The G8 leaders gathered in St. Petersburg, Russia, have called for a concerted effort to wrap up the Doha Round of global trade talks by the end of this year. But that call drew only faint praise Monday from the International Chamber of Commerce.
The G8 leaders “have time and again committed themselves to deadlines and results for the Doha Round that were not fulfilled,” the ICC said in a statement Monday from its International Secretariat, in Paris.
The Doha Development Round takes its name from the capital city of Qatar, where its initial talks were held in November 2001. Through these negotiations, the World Trade Organization aims to establish rules for global free trade. Progress has been slowed, however, by heated clashes between the major developed countries and the poorer developing nations.
“ICC welcomes positive statements from the G8, but we’ve seen several of those already … and they have not yet yielded the required results,” said ICC Secretary General Guy Sebban. “In the five years since the Doha Round was launched, deadlines have come and gone …. We are skeptical that the desired momentum will be achieved this time, unless G8 leaders authorize more flexibility on the substance of the talks.”
Sticking points for the WTO in past Doha Round talks have included U.S. and E.U. farm and export subsidies.
“A good deal is still do-able, despite the short amount of time left,” said ICC Chairman Marcus Wallenberg, who is also the chairman of Saab and Swedish banking group SEB. “The elements are well known. What is still lacking is a demonstration of the political will on all sides to do it.
“The world business community is looking to the heads of state … to remain personally engaged after they return home, until a final accord is in the bag,” Wallenberg said.
The ICC, with member companies in more than 130 countries, is the main business partner of the WTO. It promotes a rules-based, multilateral system of global trade.
