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To help reaffirm the position of developing countries on the
Doha Development Agenda (DDA), Indonesia will host a ministerial level
meeting of the G-33 countries in Jakarta in March.
The meeting will be of major significance for the progress of the DDA
as it will also be attended by representatives from the G-20, G-10,
Least Developed Countries Group, and the African, Caribbean and Pacific
groupings.
"The aim of the meeting is to create unity and common purpose among
developing countries as we expect to enter the negotiations on the DDA
in the following months," said Trade Minister Mari Elka Pangestu on
Thursday.
So far, 15 ministers have confirmed that they will attend the meeting,
including Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Kamal Nath and
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorin, as well 28 senior officials
from various countries.
The G-33, in which Indonesia is currently serving as the chair, is
actually a grouping of 46 developing countries. It's agenda is
currently hanging in the balance as the key players on which progress
in the Doha round of talks depend -- the United States, Europe, India,
Brazil and China -- have yet to achieve a breakthrough in the
negotiations.
The Doha negotiations, which failed to reach common ground because of
deadlock over agricultural issues, and farm subsidies in particular,
resumed on Feb. 7.
"Negotiations have already started in Geneva. At the same time, groups
such as the G-33 and G-4 are also involved in negotiations. The G-4
countries have met several times to discuss and solidify their
positions, or to reach a compromise," Mari said.
"If there is a breakthrough from America as regards their domestic
(farm) supports, which should be lowered, we expect the negotiations
will intensify in May and April." Mari explained that currently the
U.S. was willing to lower its subsidies for agricultural products to
US$20 billion per year. However, most developing countries deemed this
to be inadequate and wanted to see the figure reduced to as low as $12
billion.
Besides seeking cuts in agricultural subsidies from the developed
nations, the G-33 has also sponsored the introduction of what are known
as the special product (SP) and special safeguard mechanism (SSM)
proposals.
Both the SP and SSM concepts require exemptions from tariff cuts for
certain products that are specific to each country for the purpose of
protecting domestic food security, the livelihood of citizens and
promoting rural development in developing countries.
"Currently we are at the stage of defining the criteria for the
products that can be exempted from tariff cuts," Mari said.
Commenting on the possibility of another deadlock, Mari said: "If the
negotiations fail to reach a successful conclusion, it doesn't mean
that the WTO has failed. There could be a suspension of the DDA, which
could go on for a year or so."
But "after that, hopefully we can commence negotiations from the
current position and not start from scratch again.".
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