|
Introduction:
Mike Moore’s ecstatic comment came at the close of theWTO’s Doha Ministerial meet in
2001. One report described the Doha trade talks “as the best response to September 11.As
we are trying to push democracy, we should also try to spread freedom in commerce and
trade”2 Amongst other things, the Ministerial meet marked a turning point in the relations
between the developed and the developing world.
The sequel to Doha came in the form of the September 2003 Cancun (Mexico) Summit
(Exhibit I). The success ofCancunMinisterialwas very important.MikeMoorewas emphatic:
“We must and we will succeed.”
According to theWorld Bank, complete liberalisation ofmerchandise trade and elimination
of subsidies could add $1.5 trillion to the developing countries’ incomes. It had the capacity
to reshape the world’s trading system by removing barriers to trade. It could reportedly
raise global incomes by as much as $2.8 trillion over the next decade. As a result, the
number of poor people living in developing countries would have come down by 300
million by 2015.
Such hopes were dashed as Cancun turned out to be a repeat of Seattle (trade talks of 1999)
rather than a mirror of the success at Doha. Seattle failed due to deep differences between
the US and the EU besides the chaotic atmosphere caused by demonstrators outside the
conference venue. Cancun, on the other hand fizzled out due to the rift between the
developed and the developing world. Differences centered mainly around three issues:
agricultural issues, Singapore issues andWTO’s decision-making procedures
|
|
