Wellington - With the Doha Round of multi-lateral trade
talks stalled, numerous bilateral agreements being negotiated between
countries were condemned Monday as a 'dangerous phenomenon' by former
World Trade Organization (WTO) head Mike Moore.
'They are not free-trade agreements - they are preferential trade
agreements,' he told Radio New Zealand, 'and when you create a
preference you create a privilege and a lever for the politicians.'
Moore, who was director-general of the 149-member WTO from 1999-
2002, said that the stalemate in the global round he helped launch in
2001 in Doha, Qatar, was 'very serious' and required political will
to resolve.
He blamed the deadlock on vested interests in the European Union,
the United States, Japan, Norway and Switzerland, bent on retaining
subsidies for farmers and protecting them from developing-country
competition.
Moore, a former New Zealand prime minister, said that protected
interests seldom surrendered their privileges and perks without a
fight. 'That's why it's so hard for politicians, who don't get thanks
for taking away a subsidy from somebody,' he said.
The multi-lateral trading system supervised by the WTO must not be
allowed to fail, 'because it's delivered too much to the world
economy and to peace and security to allow it to wither,' Moore said.
He said that the system devised after World War II had not only
been a driver for international stability and peace but had helped
lift about 600 million people out of extreme poverty, increased
global life expectancy by 20 years and cut infant mortality by two-
thirds.
Moore said that the WTO was unique in the international political
system for its binding mechanism for settling disputes by
arbitration, and there was a net gain to every country in freeing up
global trade.
Poor nations in Latin America and Africa stood to gain a lot by a
successful conclusion to the Doha Round, which is meant to cut farm
subsidies and reduce barriers to agricultural trade, while Americans
and Europeans would benefit from the redirection of their massive
subsidies, he said.
Moore said European consumers were paying 80 per cent more for
their sugar than they should, while US companies were moving to
Canada to get cheaper sugar from the Caribbean - 'so there's a win-
win for everyone here.'
He described the increasing importance of China and India in the
global economy as 'a new elephant in the room, which changes
everything.'
© 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 
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