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EU: Possible deal on negotiating modalities related to the new issues
WTO Reporter, Monday, March 3, 2003 ISSN 1529-4153 News -Negotiations

EU Sets Out Modalities Options For Discussing 'Singapore Issues'

GENEVA--The European Union has set out options for a possible deal on negotiating modalities related to the four so-called "Singapore issues" of investment, competition policy, trade facilitation, and transparency in government procurement in a bid to push forward the idea of launching WTO talks in these sectors.

The EU insisted in a paper dated Feb. 27 that negotiations on the four issues are a "key element" of the Doha Round trade talks and "part and parcel" of the single undertaking.

The EU fought for a commitment at the WTO's November 2001 ministerial conference in Doha, Qatar, for a mandate to negotiate on the Singapore issues, so named because a decision was made at the WTO's Singapore ministerial meeting in December 1996 to set up working parties to do analytical work on the four items.

But a number of developing countries led by India fiercely resisted the initiative, insisting that the issues should either be discussed outside of the WTO context or were not yet ripe for negotiation.

In the end, ministers in Doha adopted an ambiguous compromise, agreeing that negotiations will take place after the WTO's next ministerial conference in Cancun, Mexico, in September 2003 "on the basis of a decision taken, by explicit consensus, at that session on modalities of negotiation."

The EU views the talks as essential for securing gains in areas of economic interest to Brussels in order to balance off the concessions it is expected to make in the area of agriculture.

The EU said it was now time to develop a common set of modalities for the talks so as to facilitate the decisions to be taken in Cancun to launch the negotiations. The modalities will set out the framework for the negotiations, including goals and targets, which members will then use to prepare offers.

Three-Prong Approach

The EU said the elements of modalities for the four sectors should cover three main areas: procedural issues pertaining to the negotiating phase, such as the number of meetings, timing, and deadlines for tabling proposals; the scope and coverage of the negotiating agenda; and special and differential treatment for developing countries.

On the scope of the agenda, the EU said this should focus on the concrete issues to be covered by the negotiations. For trade facilitation, this could include commitments to simplify trade procedures based on Articles V, VIII and X of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (similar to the mandate set out in the Doha Declaration), while for investment this could include list of issues set out in paragraph 22 of the Doha Declaration. The issues covered in the competition talks could be limited to establishing WTO disciplines on hardcore cartels (an idea advocated by the EU), while the government procurement talks could focus on issues covered in the seven years of analytical work within the WTO's working group.

The scope should also address how to structure the obligations resulting from an eventual agreement, the EU added. For investment, this could cover possible exclusions or exemptions to across-the-board obligations, while for competition this could cover sectoral exclusions or exemptions from some of the "process related" obligations. Regarding government procurement, the issue of thresholds could be examined with a view to allowing for a "pragmatic and little burdensome approach" towards the application of transparency disciplines, the EU argued.

By Daniel Pruzin

Copyright © 2003 by The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc., Washington D.C.


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