Roundup: African ministers resolve to push for fair trade at global talks

African trade ministers ended their meeting in Nairobi late Friday and resolved to push for fair trade in global trade negotiations.

The ministers who adopted a Nairobi Declaration also warned that unless the rich nations show flexibility in global trade talks, they would be forced to renegotiate for a new pact which would guarantee open market for the continent's exports.

The ministers who warned that Africa would no longer be party to flawed trading pacts that do not take into consideration the continent's development agenda also expressed misgivings that a World Trade Organization (WTO) deadline at the end of April would be met.

The trade ministers from the 52-member African Union (AU) were meeting in the Kenyan capital Nairobi to fix a common approach in the global trade talks and to bolster regional integration.

In the declaration issued at the end of the meeting, the ministers agreed to work together towards the conclusion of the on- going negotiations on Doha Development Agenda by the end of this year.

"We re-dedicate ourselves to the important task of completing the trade negotiations by the end of this year," said the declaration.

"We commit ourselves to work with other trading partners in achieving fully the development objectives of this round," they said.

The ministers said they were "deeply concerned" over a lack of progress on the two issues and again blamed rich nations for the delays.

They said they would not accept the "establishment of partial modalities that ignores Africa's interests."

The world's poorest continent has long complained that it is being marginalized and the ministers demanded that rich nations remove farm subsidies and asked for greater market access.

They stressed that the Doha Round has to bring difference and positive results for Africa and other less developed nations and should lead to a win-win situation for all countries.

Speaking during the meeting, Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori reiterated the need for closer trade integration between African nations to create an expanded internal market.

Awori noted that the continent has continued to be marginalized in the international trade and access to markets, saying the persistent trade imbalances can be successfully addressed through pursuit of the Doha development work program.

"The successful conclusion of the Doha negotiations with development content has the potential to substantially contribute to reversing this vicious trend of continued marginalization of the continent in international trade," he observed.

Awori called on countries in the continent to seek ways of enhancing integration of regional economies through regulatory systems that are transparent and investor friendly.

In a statement to the ministers' meeting, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy urged the U.S. and EU to further slash agricultural subsidies and tariffs to jumpstart the stalled talks on liberalizing global trade before the April deadline.

"There remains a need for movement by the big players. More needs to be done and it is for the US to accept big cuts in agriculture subsidies," Lamy told the AU ministers in the statement.

"For the EU, Japan and others, they should accept what the US will have to accept in terms of subsidies plus real cuts in agricultural tariffs," Lamy said.

Lamy warned that negotiators currently steering WTO farm trade discussions in Geneva could not make headway unless the EU and U.S. made fresh concessions.

The ministers expressed concern that WTO members might fail to meet the April 30 deadline set to establish modalities aimed at concluding the negotiations by December this year.

Analysts say the continent may stand to be the leading beneficiary of a successful Doha round of WTO negotiations. But many Africans say so far the negotiations have been slow and failed to take into account the interest of the poor continent.

The Doha round was launched in 2001 with the aim of lowering global trade barriers to boost the world economy and lift millions out of poverty. The WTO's 149 members are supposed to agree on farm and industrial goods but there is little sign of a breakthrough.

Source: Xinhua