"My government will not even ask: 'What did he say?' They will just send me a ticket (home) tomorrow. I fear what bilateral pressure will do to me, so I don't speak. Because I am from a poor country, I can't say what I want."
British Trade Minister Patricia Hewitt has publicly acknowledged that it will be hard getting the United States to open up its markets in return for a new round of talks. "That would represent a big shift in America. But, ironically, this is the best time to get that shift," she said.
The minister also acknowledged that the international consensus on terrorism needs to be underpinned by a trade consensus. "We will never win the argument on globalisation and free world trade if most of the world is living in poverty," she admitted.
Rhetoric is not being matched by action
But critics say the rhetoric of good intentions is not being matched by practical action. Oxfam, in particular, has pointed to Britain's refusal to budge on the TRIPS issue.
London's offer of a tiered drug pricing system and a pledge towards a global fund to buy life-saving drugs for poor countries is not felt to be enough. Critics say the British government is still kowtowing to the interests of the major pharmaceuticals.
But African governments know they have been promised much in the past which has failed to materialise. They will have noted that only 13 per cent of the $100 billion in debt write off promised by G8 countries in 1999 has materialised.
Likewise, all the evidence is that most African countries have not benefited at all from past WTO agreements and that Africa's share of world trade has continued to fall.By: Paul Redfern:
