Multi-nation talks led by the World Trade Organization to lower global trade barriers are suspended in Doha, Quatari - perhaps never to resume.
Over the past six decades, the World Trade Organization (WTO) has facilitated negotiations among its 149 member-nations. The result has been global agreements that slashed tariffs and eliminated quotas in industries including electronics, automobiles and machinery.
Galvanized by September 11, 2001, WTO took upon itself to launch a new round of multi-year negotiations in Doha to deepen ties among member countries. The WTO's stated goal was to boost the global economy by lowering trade barriers that in turn would help poorer countries develop their economies through export growth. However, it was often the voices of the richest countries that were the loudest in the multilateral trade talks.
Up to now WTO has played a useful role, acting as a global referee and deliberating on trade disputes. The WTO is the only venue in the world where a smaller country like Fiji can take on the U.S.A. - and win.
Now the bad news. Any one of the 149 WTO members can veto any final deal, which makes it difficult to negotiate new or improved rules of global trade.
And so WTO talks broke down on July 24, 2006 with major countries including the U.S., Brazil and European nations continuing to fight without compromise on farm subsidies and agricultural tariffs. The haggling nations each accuse the other of not doing enough while not budging an inch themselves, possibly due to strong political pressure of farming lobby groups at home.
Countries like the U.S. are optimistic that WTO talks will resume. Others like South Africa are adamant that negotiations must continue. Africa, the world's poorest continent, needs the trade agreements to open up markets in Europe and the U.S., particularly for African agricultural products. Some 85 percent of Africans live in rural communities that perform small-scale farming.
And The Winner Is...
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) sees the collapse of WTO talks as an opportunity to negotiate bilateral deals of its own.
Southeast Asia has a population of some 550 million and accounts for some 10 percent of total global exports. Southeast Asia nations (Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Thailand, Philippines, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam) export substantially to the European Union.
With Doha not proceeding, Southeast Asia becomes an even more attractive trading partner for Europe. And once talks between Brussels and ASEAN nations start, other prospective trading nations such as Japan, Australia, New Zealand and India could be compelled to sign favourable bilateral trade deals with ASEAN countries as well.
Other countries need to take initiative and establish bilateral trade agreements with their global trade partners. Or, like the WTO, they will miss out and be left behind.
