Speaking at the 31st Cairns Group Ministerial Meeting here on Tuesday he shared views with the participants on both process and substance, in particular in terms of the key gaps that remained to be bridged in the agriculture negotiations in the Doha Development Round.
�Bilateral discussions and multilateral negotiations are now running in parallel in the context of the Doha Round. The bilateral discussions are taking place at various forums. The WTO members recognise that a narrowing of the gap between key players would be an important contribution towards the overall success of the round,� he said.
Lamy, however, said, �The members also recognise that while convergence between key players can be helpful in igniting broader multilateral consensus, it cannot be a pre-requisite. In other words, there can be no substitute for the multilateral process, and all WTO members will need to, and must have their say at the end of the day.�
�No WTO member will sign onto a deal that it was not involved in drafting, or that does not take
account of its interests fully,� he added.
He said several WTO members had expressed concern over the slow pace of the bilateral discussions taking place between the so-called majors recently and had cautioned that the bilateral process must not detract from the multilateral front.
�Therefore, it is my firm conviction that it is now crucial to see more serious engagement from members in the multilateral negotiations in Geneva, while recognizing, of course, the usefulness of continued bilateral activity. The two tracks - bilateral and multilateral - must be made to pressure each other. I count on your support,� Lamy told the participants.
Mr Lamy said while agriculture continued to be at the forefront of the Doha Round, �we must not lose sight of other areas of the negotiations. Industrial goods, services, trade facilitation and the entire rules-making component of the Doha Round (whether on subsidies, intellectual property, or the environment) are all equally vital to the success of this undertaking, and must not be postponed till the final hour.�
Many of these areas still require both technical work and political compromise.
Speaking on the gaps that remained to be filled in agriculture, he said the Cairns Group had been active in setting out its offensive interests, whether on market access, domestic support or export competition, and generally speaking, has succeeded in raising the level of ambition of the Doha Round.
He, however, said on a number of issues that continued to constitute stumbling blocks in the agriculture negotiations, consensus within the Cairns Group had not yet really emerged. �And, if I am here today, it is to urge that you give that consensus priority. In other words, you must now find solutions not only to the issues that unite you, but also to those that divide you.
He said that technical work remains to be done in some areas - in particular on export competition and certain political decisions will need to be taken on the overall level of ambition across all three pillars of the negotiation. �By that level of ambition I mean, final precision on the magnitude of the cuts, size of the flexibilities, and strength of the new disciplines.�
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