Having failed to receive the political support needed to push forward the Doha Round agenda in 2011, the Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Pascal Lamy has admitted talks should progress in the 'most realistic and practical way' currently possible - 'in small steps'.

In his report, to the General Council on February 14, 2012, outlining the proposed way forward for the Doha round, a global pact to reduce tariff and non-tariff barriers to world trade, Lamy said: “The current political environment dictates that the most realistic and practical way forward is to move in small steps, gradually moving forward the parts of the Doha Round which are mature, and re-thinking those where greater differences remain”.

He added that “in practical terms, I have encouraged all Chairs to informally consult at this stage to determine what each of their groups can do, step by step, in an informal manner”.

“The starting point of my report will be the to-do list which results from eighth Ministerial Conference. The follow-up task before us now is to implement decisions and to operationalize elements for political guidance in a pragmatic and realistic manner as we seek to find convergence to move forward our negotiations.”

“First, there was a collective sense to use 2012 to move in small steps on issues where consensus exists and keep expectations manageable - that is, a strong sense of pragmatism, avoiding dogmatism.”

“Second, a shared sense against prescriptiveness. The collective view I believe is that Members should be realistic and not set unattainable targets or packages which would lead to hostage taking.”

“Third, there seemed to be emerging consensus that certain issues such as those pertaining to Least Developed Countries and Trade Facilitation could be part of deliverables relatively soon.”

Lamy in particular noted recent bilateral meetings with leaders at the African Union summit in Addis Ababa, Nigeria. He said that leaders confirmed that there is political will among developing nation to advance DDA negotiations in a pragmatic matter.

In concluding, Lamy stated: “2012 cannot and should not be a wasted year. As we all know, the world economic outlook remains rather grim and domestic crisis-related issues are absorbing leaders' political energy, with not much left for international cooperation. In these circumstances, we should not expect any major breakthrough any time soon, whether on trade, on climate change or on macroeconomic coordination.”

“[However] it is, I believe, our responsibility to avoid further rocking the boat and to ensure that existing multilateral systems are not damaged, and the best way to do that is to keep improving them, be it marginally, during this difficult period. We all have a collective responsibility to maintain and sustain the multilateral trading system for the future. That is my own sense of how we should move forward at this stage.”

Source: Tax News

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