Chicago Tribune | By Andrew Martin and Hugh Dellios | September 15, 2003
After four days in which developing nations made unprecedented demands to be heard, world trade talks imploded Sunday amid allegations that wealthy nations were trying to force their agendas for agriculture and investment upon the rest of the world.
The sudden end to the World Trade Organization meeting at this seaside resort throws into crisis a negotiating round that was started in 2001 to lower trade barriers, open markets and purportedly spread billions of dollars to people throughout the world.
It raised questions about the ability of the organization to balance the demands of developing and developed nations while writing the rules for global trade. A WTO meeting in Seattle four years ago collapsed amid rioting outside the conference and discord among nations represented inside.
In Cancun, U.S. and European farm subsidies and the European Union's push to rewrite global rules on a variety of subjects caused disputes with developing countries. But Pascal Lamy, the trade commissioner for the European Union, said the main problem was with the process, which requires consensus from all of the WTO's 148 members.
"The WTO remains a medieval organization," Lamy said. "The rules of this organization cannot support the weight of its task. There's no reliable way to steer discussions among 148 nations in a manner to produce a consensus. The decision-making needs to be revamped."
The failure of the Cancun summit highlights the changing political dynamics of world trade negotiations, which have long been dominated by the world's wealthiest nations, primarily the United States, Japan and Europe.
A coalition of more than 20 developing countries, led by Brazil, had demanded that the United States and the EU make deeper cuts in agricultural subsidies than were on the table in Cancun. While expressing regret that the talks collapsed, the group said it believed its solidarity finally had given developing nations a voice in world trade talks, and the nations vowed to stick together in future negotiations.
"This is just the beginning of a future better for everyone," said Ivonne Juez De Baki, the head of Ecuador's delegation.
A frustrated Robert Zoellick, the U.S. trade representative, said late Sunday afternoon that he did not believe there was much hope to complete the round of negotiations by the scheduled deadline of January 2005. Without naming specific countries, Zoellick said some nations had stalled the talks with "tactics of inflexibility and inflammatory rhetoric."
U.S. delegate complains
"Whether developed or developing, there were 'can do' and 'won't do' countries here," Zoellick said. "The rhetoric of the 'won't do' overwhelmed the concerted efforts of the 'can do.' 'Won't do' led to impasse."
While most assumed that agricultural issues were going to make or break the Cancun talks, Lamy and others reported that negotiators were making strides in cutting farm subsidies at the time the talks ceased. Poor nations have argued that Western farm subsidies have made it impossible for their farmers to compete.
What ultimately stopped negotiations were the "new issues" that would have rewritten global rules governing such things as government procurement and streamlined investment by multinational corporations.
Negotiators struggled to resolve a deadlock between supporters of the new issues, led by the EU, and more than 70 nations that believed the issues would interfere in domestic affairs. When it became apparent that the dispute was intractable, conference Chairman Luis Ernesto Derbez, Mexico's foreign minister, halted the negotiations.
"This is something that has come about because people didn't listen enough," said Rafidah Aziz, a delegate from Malaysia. "And people kept demanding things that others could not deliver."
WTO Director General Supachai Panitchpakdi said negotiators would return to the WTO's offices in Geneva to try to salvage the round of talks.
"The task ahead of us is really complex and full of delicate issues for which it seems that we need more time to put them back together," he said. "I have to admit that I am quite disappointed with the way we have to conclude this meeting, but I am not discouraged."
Derbez, meanwhile, defended his decision to stop the talks despite criticism from some that he was too hasty. He said it was clear there would be no consensus on the new issues.
The collapse of the WTO talks touched off spontaneous celebrations in the convention hall among grass-roots organizers who had spent the week arguing that global trade benefited corporations at the expense of small farmers and poor countries.
Protester's jubilation
"The message is clear: The Third World is not for sale," shouted Anuradha Mittal of the non-profit group Food First. "We are not willing to be colonized."
A raucous group held aloft "We Won" signs and sang a song to the tune of the Beatles' "Can't Buy Me Love." It went: "Can't buy the world, listen while we tell you so. Can't buy the world, no, no, no, noooo!"
The celebrations were just as lively outside the hall, with Korean and Latin American farmers toasting each other with beer and sharing fried chicken in the downtown area where protesters clashed with police last week.
Across the street, a stage-size shrine had been built to Lee Kyung Hae, the Korean farmer who committed suicide during one of the protests. It was covered with flowers and potted plants and bore his photo.
As the farmers enjoyed their celebratory meal, a bus pulled up with two dozen young anti-globalization activists, dancing on the roof and thrusting their fists into the air in victory.
"This is the victory we worked so hard for," said Gianni Fabbris, an Italian who is spokesman for the European branch of Via Campesina. "We knew there were contradictions inside the WTO and that if we kept pushing from outside, this would happen."
"Until now, the WTO co-opted the people of the world in an undemocratic way with the illusion of free trade. The people are now beginning to understand. The world is not a piece of merchandise."Chicago Tribune:
