DEFIANT WTO CHIEF DIGS IN ON NEW TRADE TALKS.
WTO Director-General Mike Moore set a collision course with the developing world yesterday when he vowed that the battered organization would successfully relaunch the so-called millennium round of global trade talks, reports the Guardian (p.12). A new round was inevitable, Moore said, despite the ignominious collapse of the first attempt to start negotiations in Seattle last December. "We will launch a new round," Moore said during a visit to New Delhi for consultations on the future direction of talks. "The only question is when."
But the Indian government warned him last night that his organization needed a thorough overhaul before it restarted talks, the story says. Indian Commerce and Industry Minister Murasoli Maran said the WTO needed to be reformed, and that it was time it took note of the "fears, anxiety, and insecurity" of the developing nations. "The WTO cannot be allowed to become another world government," the minister said. "We cannot allow ourselves to be threatened by sanctions and forced to reduce our competitive advantage."
Noting that US proposals to impose sanctions on goods from developing countries with poor labor standards are partly blamed for the collapse of December's talks, the story says many developing nations are worried that until the WTO overhauls the decision-making process that left them locked out of important meetings in Seattle, any new negotiating round would be biased against them.
Moore wants a deal that will offer technical assistance in negotiating and implementing trade pacts and improve market access for the poorest countries, says the story, and the UK is backing a program for fast-track reform over the next year for the troubled organization.