Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun closes without consensus

The Doha Development Agenda and the progress of its negotiations were the main topics discussed during the fifth Ministerial Meeting of the World Trade Organization (WTO) which took place in Cancun, México from 10-14 September 2003.

The objective of the Cancun Meeting was to take stock of progress in the [Doha Development Agenda] negotiations, provide any necessary political guidance and take decisions as required.

The WTO is the successor of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and is one of the youngest international organizations and the only in its kind that deals with the global rules of trade between nations. The members of the WTO have set agreements covering the trade of goods, services and intellectual property.

Trade, foreign, finance and agriculture Ministers of WTO member countries during the Fifth Conference addressed the challenges facing the multilateral trading system but failed to come to an agreement in establishing the framework for negotiations on further trade investigation. Consensus was also unsuccessful regarding the so called "Singapore Issues" which include aspects such as trade and investment, trade and competition policy, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation.

Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad and Mali presented a proposal for discussion during the conference, calling on richer countries to eliminate cotton subsidies which they hold as the main cause of economic losses. In this sense, African Developing countries formed an Alliance that comprises the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group, the African Union and also the Least Developed Countries. The Alliance includes 92 countries, 61 of which belong to the WTO.

Member governments signed a Ministerial Statement which stresses "to continue working on outstanding issues with a renewed sense of urgency and purpose and taking fully into account all the views we have expressed in this Conference." A general Council meeting is to be convened not later than 15 December 2003 to decide on the way forward. In building partnerships, a memorandum of Understanding was signed between the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the WTO to create a framework to work together to help developing countries participate in international trade.

Just before the round of negotiations initiated, FAO organized a symposium on Agriculture, Trade Reforms and World Food Security on 11 September 2003 and also presented a statement containing 12 recommendations calling on developed nations to dismantle barriers to fair international trade.

Under current WTO rules governing agriculture trade, countries are obliged to reduce tariffs, convert quotas into tariffs and lower subsidies towards their agricultural sectors. Developed countries' market protectionism and high tariffs are the main obstacles for developing countries in accessing these markets. As many developing countries lack the chance to access regional markets let alone international ones, many Civil Society organizations and NGOs as well as several UN agencies such as UNDP and FAO, call for fairer rules in global trade. If these conditions prevail, many developing countries see their food security being jeopardized by lowering barriers of agricultural trade.

To read the article published by FAO on its input to the WTO Conference in Cancun, please click here.

For more information on the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference please click here.

To visit the webpage of the Mexican Organizing Committee of the Fifth WTO Conference please click here.