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EJAD Statement on Collapse of the Doha Round Negotiations |
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The WTO talks collapsed on July 24, 2006 in the midst of dispute. It is not yet known that when the talks are to be revived. The civil society groups all over the world have appreciated collapse of the Doha Round, which was tagged to be the “Development Round” but in the actual affect, ongoing negotiation process was unfair, non-transparent and anti-development.
EJAD also takes this as good news for the developing world as “a NO deal is better than a BAD deal”. WTO has been hostage to the unfair economic interests of few industrialized countries and hence, it was never transparent. We, at EJAD therefore, are happy to see an end to the unfair Doha Round and look forward to a fair multilateral trade agreement in future within or beyond WTO.
EJAD welcomes formation of groups of poor countries in the WTO that gave them unity and strength and eventually countries with poor economies were able to resist unfair demands of the rich countries. It would, however, be incomplete if we do not mention contributions made by the civil society groups worldwide that actually strengthen capacity and confidence of the poor member countries to cope with the WTO challenges.
EJAD also notes regretfully that US and EU, being big brothers, have not played their role to end poverty that is widespread in our parts of the world (South). In the current G-6 meeting at Geneva on 23rd July 2006, the US negotiators showed not much interest in the process. EJAD believes that because of the fact that farm programs in US are due for renewal next year, the US lawmakers have been reluctant to make any changes that would put their corporate agricultural producers at a competitive disadvantage. US have rather allowed Doha Round to collapse because US is planning to increase farm aid by next year. In other words, all the WTO Members and the system itself are currently hostage to the US and the process has become "waiting for America".
According to EJAD, it is important to note that the trend will now move towards bilateral/regional trade agreements where vulnerable groups of the society may face new barriers due to uneven trade deals by their governments. National governments are unfortunately eager to sign free trade agreements (FTAs), bilateral and regional trade agreements (RTAs) which may result in a WTO Plus regime and may at times endanger the livelihood of vulnerable segments of the society such as farmers in the South. EJAD suggests for a joint struggle among the civil society organizations, commerce and industry institutions, government bodies, Academia and media to watch the process, work together and put pressure on governments in order to win a better deal.
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