By Robert Hart, Staff ReporterDEVELOPING COUNTRIES are receiving much needed support from the European Union (EU) in the wake of the breakdown of trade talks at the recent Fifth World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico, says the Government.
According to K.D. Knight, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, discussions held earlier this month, between the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of states and their partners in the EU were "positive and productive" in response to the outcome of the Cancun Ministerial meeting.
"In contrast to the lack of movement on Special and Differential Treatment in the Doha Agenda discussions, I am pleased to report that the European Community (EC) has reaffirmed its concurrence that special and differential treatment should be provided to all ACP states," Mr. Knight said in an address to Parliament last Tuesday. The policy, he indicated, was most necessary with regard to the least developed countries (LDCs) and vulnerable, small, landlocked island countries.
The Minister was reporting on the Second Ministerial Meeting on the Negotiation of ACP/EC Partnership Agreements, held on October 1 and 2, in Brussels, Belgium. During his September report on the collapsed Cancun talks, he indicated that it was important for the Caribbean region to put the dialogue on international trade "back on track" during its subsequent meetings with the industrialised partners.
GREATER FLEXIBILITY
"In this context we welcome the EC's move to become more flexible in agreeing to continue talks on Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) product coverage and the length of transitional periods with regard to access to ACP markets," Minister Knight added.
The Cancun meeting, among other trade issues, sought to iron out problems highlighted by developing countries at the WTO's conference in Doha, Qatar, two years ago. However, during the sessions held in mid-September, Minister Knight argued that the WTO had failed to act on solutions put forward in response to the issues of concern.
During the ministerial talks in Cancun, several delegates from the ACP states criticised the WTO draft trade agreement, claiming it failed to make the compromises necessary to ensure the economic survival of developing nations.
Among the areas of concern were international trade policy proposals on agriculture and manufacturing which, the ACP nations said, unfairly benefit developed nations to the detriment of poorer countries.
