Trade officials said Friday that Africa would lose the benefits derived from global trade liberalization, which resulted in access to medicine developed by drug companies to treat common ailments troubling most countries in the continent.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) Secretary General Erastus Mwencha blamed the collapse of the World Trade organization (WTO) negotiations on what he called the " transigiencies" of the parties' intent on enjoying "inequitable" trading environment.

Kenyan Trade and Industry Minister Mukhisa Kituyi said Africa would also have to develop its own markets and bolster trade among the various regional blocs in the absence of the European markets following the collapse of the global trade talks.

"The companies from the rich nations would continue to flood our own markets with goods from Europe. The collapse of the talks is a threat to compulsory licensing for African countries to access drugs at cheaper prices," Kituyi told journalists at a regional meeting in Nairobi.

Africans, the minister said, were allowed to access drugs for common illnesses such as malaria, HIV/AIDS and Tuberculosis through the compulsory licensing agreed as part of the Doha Round agenda to counter health crises in the continent.

Kituyi said Doha Round was based on greater market access for Africa, access to cheaper drugs under the Agreement on Trade- Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and would have been binding commitments to the pharmaceutical companies in Europe and the U.S.

"We should now focus on strengthening intra-Africa trade. These would have been binding commitments if the Doha Round was concluded," Kituyi said.

The WTO talks, which were gearing for a conclusive end to the Doha Round, started in 2001, collapsed early this week after the main negotiating groups failed to strike a deal committing themselves to lower subsidies to their own farmers.

"The Doha Round collapsed because of transigiencies of the parties that want to enjoy inequitable environments," said Mwencha, who is attending African Trade Insurance (ATI) meeting, which brought together finance, and trade ministers who are the shareholders of ATI.

He said the rich nations were subsidizing farmers, making it impossible for Africans to sell their produce.

The United States said Tuesday that it rejected the global trading deal because it was unfair to African countries and would have enabled the EU to continue restricting Africa's access to its markets.

African countries were counting on the success of the Doha Round of talks, which was limping towards a concession on drastic reductions of the external taxes charged on African products entering the European markets and wider market access for goods.

The U.S. and the European Union traded blame on Tuesday, hours after the WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, a former EU Trade Commissioner, declared the Doha Round officially deadlocked and hence, collapsed following failure to reach an accord.

"The United States went to Geneva prepared to cut a good deal but the G8 mandate for increased market access has not been met," the U.S. embassy in Nairobi said in a statement. The U.S. said it hoped the EU would grant Africa better market access.

U.S. trade Representative Susan Schwab said the U.S. was "fully committed" to reaching an agreement on the global trading system but could not sign a European Union proposal to allow it (EU) more room to exploit opportunities in Africa.

African exporters have been drastically affected by the market entry restrictions in mainly Europe, where they say products such as vegetables are subjected to rigorous screening and testing methods, making it impossible for small-scale farmers to enter the market.

Peter Mendelsson, the EU Trade Commissioner, said the talks collapsed due to America's inflexibility, adding that Washington was applying trade-distorting subsidies.

Source: Xinhua