Australia calls for more political engagement in Doha Round

A senior Australian official on Monday urged the World Trade Organization (WTO) members to involve more politically in the Doha Round of trade liberalization talks in order to push it to a successful conclusion.

"We must reaffirm and strengthen our political commitment to conclude this round," said Mark Vaile, Australia's deputy prime minister and minister for trade, who is in Geneva for a visit.

Addressing a meeting of WTO delegation heads, the official said it was a serious setback for WTO members to miss the April 30 deadline for a crucial deal on cutting farm and industrial tariffs and subsidies.

"This is a failure which requires reflection, engagement and action at the political level," he said, adding that "the stakes are too high" if WTO members do otherwise.

The minister regretted that WTO members "continue to evade the hard political decisions that will be required to bring this round to a close."

"Leaders and ministers need to be actively and continuously involved in support of these negotiations if they are to be brought to a successful conclusion," he said.

He warned that the failure of the Doha Round would be a real setback to the multilateral system, and for Australia, "this would be something of immense significance and regret."

The official urged WTO members to intensify further their negotiating efforts in the next few weeks.

"We have an opportunity now to lock in real and effective reform of EU and U.S. farm policy. It would be a major historical mistake if we missed this opportunity," he said.

Australia is a major member of the Cairns Group, which comprises 18 agricultural exporting countries, including developed and developing countries from Latin America, Africa and the Asia-Pacific region.

The Cairns Group has been an influential voice in the Doha Round of trade talks, which demands that the United States and the European Union open further their farm markets.

Source: Xinhua