WTO talks finish becalmed in Hons Kong

摘要

The more things change, the more they stay the same." That old French saying is particularly pertinent to progress in the World Trade Organisation negotiations. LAST DECEMBER'S WTO ministerial meeting in ! Hong Kong was full of the usual small dramas.Protesters -although fewer than usual - created havoc in the streets; thousands of delegates poured over every punctuation mark in the draft declaration and some ministers enjoyed playing to the gallery rather more than doing the deals required to complete the WTO's 'Doha Development Agenda'. "Two cheers for the WTO!" was how one newspaper described the result. What happened? And why is it of significance for the global forest and wood processing industry? In my last column I predicted either a train wreck or a great leap forward in Hong Kong. In the event, it was neither. There was no collapse of negotiations as happened in Cancun in 2003 when ministers went home after a week's talking with no final agreement. The Hong Kong meeting took a few faltering steps forward with agreement reached on a package of trade and development assistance for the world's poorest countries. After days of wrangling there was also consensus on an end date of 2013 for agricultural export subsidies. These decisions essentially keep the negotiations alive and allowed some success to be claimed.