ICC Hopes for Action on G8 Pledge to Conclude Doha Trade Negotiations

The International Chamber of Commerce has released a bulletin welcoming the pledge by leaders of the G8 countries to conclude the Doha Round of trade negotiations in 2010. “However,” the ICC notes, “G8 has set many deadlines for these negotiations in the past which have not been met. International business hopes that after so many years of failure governments may now be on the verge of rapid, concrete, and determined action to reach an ambitious agreement.”

The ICC singled out the “instruction given to trade ministers to meet before the G20 summit in Pittsburgh this September” as a hopeful sign. But the organization added that it also hopes “this will be more than a stock-taking exercise and will make a decisive contribution towards the conclusion of the negotiations.”

The Doha Round has proven to be especially difficult to conclude (some commentators have described the proposals as “a bridge too far”). The ICC points out, however, that “despite the difficulties in reaching agreement on Doha, considerable progress has been made on the negotiations, with many hard-won trade-enhancing offers already agreed to.

“These achievements must not be lost. A successfully concluded Doha Round is the strongest possible signal governments can give that they will not submit to economic nationalism, which will only result in a longer, deeper recession.”

The bulletin added that the ICC “welcomes the reaffirmation of the world’s most industrialized countries to resist protectionism, not to raise new trade barriers, and to support efforts by the World Trade Organization to monitor compliance with the anti-protectionist pledges.”

To read the full ICC statement to the G8 in English, please visit: www.iccwbo.org/uploadedFiles/ICC/ICC_Home_Page/pages/ICC_L’Aquila_G8_statement_2009.pdf
Source: International Chamber of Commerce