*{The Future of the Multilateral Trade System [http://www.weforum.org/site/knowledgenavigator.nsf/Content/The%20Future%20of%20the%20Multilateral%20Trade%20System?open&topic_id=300350000&theme_id=300]

            27.01.2001

            Annual Meeting 2001

            *partie=titre Multilateral Trade System at the Crossroads, Panel Says *partie=nil

            Efforts to build an equitable and effective global trade regime have reached an inflection point. The coming year could prove decisive for the World Trade Organization (WTO) -- and for efforts to launch a new round of trade negotiations. But such a round can succeed only if the industrial countries exercise leadership by recognizing the legitimate demands of the developing countries.

            On these points, at least, all panellists could agree. But consensus did not extend to a number of other thorny issues, such as the need to reform existing WTO rules and procedures, and the correct response to demands from WTO critics for tough new labour and environmental standards.

            Kicking off the discussion, Peter D. Sutherland, Chairman and Managing Director of Goldman Sachs International, Chairman of BP Amoco, United Kingdom, and the WTO’s first Director-General, rejected the criticisms directed at the WTO by protesters, such as those who disrupted the WTO ministerial meeting in Seattle in 1999. The WTO, Sutherland said, is being blamed for the very problems of underdevelopment and exploitation it seeks to address. "It’s like blaming the doctor for trying to cure the disease," he complained.

            Pascal Lamy, a Member of the European Commission, said the WTO faces three key challenges: integrating those nations that are still outside the multilateral system, grappling with the larger problems of globalization and dealing with public concerns created by anti-WTO protesters. Any new trade round, Lamy added, must put development issues at centre stage and address environment protection, health and other social issues. The European Union, Lamy noted, is reviewing its negotiating position, and he predicted the EU will sweeten its offer to the developing countries to build support for a new round.

            Yoshiji Nogami, Japan’s Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs, also said he sensed an increased willingness to compromise among WTO members. "Nobody wants another Seattle," he said. He expressed concern, however, that in the current political climate, governments may be inclined to give priority to bilateral and regional trade agreements. Such deals can serve as building blocks for the multilateral system, Nogami conceded, but only if they are consistent with WTO principles.

            Any new round must put the developing countries at the top of the agenda, said Alec Erwin, South Africa’s Minister of Trade and Industry. This is a practical necessity, he said, given the structural imbalances in the global economy. At a time when growth is slowing in the industrialized world, the emerging markets will not be able to pick up the slack unless a number of outstanding issues -- intellectual property and investment rules for the developed countries, textile quotas and agricultural subsidies for the developing world -- are resolved.

            A new round will not succeed unless the industrialized countries correct existing trade inequities, said Martin Khor, Director of the Third World Network, Malaysia. Promises made when the WTO was created have not been kept, he charged. Cuts in some farm subsidies have been offset by increases in others. Progress in lifting textile quotas has been slow. If the industrialized countries seek to give the WTO new powers, without first addressing these grievances, Khor said, "I don’t think that will work for developing world governments."

            Any new trade agreement will face an uncertain reception in the United States, warned Senator John F. Kerry, Democrat from Massachusetts. Congressional support for free trade has dwindled, making it an open question whether President Bush can obtain the fast-track authority he needs to win approval of a new trade treaty. While that shouldn’t deter opening negotiations, it will compel the administration to negotiate over labour and environmental safeguards. "If they do not I fear they may court an early disaster on fast track," Kerry said.

            Concluding the session, Mike Moore, the WTO’s current Director-General, called on the business community to not shy away from making the case that the multilateral system is not only in their interest, but in the interest of the world’s future as well. If the WTO fails, "the risk of hostile trading blocs shouldn’t be taken lightly as a long-term threat," Moore warned. "This is not a time to be shy."                

                  *{Contributors:       Erwin Alec
                  Kerry John F.
                  Khor Martin
                  Lamy Pascal
                  Moore Mike
                  Nogami Yoshiji
                  Sutherland Peter D.}