Reuters | Sept. 11, 2003
CANCUN, Mexico (Reuters) - Ministers got down to hard bargaining on Thursday aimed at reigniting World Trade Organization free trade talks stalled by a stand-off between rich and poor nations over farm subsidies.
After hearing impassioned pleas for compromise from WTO chief Supachai Panitchpakdi and others at Wednesday's opening of a 146-state summit at this Mexican resort, ministers plunged into the detail of lifting global barriers to business.
The five-day meeting aims to put the WTO's so-called Doha Round of global market-opening negotiations back on track after a series of deadlines have been missed, with most controversy focusing on massive subsidies rich states pay to farmers.
Developing countries and anti-globalization activists blame the some $300 billion doled out mainly by the United States and the European Union to their farmers each year for distorting trade and keeping poorer producers out of world markets.
Emerging farm powers such as Brazil say they are determined to right the wrongs that were not addressed in previous trade rounds, which have been credited with giving a multibillion-dollar boost to the global economy.
``We have waited too many years to redress the shortcomings of previous rounds,'' Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told delegates. ``Instead of confronting us, they should join with us to inject new life into the negotiations,'' he said, in a clear reference to Washington and Brussels.
Failure in Cancun to agree on farm reform, which is the heart of the round, would leave the talks in limbo.
On Wednesday, some 5,000 protesters, angry at what they see as the WTO trampling on the poor, tried to march on the meeting, but their path was blocked by riot police miles from the plush part of town where ministers gathered in a conference center protected by high metal fences.
A South Korean farmer stabbed himself in the chest during the demonstrations and later died in hospital. A friend said his suicide was an ``act of sacrifice'' to show his disgust at the WTO and its policies.
NEW DYNAMIC
The United States and the European Union, the biggest forces and the biggest subsidizers in world farm trade, have long been under attack over their policies.
But a diverse new alliance of 21 developing countries, bringing together farm exporters including Brazil and Asian giants India and China, has emerged in Cancun to pile pressure on the two powers and shift the balance of power in the WTO.
``This is a significant shift in the dynamic structure of this organization,'' said Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile.
``There's more weighting on the pro-reform side,'' said the minister, whose country has long been in the forefront of demands for an end to farm subsidies and lower import tariffs.
But the 15-nation European Union, which spends some $100 billion a year on handouts, warned that there are limits to how far it could go in removing them.
And the United States said that liberalization could not be a one-way street.
``If we are going to tell our farmers to cut their subsidies, we are going to need to bring something else back to the table,'' deputy U.S. Trade Representative Josette Shiner told journalists.
Ministers must also decide whether to widen the scope of the Doha Round to include new areas such as investment.
The EU and Japan, another state on the defensive over farm protectionism, are among the strongest advocates of adding new rules, but the idea is opposed by many developing countries.Reuters:
