29 July 2008, Geneva, Switzerland

Doorstop Interview - WTO

CREAN: I am very disappointed with the result. I think a conclusion was within our grasp, but we didn’t demonstrate enough political will to conclude the Round on this occasion. That to me was a great disappointment, particularly as one of those involved in the G7 [Australia, Brazil, China, EU, India, Japan, US] group. I know how close we were.

It’s a pity that we weren’t able to take that final step, because it was that final step that really was the distance between us and a successful conclusion, progressing to a successful conclusion of the round.

I think the world was looking for us to come forward with a solution.

There is global economic uncertainty, and one of the ways to underpin and move forward in that type of climate is to boost world trade.

World trade grows faster than world output so the challenge, indeed the objective, for any country, it doesn’t matter what stage of development it is in, is to engage in trade and to free up the mechanisms that facilitate trade.

Each time the World Trade Organization has concluded a round it has given a boost to world trade and world economic activity.

The other problem with the failure so far, is that this really was the development round. Development that was going to be facilitated, if done properly, through engaging a partnership between the developed and the developing world. We have failed in that regard.

The final point I think was the important signal that could have been sent to that other global agenda that is going to be negotiating from next year on – climate change. Here we had, in the WTO, the challenge to come to grips with these concepts of common, but differentiated responsibilities. That’s what we broke down on in failing to agree or get a consensus on the SSM [Special Safeguard Mechanism].

And when one thinks about, not just the importance of that mechanism in its own right, but the challenge to find that balance between developed and developing countries, that the price that the Round pays as a whole for failing to reach that agreement, I regret very much indeed.

I hoped that we would have been reporting much better progress. Sadly that is not the case. Important advances were made, I hope that they can be built upon. But there is no way they can be built upon as well as - in the circumstances of a round - a successfully concluded round, and the bindings and enforcement mechanisms that that would entail. That’s not for now. That’s a regret. I hope that we can pick up the pieces down the track, but I am very disappointed.

ENDS

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