WTO talks collapse: Reaction from World Leaders

from the Raw Story

Here is another story on the WTO talks collapse. This story gathers reaction from leaders across the globe. - Kale

World powers reeled with regret and emotion on Wednesday from the collapse of WTO negotiations for a global trade pact, warning that the poorest countries would suffer.

"It is particularly distressing for us that we find ourselves without an agreement today," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab told a news conference, as delegates reviewed the wreckage of nine days of talks.

She lamented that tense talks had broken down on deadlock over special import tariff measures, after certain countries rejected WTO proposals.

"It would have worked, and yet there were others who demanded more. and more included a tool to close markets," Schwab said, without naming names.

Delegates who went into many late nights in an attempt to reach a deal affecting the lives of populations around the globe, said that deadlock had centred on a row between the United States and India over tariffs.

Kenya's trade minister meanwhile warned that the breakdown of talks "gravely undermined" efforts by African countries to fight poverty.

Ministers had struggled for nine days to reach consensus on subsidy levels and import tariffs for a new deal under the WTO's Doha Round, which has foundered repeatedly since it was launched seven years ago.

Delegates said negotiations stumbled on proposals for so-called SSM measures to protect poor farmers that would have imposed a special tariff on certain agricultural goods in the event of an import surge or price fall.

"Africa's opportunity to achieve fair trade has... been gravely undermined by the lack of progress in these negotiations," the minister, Uhuru Kenyatta, told a news conference, speaking on behalf of a grouping of African countries at the World Trade Organization talks here.

"Africa critically needs to realise development and get itself out of poverty through the establishment of fair trade rather than aid," he said.

Several delegates hoped on Tuesday for further moves to salvage the negotiating process in light of progress that had raised spirits over the weekend. But momentum seemed to have ground to a halt.

"It's extremely difficult to find words to express the disappointment," said EU Commissioner Mariann Fischer-Boel in an emotional address on Tuesday. "It's a truly sad day for the developing countries that had so much to gain."

"We will need to let the dust settle a bit," the World Trade Organization's Director-General Pascal Lamy said. "WTO members will need to have a sober look at if and how they bring the pieces back together."

The world's economic superpower, the United States, and India, one of the world's biggest emerging economies, were sharply divided over the SSM -- the special safeguard mechanism.

"I feel very disappointed that this had to be left unresolved in the last miles," India's Commerce Minister Kamal Nath told reporters. "It's unfortunate that in a developing round, the last miles we couldn't run" due to the SSM.

India and other developing countries wanted the mechanism to kick in at a lower import surge level than has been proposed in order to protect their millions of poor farmers from starvation. Nath said that about 100 developing nations backed his position.

Others wanted it to take effect at a higher rate so as not to hurt exporters.

Ministers avoided publicly pointing the finger of blame. European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said on Tuesday that the collapse was a "collective failure."

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