April 19, 2007	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 01, 1428

LAHORE, April 18: Cairns Group Chairman Hon Warren Truss on Wednesday said the Doha Development Round negotiations were unlikely to be concluded by the end of this year, but hastened to add that the most important thing was that the WTO member countries had reached an agreement on critical issues obstructing the successful realisation of a free and fair international trading system.

G-4 and G-6 are meeting intensively, largely on bilateral basis, and the Cairns Group too is ambitiously working with members of WTO for the on-time success of the Doha round, but it is not easy to make progress on negotiations, he told reporters at a briefing after the conclusion of the 31st Cairns Group Ministerial Meeting. He said it was perhaps too optimistic to expect the multilateral trade negotiations to complete this year because critical decisions were yet to be made.

He said that the political leadership of the Cairns Group wanted the Doha round to be completed in 2007. “The breakthrough in Doha round talks demands real commitment from all players who feel that there is very limited time available (to reach a consensus and conclude the talks). Some contribution has to be made by all, even by those with a very low level of domestic support for their agriculture sector,” he added.

In answer to a question relating to differences within the Cairns Group as pointed out by WTO Director General Pascal Lamy in his speech on Tuesday, he said the group had a diverse membership as it comprised rich and poor, developed and developing countries.

It is unlikely for a group of 20 nations to have agreement on each and every issue as is also the case with G-33 and G-20. Some of members of the group have farm industry support programmes, and it can have political consequences to dismantle those initiatives, he said.

“Canada has differences over the treatment of Sensitive Products, which the Cairns Group wants to be transparent, coherent and equitable under a formula allowing limited deviation from the general formula for a limited number of products, compensated by substantial MFN TRQ expansion on the basis of domestic consumption,” he elaborated. These differences were a challenge for the member countries to bring all countries on one point agenda. But, despite these difference, all members of the Group were committed to an ambitious outcome of the Doha round,” he pointed out.

The Canadian minister also endorsed the chairman’s views and reiterated his country’s commitment for an ambitious outcome of the Doha round.

The chairman said the Lahore Communiqué of 31st Cairns Group Ministerial meeting was a “work plan for the member states during the months ahead” and underscores the need for urgent action to save the Doha round.

APP adds: Meanwhile, speaking at the briefing Commerce Minister Humayun Akhtar Khan said that the agriculture exporting countries, both developed and developing, could gain enormously from the liberalisation of international agriculture trade.

“We are very affected by what is happening in the international agriculture trade, elimination of subsidies and increased market access will help improve the economic well-being of the people, especially the farming community,” said Humayun.

Referring to tariff peaks for textiles and apparels, he hoped that the Doha round would also take care of this problem effectively.

Answering a question, he said that special products paper presented by Pakistan seeking special safeguards for special products from the developing countries.

“Special products paper is neither of G-33 nor G-20. It is purely Pakistan’s paper,” the minister added.

He said that a positive outcome of the Doha round would help improve economic conditions in Pakistan.