The American Insurance Association (AIA) on Friday commended U.S. trade negotiators for their efforts to revive World Trade Organization (WTO) talks and provide hope for the opening of global insurance markets.
“We strongly urge other nations to follow the lead of the U.S. negotiators and do the same,” said David Snyder, AIA vice president and assistant general counsel.
“The U.S. has made substantive offers on agricultural agreements this week during the WTO Doha Development Agendameeting in Geneva, Switzerland. Unfortunately, developing countries have not. This will have a direct effect on service industry negotiations, including insurance,” said Snyder.
“Service industry negotiations have been held up because of the lack of agreement in the agriculture sector,” Snyder noted. “The U.S. has this week made the kind of offer that should accelerate the agriculture negotiations and put an end to the excuses that have been plaguing the service industry talks.”
U.S. Trade Representative Robert Portman has reportedly offered a bold plan to get the agriculture negotiations moving so that December’s Doha Ministerial talks in Hong Kong can lead to a new WTO global free trade agreement for 2006. European Union negotiators have also made concessions and efforts that are much appreciated, Snyder said.
“Developing countries are hurting themselves by not stepping up to the level of commitment demonstrated by the U.S., so that the talks in Hong Kong can result in the kind of truly productive agreements that would instill confidence in the global economy,” said Snyder, adding that, “U.S. insurance and service industries still seek access to foreign markets.”
“Insurance can provide unique and important benefits to a developing nation, including financial security to support economic growth, but insurance can only provide those benefits if the market is liberalized and insurers can enter. We implore our trading partners to respond to the U.S. actions by opening up markets, and to not let this great opportunity pass them by,” Snyder stated.
Topics USA Agribusiness
Was this article valuable?
Here are more articles you may enjoy.
Report: Over 250,000 US Properties Have Repeated NFIP Claims 
Viewpoint: How Insurance Industry Can Use AI Safely and Ethically 
7 in 10 Actuaries and Underwriters Worry About Being Replaced by AI 
US Sues Ship Owner, Operator Over Baltimore Bridge Collapse 
