DOHA, Qatar-And so
another international conference-at least
as this is being written-seems to be ending
in a welter of confusion and missed deadlines.
And even though it is still not clear what
the meeting's final declaration will contain,
there is no doubt that many participants
will be leaving Doha disappointed that
they could not win over enough of their
fellows to achieve their own countries'
objectives. That's the way it goes.
But
no less important than the content of the declaration
that was still being negotiated late into the night
by the WTO ministers is the ongoing process that produced
it: the process of nations coming together to negotiate
with one another to resolve their differences peaceably
and through the rule of law. The successful conclusion
of this Doha meeting will provide another victory for
this process.
A major victory for the global trading system
was its expansion, during the past few days, with
the accession of China and Chinese Taipei (Taiwan)
to the WTO, bringing the number of its member nations
to 144-a full gross. Placing 1.3-plus billion people
under the umbrella of WTO protection can only be
seen as a giant step toward a universal rule of
law in the field of international trade.
The Doha meeting has also marked a giant step
toward a more truly inclusive WTO. The developing
countries may have ample reason to complain about
the way they have been treated by WTO in the past,
and surely they seem to be less than satisfied
with the various drafts of the declaration, but
at least they can't say they didn't have a chance
to argue their case and to be heard. This is clearly
the result of the organization's post-Seattle reforms,
and provides a strong signal that those reforms
were (a) sorely needed, (b) well thought out, and
(c) a significant improvement.
Which is not to say that all of the WTO's organizational
problems have been solved. The Doha meeting even
brought to light additional evidence of the organization's
policies and practices that may discriminate against
both developing countries and new members. Surely
those policies and practices should be subjected
to a thorough review with a view to making them
more equitable.
Many delegates
have complained that the "friends
of the chair" negotiating process (some refer
to the FoCs as "the green men") places
some member countries at a disadvantage. But, given
the number and complexity of the issues under discussion,
and the number of points of view that must be considered
on each issue, some sort of streamlining process
is undoubtedly essential. The viability of this
process, though, and its ultimate acceptability,
will depend on the fairness with which these "friends" are
chosen. And, again, it may not be possible to satisfy
every delegation in this area, but at least an
effort can and should be made.
Surely, many member
states, especially in Europe, will be disappointed
that the Doha meeting was
apparently unable to take a strong position on
integrating environmental concerns with the WTO's
mandate. But they can take some solace from the
fact that their cause was advanced here in Doha.
For the first time ever, in the Doha Declaration
(at least in the form submitted to the heads of
delegation on Tuesday), the WTO is called upon
to evaluate the impact of trade rules and negotiations
on both environment and development, "in order
to held achieve the objective of having sustainable
development appropriately reflected in the negotiations."
Some may (and almost certainly will) complain
that this is just a stalking horse for protectionism,
and there may be some element of validity to their
complaint. But the global environment and the development
process must also be protected; it is a responsibility
that we cannot ignore.
Nor can anyone forget that we will be going through
this same process once more two years from now,
at the WTO's Fifth Ministerial Meeting, to be held
in Monterrey, Mexico. Nobody can say now what challenges
we will have to face then, but at least we seem
to be moving in the right direction.
|
