WTO delegates agree new round of trade negotiations

Delegates from the 142 countries of the World Trade Organisations agreed yesterday to begin a new round of negotiations to further liberalise trade, giving a boost to the global economy. The decision came after six days of tough negotiating in the Qatari capital of Doha that saw Ireland and France isolated on the issue of export subsidies for farmers.

The agreement came almost 24 hours after the WTO's deadline of Tuesday night but the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, expressed satisfaction that the final declaration did not include a firm commitment to eliminating export subsidies.

"This is a negotiating triumph for Ireland. It was an uphill struggle and we came under great pressure from our EU partners and from other countries," he said.

The declaration commits the WTO's 142 members to phase out export subsidies for farmers but precedes the commitment with the words "without prejudging the outcome of the negotiations". Mr Walsh claimed this meant that export subsidies would survive at least until 2011.

But the EU Agriculture Commissioner, Mr Franz Fischler, told The Irish Times last night that he questioned Mr Walsh's interpretation. "There is no timeframe. They could carry on after 2011 or they could end before then," he said.

The EU Trade Commissioner, Mr Pascal Lamy, described the decision to launch a new trade round as a very significant and pleasing result. The EU won last-minute concessions on linking environmental standards to trade and introducing the issues of investment and competition onto the agenda.

Mr Lamy, who acknowledged that the EU had failed to make progress on promoting basic labour standards throughout the EU, said last night that he had sometimes feared that the negotiations in Doha would break down ... "several times, because finding a consensus in the WTO is a more difficult process than in some other organisations", he said.

The Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise and Trade, Mr Tom Kitt, who headed the Irish delegation, said there was a sense of history when the deal was agreed. "It is an example of the strength of Europe. People who differ from us on policy grounds can still co-operate," he said.

Developing countries expressed satisfaction at a decision to allow poor countries to breach patent rights in order to produce cheap versions of some life-saving drugs. But some anti-poverty campaigners claimed that rich countries had put their own interests ahead of those of developing countries.

Mr Jose BovΘ, the French farm activist who won worldwide fame by attacking a branch of McDonalds, condemned the deal. "It's a victory for rich people over poor people. An agreement like that means trouble and frustrations for the future," he said.

The new trade round will begin in January and is likely to last several years. The WTO failed to launch a trade round in Seattle two years ago but many observers believe that the events of September 11th encouraged all sides to work harder to reach an agreement.

Mr Peter Sutherland, who presided over the completion of the Uruguay Round of trade talks in 1994, said the agreement was an important boost for the world trading system.

"This is a very important agreement in that it was vital that the reversal at Seattle was overturned. It is only the beginning of a long, negotiating process but one which should ultimately lead to a further dynamic in global trade increasing," he said.

EU export subsidies on agricultural products will not be cut more than already agreed before 2011, the Minister for Agriculture, Mr Walsh, has confirmed.

The compromise agreed at the WTO meeting in Qatar means that by entering negotiations on export refunds (subsidies), the EU is not committing itself to scrapping these subsidies, writes Ella Shanahan, Agriculture Correspondent. The deal has been welcomed by food exporters and farmers. Mr Michael Duffy, chief executive of Bord Bia, said it was very encouraging. Mr Pat Ivory of IBEC said the wording achieved would be important when countries eventually got around the table to deal with the particulars of the WTO agreement.

Mr Tom Parlon, the Irish Farmers' Association president, delivered a cautious welcome, saying it was imperative that Ireland remained vigilant against attacks on export refunds.