'Cancun will allow us to take stock'

With the World Trade Organization (WTO) Cancùn Ministerial closing in, Debapriya Bhattacharya, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue in Dhaka, Bangladesh, speaks to Clifford Polycarp on the LDC group's agenda for the meet. Incidentally, Bangladesh is also the leader of the LDC group.

CP : What are the most critical issues for Bangladesh and the least developed countries (LDCs) as a group at the upcoming Cancùn ministerial?

DB : For the LDCs, the number one priority is its demand for a mandatory, bound, duty and quota-free market access for all exported goods - agricultural and manufactured - in the developed countries if not in all countries other than LDCs. Currently, almost all the major OECD countries have already given duty and quota-free access to LDCs except the US. It is now the US that we are dealing with, particularly in relation to textile products because of the phasing out of the multi-fibre agreement.

The second priority - coming up very strongly from at least Bangladesh's point of view - is the supply of services through the temporary movement of natural persons under the Global Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) negotiations. This, I would identify as the second most important issue on Bangladesh's agenda.

The third one will be technical assistance. Most of the issues related to the implementation of existing commitments that we are discussing demands significant resources, technical know-how and the improvement of the regulatory framework. But whilst we say technical assistance, we do not mean another WTO seminar. We relate it to investment projects to improve the physical trade-related infrastructure. This would ease the supply-side bottlenecks.

CP : What is the significance of these issues for the LDCs?

DB : All developing countries - more or less at the margin - share the same kind of approach to any issue. It is level of development, trade orientation, employment structure and resource endowments, that dictate what issues we will lay emphasis on. This is particularly important because the agenda is quite wide and the resources are scarce. But since it is a single undertaking, we will also have to be very careful to protect our backs to ensure that we are not being horse traded by somebody else in the green room. Prioritisation really helps you to think about these things. But in a single undertaking, one cannot remain oblivious of other things that are happening.

CP : What are the LDCs trying to protect at Cancùn?

DB : The first area that we are trying to protect is obviously the introduction of the new issues. We do not want to start negotiations on Singapore issues (investment, competition, transparency in government procurement and trade facilitation) at this moment. We do not understand it, it is overburdening us and we cannot handle it. Also, we are not convinced that having a competition policy or an investment policy will dramatically increase our prospects of attracting foreign direct investment.

We are also looking forward to protect the gains made on the TRIPs and public health issue and make it more operational. Bangladesh, in particular, has a basic pharmaceutical industry that can really take advantage of the deferment of the TRIPs implementation for the LDCs to 2016. Besides, it can export pharmaceutical products not only to other LDCs but also to other countries and maintain its access to intermediate ingredients used in the manufacture of final pharmaceutical products. This is where we want to protect, consolidate and move further.

Also, we would not like to have trade and environment issues on the agenda at this moment. The study phase still needs to be consolidated further. But within the environment agenda, we are most interested in environmentally motivated protectionist measures in the developed countries. 

So, this is the defensive agenda.

CP : Are there differences in the LDCs interests and other the developing countries interests?

BD: Between the LDCs and the developing countries, there is a 80-90 per cent overlap in the positions and approaches. But, there are a lot of differences in terms of priorities. For example, on agriculture, India is at this moment, according to our view is positioning itself as a future big exporter of agricultural products. So, obviously, India's interests and interventions in terms of export subsidies and the domestic distortions are quite strong in that way. But for a LDC net food importing country, while they understand the logic, they are not going to go overboard on it. Export subsidies give them cheaper access to food and also enable them to get food aid. So, you see there is a subtle balancing issue there.

The other issue that will come up again will be on the special and differential treatment to the extent that a developing county would consider a LDC today as its competitor tomorrow and may be averse to the idea that extra special treatment being granted to LDCs. The other point is that the concessions that the LDCs are demanding from the developed countries today, tomorrow they could be asking from the developing countries. So, the developing countries are not necessarily the biggest supporters of the LDCs special and differential treatment principles.

CP : Do you think Cancùn will bring some sort of success for the LDC group?

DB : I look at it as a stock taking exercise, as a mid-term evaluation point. But, what is more important is that Cancùn will allow countries like Bangladesh and others to once again take stock the current status of negotiations in its totality. Until now, negotiations have been going on in a fragmented manner in Geneva. Cancùn will give us an opportunity to look at it (the Doha agenda) in totality and reiterate its concerns once again. It is the last opportunity before 2005. And it is also the last opportunity before the phase out of the MFA. So, on various counts it will be very important.