The United States warned today that efforts to revive the Doha Round of world trade talks and work on other issues of importance to poor countries could be killed in the coming days because of a move by India and a few allies to block implementation of a World Trade Organization deal reached last December in Bali, according to a report from Politico.
“Today, we are extremely discouraged that a small handful of Members in this organization are ready to walk away from their commitments at Bali, to kill the Bali agreement, to kill the power of that good faith and goodwill we all shared, to flip the lights in this building back to dark,” U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke said in remarks to the WTO’s General Council.
“It is no use to sugar coat the consequences of such action or to pretend that there would be business as usual in the aftermath,” Punke said. “Many Members, including developing country members, have noted that, if the Bali package fails, there can be no post-Bali. It’s with regret that we agree with them.”
The Trade Facilitation Agreement reached last year in Bali contains a number of reforms to make it cheaper and easier to move goods across borders. WTO members face a July 31 deadline to approve a provision to incorporate the pact into the legal text of the WTO agreements, which would allow a year-long ratification process to begin.
However, India has threatened to block approval, saying not enough has been attention has been paid to food security and other issues agreed to in Bali.
Punke contested that point, saying the earliest that any action on food security is required under the Bali deal is December 2015. He also warned that time was running out for India and its allies to change their minds and avoid killing the TFA and other agreements reached in Bali.
“The deadline to which we all agreed is July 31,” Punke said. “We still have a few days. But while the deadline is fixed and firm, the real issue isn’t time. The issue is, will all WTO Members keep their commitments? Will all WTO Members live by their word? In the next few days we’ll find out. The whole world is watching.”
