For those looking for heroes, Cancun was the place to be — the collapse of the trade talks on Sunday representing a great moral victory for the world's poor.
For full five days, they stood as one refusing to budge in the face of the most formidable odds: relentless pressure, behind-the-scenes arm-twisting and, not least, brinkmanship. Indeed, what began as a rear guard action from a handful of developing countries, led by India, China and Brazil, turned into a huge show of Third World unity, with as many as 80 countries throwing their weight behind the efforts of Arun Jaitley and Co. The eventual 'no deal', many argued, was better than a bad deal. For, any sign of weakness or concessions from the developing countries at the Mexican resort would only have further skewed the already lopsided terms of global trade. It was important to tell the western world that unless there was a time-bound commitment to end farm subsidies once and for all, there was simply no way forward. After all, in the 10 years since the Uruguay round, which gave birth to the WTO, farm subsidies in the US and the EU have, instead of being scaled down, shot up: From $180 billion to over $300 billion. With the developing countries forced to liberalise trade and open up markets, this has brought millions of Third World farmers to the brink of penury and starvation.
Yet, for all the moral poignancy of this rhetoric, the breakdown of talks is a grave blow. Global trade, for all its inequity, represents the only real long-term hope for the world's poor. While many in the West would be happy to let the WTO go, a vulnerable Third World has a far greater stake in an internationally agreed mechanism for regulating global trade. What's more, the unity displayed by the developing world at Cancun will come under increasing strain in the coming months, with the US, along with the EU, 'picking off' individual countries for bilateral deals, not to mention regional trading blocs. It is not hard to see that while the Davids, thanks to numbers, managed to defy the Goliath at Cancun, it would not be so easy to replicate the same process in one-to-one negotiations. In other words, there is a need urgently to work out a joint long-term strategy and revive the failed Cancun process. As for the West, it must face up to the fact that an equitable global trade is not just a moral imperative but a long-term economic necessity. It cannot continue to prosper, while the rest of the world lives in poverty.
source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow?msid=183123 19sep03
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