AU coordinates commodity stance before WTO negotiations

Trade ministers from African Union member countries gathered here on Wednesday in an attempt to form a common stance on commodities before next month's World Trade Organization (WTO) negotiations in Hong Kong.

Delegates were given a draft Arusha declaration and plan of action on commodities and were expected to discuss and adopt the declaration later on Wednesday or early on Thursday.

The draft declaration asked for WTO consideration of effective and expeditious reduction in subsidies in cotton and sugar apart from announcing that the African countries need flexibility and policy space under the WTO multilateral rules to choose the most effective strategy appropriate to the African situation.

The senior officials from the AU member states who worked out the draft declaration said that achieving the United Nations Millenium Development Goals is dependent upon reaching 70 percent of the world's population living in rural areas and shriving to make a living through commodity production and trade.

From 1977 to 2001, however, the combined UNCTAD price index for all commodities declined by as much as 53 percent in real terms and the combined current price index of commodities has not surpassed the 1995 level despite recent improvement, according to these officials who proposed further South-South cooperation.

"South-South trade has the potential for mutually beneficial exchanges between Africa and developing countries in other regions, " said the draft declaration. "Indeed there are encouraging prospects that South-South trade provides a 'window of opportunity ' for African countries to increase their earnings from commodity exports."

The forthcoming Hong Kong round of the WTO ministerial meeting or otherwise known as the Doha Development Round is expected to settle the issues that will shape the final accord of the Doha Development Agenda.

Source: Xinhua