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The Greater
Caribbean This Week: The Doha Round: Challenge of the
Millennium |
By: Manuel Madriz Fornos, Trade Director of the
Association of Caribbean States.
November 2, 2007: The world has changed, but the
parameters of international trade have remained due to the
various interests, and have been structured to favour only
one side of the international trade balance, creating unfair
trade.
In a way, this trend goes back to Colonial times (a period
of unfair trade par excellence) when the goods being
produced and their prices were set by the colonizing
countries to suit the demand and interests of their
respective local economies.
The thrust for independence brought the Colonial period to
an end and a significant number of new States were brought
to light within the international community. Thus, if the
international community of the 50s had welcomed some 60
States, at present the international community would include
over 190 countries, each with its own trade interests. In
the 1960s, in an attempt to establish its interests as a
community, developing countries formed the Group of 77,
which is no more than a set of agreements under the United
Nations protecting the trade and economic interests of
developing countries, which today also include China.
The Doha Round began 6 years ago in the capital of Qatar
with the aim of using trade as a tool to eradicate poverty
and foster worldwide economic growth. It is an important
agreement for worldwide trade liberalization, aimed at
dealing with one of the items left pending from the previous
round (the Uruguay Round): agricultural trade.
Many things have certainly changed in the international
sphere, but the rules which encourage unfair trade are a
lingering concern. The 4th Ministerial Summit in Doha, to be
held in December 2008, will be the meeting place of this new
international community, with a new structure, including a
strengthened Brazil and a China and India whose steadily
growing economies cannot be underestimated owing to the
sheer magnitude of each and even less so as they consider
themselves a part of the group of developing countries, who,
in time, have developed economies with varying levels of
growth, from the Least developed countries, to countries
with medium to high revenue and medium to high technological
capabilities.
Developing countries in the Doha Round are trying to gain
free access for their agricultural produce, which means that
developed countries should eliminate or significantly reduce
the protection given to their agricultural sector via
subsidies to producers or exporters. Developed countries,
for their part, are trying to gain advantages in the
agricultural markets of developing countries.
Today unfair international trade for a European country, for
example, means that it is more profitable to use a cubic
metre of water to water a golf course than to irrigate
crops. According to an expert in the subject, a cubic metre
of water on a golf course contributes 60 euros to the GDP,
while one cubic metre of water on crops barely contributes 6
euros, which is why it is preferable, especially in
developed exporter countries to water a golf course and
subsidise crops with the earnings, bringing a short‑term
solution to a problem that is untenable in the long run and
causes immense problems for international trade.
If a topic as complex as international trade could be
simplified, it would be explained thus — the economic trends
concerning the interests of developed countries have placed
more value on the economic superstructure than the
foundation, which in today’s international trade system
negatively affects the prices of good produced by developing
countries, making their activity unprofitable.
We therefore see how the economy of many developed countries
is geared towards the service sector and the so-called
Knowledge Market; the first justifies using water to
irrigate a golf course under the tourism sector to the
detriment of agriculture and the second justifies the
creation of several patents and authors’ rights to the
detriment of the rights of producers.
Producers in developing countries need answers now, the
question that ought to be asked is will the international
community manage to arrive at an agreement that is
acceptable to all, or on the contrary y and in the worst
case scenario, will it be “all or nothing” leading to the
destruction of the harmony in international trade, the
latter option being less desirable.
Let us use a coherent approach in voting in order to reach
an agreement that is acceptable to all so that we may bring
back the sense of Justice to Trade, that was lost during the
Colonial period; this is the challenge of the Millennium
facing the Doha Round.
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