Jun 8, 1985
DEADLOCK ON NEW ROUND MOVES.
GENEVA, JUNE 6 (IFDA/CHAKRAVARTHI RAGHAVAN) -- Beyond agreeing to discuss at its July meeting on the broad range of issues bout the trading system and what could be done, that GATT Council found itself unable to move forward towards any formal or informal consultations for a new round, sought by the industrial countries. Under a broadly worded agenda item that did not even mention the new round the GATT Council had been discussing Wednesday and Thursday major substantive issues on the current problems of the multilateral GATT trading system and what could be done. While the U.S.A., and other industrial countries had been seeking to get a consensus on the idea of a new round, and setting up a date for a high level meeting of GATT Contracting parties (CPs) to prepare for it, the Third World countries have rejected such an approach. On Wednesday they presented a detailed paper on how they viewed the current situation, what should be done, and the prior conditions and actions that should be taken before the Third World would be willing to propose specific GATT negotiations confined to "trade in goods only". The industrial countries professed the see in this a willingness for a new round, ant the EEC had suggested setting in motion "an informal process of consultations" that could lead to a consensus on the new round or the high level meeting. The attempt of the chairman of the GATT Council, Amb. Kazuo Chiba of Japan, through a chairman’s summing-up, to get Council endorsement for this failed when Third World countries objected. Earlier Chiba had viewed the discussions as the "start of an important dialogue", with all participants ready and willing to revise their positions in the light of positions of others. Welcoming this approach as a beginning of "building up a consensus", Chiba said the Council had started a serious and profound examination of how the implementation of the 1982 work programme could be ensured, and how the trading system could be strengthened. Chiba also took note of the wish of what he called "a growing number of Contracting Parties", to ensure implementation and seek solutions for outstanding problems through preparations for launching a new round of trade negotiations, and the specific proposals for a high level meeting in July. Chiba also said that there was a widespread wish to push this debate further, if possible to the point at which some practical conclusions could be drawn at the next meeting of the Council, and hence the issue would be put on the July Council meeting agenda. However India, Brazil, Egypt and Argentina objected when Chiba sought, through his summing up, to get Council authorisation for informal consultations "in an attempt to narrow the differences of views which still exist and start the process of synthetisation". Brazil said that while such informal consultations on routine matters before the Council was possible, the much more wide ranging issue discussed could not be disposed of in this way. All the four said they were not ready to accept the kind of approach suggested by Chiba. A GATT spokesman said Thursday evening that in the event the chairman would discuss the matter further with the Director-General on how best to proceed further. "It is not quite clear at the moment how the chairman can move the situation forward", the spokesman added. He however noted the planned meeting of the consultative group of 18 early in July.