WTO negotiations collapse after African walkout

10.15am

CANCUN - World trade talks in Cancun are dramatically collapsing with African delegations baulking at the price the Europeans and United States wish to extract for cutting their huge agricultural subsidies.


Some Ugandan and Kenyan representatives walked out of the WTO negotiating auditorium at 3pm today (Mexican time) - the time the talks were originally scheduled to finish.


"Talks have collapsed and there is no agreement," George Odour, a Kenyan delegate, told journalists.

It is not yet clear whether the collapse of talks means an end to globalisation at the WTO - or whether the delegates will agree to shift the discussions back to Geneva before holding another ministerial meeting to try to get a breakthrough.

Whatever the outcome, it will now be extremely difficult, it not impossible, for the WTO to meet its January 2005 deadline for implementing the Doha goals unless the Europeans in particular make some dramatic concessions to increase market access for agriculture products and cut their subsidy rates.

Today's collapse comes after a week in which "poor" developing nations under the leadership of Brazil, China and India tested their muscles against the "quad" - the EU, US, Japan and Canada - which have traditionally dictated the play at WTO negotiations.

Africans shouting "No means No" swarmed through the conference centre as the talks broke down.

"Our people are dying" said one delegate. "The rich Europeans and Americans want our blood."

Other delegates denied they had "walked out", saying a deadlock on agriculture and business issues was to blame

A Zimbabwean suggested the developing countries had issued the European Union an ultimatum to come up with a new deal to rescue the negotiations.

Delegates went into "green room" discussions at 8am today. New Zealand was one of a mere 30 of 146 nations here invited into the green room to finalise a negotiating framework to take back to WTO's Geneva headquarters to break a deadlock on the Doha Development Round. Trade Negotiations Minister Jim Sutton - still in the green room - has yet to brief his officials.

The breakdown occurred as US deputy Trade Representative Josette Shiner was telling a press conference that delegates were apart over the vexed issue of the "Singapore issues" - competition policy, trade facilitation and investment matters - which would have to be overcome before they moved on to the contentious agriculture issues.

"It's one of the hurdles we have to pass to get to the end goal," Shiner said,

The African delegates have since been joined by other members of the ACP Group (African, Carribean and Pacific nations) and G23 developing nations in condemning the way in which the talks have been conducted.

An Indian spokesman said they had "very serious conflict" with the WTO process. "It has been opaque, undemocratic and anti-symmetrical."