|
Differences between rich
and poor hard to solve in the WTO
HONG KONG, China, December
14.—The contradictions between the underdeveloped
and developed nations within the 6th Ministerial
Conference of the World Trade Organization seemed
insoluble today, at the end of the second day of the
meeting, PL reports.
While the streets of the city
were the scenario of further confrontations between
anti-riot forces and anti-globalization activists,
the foreign ministers of Argentina, Brazil and India
reiterated that agricultural subsidies must be
eliminated.
Jorge Taiana, the Argentine
foreign minister, highlighted the discrimination
against the countries that produce goods and
processed agriculture products, which works against
their possibilities of sustained growth and prevents
their poverty being reduced. He called for the
elimination of all forms of subsidies on exports, a
dramatic reduction of internal aid and improved
access to the markets for those goods.
The problems of the developing
countries are not going to be solved with monetary
improvements, handouts or more unfulfilled promises,
he stated.
His colleagues, Celso Amorín of
Barzil and Kamal Nath of India, stated that they
were awaiting action by the United States and the
European Union to pull negotiations out of
stalemate. On behalf of the Group of 20 (G-20)
countries in development, they called for a date by
which subsidies on exports are eliminated.
Bo Xilai, the Chinese minister of
trade, said that the developed countries should open
their markets and do more to help and protect the
poorest and most vulnerable nations; if not, there
is a risk of a disaster occurring.
The second session of the Summit,
which continues until Sunday, was also marked by a
confrontation between the Washington and Brussels
delegations. The EU accused the United States of
making personal benefit from the food aid program
for the Third World, and called on the WTO to
regulate those plans.
The United States is utilizing
those programs to place their agricultural products
in other markets in an unworthy way, according to EU
spokespeople.
|
