July 29, 2006	Saturday	Rajab 2, 1427

ISLAMABAD, July 28: Pakistan is yet to firm up its position in the aftermath of the Doha Round talks suspension. The government did not give reasons for this delay.

Many developing countries, which were members of G-20 like India and Brazil, have openly criticised the United States for the failure of Doha trade talks. They have also announced their future course of action.

Pakistan is also a member of the G-20, but it has not been able to stamp its position within this group for, Islamabad has yet to fix responsibility for the suspension of talks.

Some official analysts linked the collapse of WTO trade talks in Geneva with the forthcoming elections in the United States and Brazil, which refused to show flexibility in their stands for the early completion of the Doha development round.

A senior official on condition of anonymity told Dawn that there was expectation that trade talks might be resumed anytime in November, 2006 to break the impasse in the current round of negotiations.

Elections for the US Senate will be held on November 7, 2006, with 33 of the 100 seats in the Senate being contested. Similarly, the Brazilian general elections will be held on October 1 and 29, 2006 to elect the president, as well as governors, deputies (federal and state) and senators.

The farmers lobby in the US was very strong, which was opposing the demand of the developing countries seeking steep cuts in the agriculture subsidies. While the industrialists in Brazil were also pressing their government not to commit any cut in tariffs on industrial goods.

“Chances were slim for these two governments to annoy these powerful lobbies, which could influence outcome of the forthcoming elections.

According to the official, if talks resume in November and the member countries finalise agreement by end March 2007, there would still be 90 days for expiry of the US fast track authority--the power of US President to veto any agreement without the Senate approval. The authority is set to expire by June 30, 2007. There is another possibility to further extend the authority by months or a year, the official said.

The main issue is agricultural subsidies. Neither the US nor the EU seem ready to reduce subsides to their farmers to a level desired by developing countries. The developing countries say the talks originally began to provide economic gains to millions living in poverty, so they refused to accept veiled efforts by the rich countries to gain more market access for their products.

Policy Analyst from Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) Dr Abid Suleri expressed his disappointment on the suspension of trade negotiations in Geneva. "It was inevitable as both the US and the EU would like to enjoy status quo under WTO's current rules of game, whereas developing countries, including Pakistan are at the loosing end," he added.

He was of the opinion that the US had least interest in the smooth functioning of the WTO as the current trade is been done through bilateral and multilateral arrangements. There is a need for continuation of the trade talks, which is in favour of the developing countries, he added.