The unholy trio of the EU, US and Pascal Lamy succeeded in their
attempt to force developing countries into accepting a Ministerial
Declaration that further forecloses the development of countries of the
South.

After 6 days of acrimonious negotiations the final day of the Hong Kong
Ministerial ended with the adoption of a highly flawed text that doesn’t
reflect what several developing countries have been demanding over the
last 5 days. The resistance of countries such as the G90, Venezuela, Kenya
and Cuba were systematically thwarted by immense pressure from the
developed world. Venezuela and Cuba registered a reservation on the NAMA
and services components of the text at the closing plenary. Its legal
standing remains unclear.

“This text is a recipe for disaster, and many developing countries will
not be able convince people back home that they have come back with a good
deal. The intention of the final G20 meeting headed by Brazil’s Celso
Amorin and India’s Kamal Nath was to compliment one another to cover up
the fact that they have agreed to a disaster,” said Dr Walden Bello of
Focus on the Global South.

In agreeing to slash tariffs in their agricultural, services and
industrial markets, developing countries sanction of the text is a failure
for development and a victory for corporate globalisation.

On export subsidies, the EC is extracting a high price, in return for
doing nothing. A large proportion of EU supports go into subsidizing
exports. However, only a small part is classified as export subsidies.
Most fall into the WTO-legal “Green Box” which has escaped disciplines in
the current negotiations.

‘The G20 has sold the developing countries out. They know well, that there
are no real cuts in domestic supports and export subsidies by the EU or US
with this text. This is a box-shifting exercise and EU export subsidies
will simply still take place in another form to the tune of 55 billion
Euros per year,” said Aileen Kwa of Focus on the Global South.

“India and Brazil have led the developing countries down the garden path
in exchange for some market access in agriculture for Brazil, and services
outsourcing for India.”

Despite a completely hollow package on agriculture, the developing world
has been forced to swallow the bitter pill of aggressive services market
access. The text sanctions the launch of sectoral negotiations, which will
force developing countries to provide foreign investors with the same
rights as local suppliers. This would lock up their ability to develop
their own services sectors. The G90 along with countries such as
Venezuela, Cuba fought a valiant battle to preserve the flexible nature of
the GATS but they were thwarted with Brazil and India joining hands with
the US and EU.

‘It’s clear once again that the WTO cannot subordinate the narrow goals of
market access and trade liberalisation to the genuine concerns of
development,’ said Dr. Bello.

As news of the adoption of a declaration reached the streets of Hong Kong
where farmers groups were maintaining a vigil there was a palpable sense
of resolve to continue the fight back home.

“All the developing world got was a hollow end date to subsidies in
exchange for a bad deal in the rest of agriculture, a bad deal in industry
and a bad deal in services.”