WTO accord has 50% chance<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse, Doha, Qatar<\/p>\n
Developing countries give an upcoming WTO conference here only
\na 50 percent chance of reaching an accord to launch a new round
\nof global trade talks, a senior Asian official said Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"It is 80 percent for the big guys (in the developed world)
\nbut only 50-50 for the little guys,\" said the official,
\nrepresenting the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).<\/p>\n
He was speaking as ministers from the World Trade
\nOrganization were gathering here ahead of a five-day meeting
\nstarting Friday aimed at drafting an agenda for future talks to
\nlower international trade barriers.<\/p>\n
\"There are many who believe the situation is as bad as before
\nSeattle, but the presentation is different,\" he said.<\/p>\n
WTO ministers meeting in the west coast U.S. city of Seattle
\nin December 1999 failed to surmount deep differences on what
\nshould and should not be included in a new round and their
\ngathering broke down in failure.<\/p>\n
The ASEAN official cautioned that the harder line taken by
\ndeveloping countries ahead of the conference had to be seen in
\nperspective, notably as each party is trying to strengthen its
\nposition in the run-up to the actual negotiations.<\/p>\n
But it is also true that the gap between rich and poor nations
\nremains wide on links between trade and the environment and trade
\nand investment, as well as WTO-backed rules protecting drug and
\nmedical patents and on developing country assertions they have
\nyet to enjoy the benefits of previous trade liberalization
\nagreements.<\/p>\n
At the same time developing countries attach great importance
\nto the form that the negotiations will take here, the ASEAN
\nofficial said, recalling their resentment at having been left out
\nof key sessions in Seattle.<\/p>\n
\"It is necessary to avoid the mistake committed in Seattle,\"
\nhe stressed. \"Participation and transparency are very important.\"<\/p>\n
WTO rules allow for the \"green room\" option, under which a
\nsmall group of delegates can convene in a room next to the office
\nof the WTO director general to overcome particularly complex
\ndifficulties.<\/p>\n
In Doha these gatherings will be open to all who wish to
\nattend, with participants selected to ensure that all regional
\ngroups and interests are officially represented.<\/p>\n
Separately in Beirut, anti-globalization campaigner Jose Bove
\nsaid here Thursday that Qatar had gone back on a promise to grant
\nhim a visa to attend the WTO conference.<\/p>\n
\"Despite the intervention of the French foreign and trade
\nministries, Qatar has still not granted me a visa, contrary to
\nwhat I was promised, when I am supposed to leave for Doha within
\nhours,\" Bove told AFP.<\/p>\n
The 48-year-old sheep farmer and activist, who gained world
\nrecognition when he ransacked a partly-built McDonald's
\nrestaurant in France in 1999, has been accredited by the WTO to
\nrepresent the Peasant Confederation, a French non-governmental
\norganization (NGO) at the Doha gathering.<\/p>\n
Bove, who has been attending an anti-globalization conference
\nof NGOs in Beirut, said he could not explain why he was being
\nbarred from going to Qatar.<\/p>\n
\"Why are they blocking my visa now?\" he demanded.<\/p>\n
\"Am I being blamed for remarks I have made in recent weeks,
\nhere and elsewhere, suggesting the WTO is deliberately holding
\nits meeting in this monarchy where opposition demonstrations are
\nforbidden, in order to take its decisions in secret?\"<\/p>\n
Bove has become a much-admired figure in a growing movement
\nagainst a global trading mechanism seen as doing the bidding of
\nbig business at the expense of small farmers, impoverished
\nfactory workers and the environment.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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