Five years ago, ITC launched the Executive Forum series to help
developing and transition economies build national strategies to
improve trade competitiveness. From the start, each Executive Forum
emphasized that government strategy-makers need to work closely
with the business sector to develop trade.
The WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún, Mexico is the most
important trade development issue facing national trade development
strategy-makers this year. In light of the importance of this
event, ITC's next global Executive Forum event will take place in
Cancún, on the eve of the Ministerial Conference.
The event, co-sponsored by ITC, the Swiss State Secretariat for
Economic Affairs (seco) and Bancomext, will
include a focus on business advocacy for WTO issues - that is,
encouraging a dialogue between the public and private sector in
developing countries, in order to shape sound national negotiating
positions.
Business for Cancún
This year's Executive Forum debate builds on ITC's "Business for
Cancún" initiative, in which ITC and trade development partners are
organizing meetings in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Eastern
Europe before the WTO Ministerial Conference.
Business for Cancún identifies priority business concerns,
voices the perspective of different business communities and helps
countries integrate the business sector's views in government
negotiating positions. Senior business and government
representatives have been meeting regionally to tackle how business
can contribute to national negotiating positions for the upcoming
WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún in September. The meetings are
helping business leaders in Asia, Africa, Latin America and Eastern
Europe to better understand their governments' preparations for the
Cancún meeting, and to develop a process for business to play its
part in trade negotiations.
Business advocacy still new
Business advocacy, while essential to give negotiators a fuller
picture of what is in a country's best interest, is still
relatively new in many developing countries. Preparations for the
Cancún Conference are an opportunity for the business sector and
government to get together to discuss major issues that are on the
negotiating table from a business perspective.
Regional approach
Regional meetings are tailored to specific regional concerns.
Thus, textiles and clothing became a special focus in Asia, while
the TRIPs (Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights)
Agreement and public health was on the agenda in Africa. The first
meeting, in Kuala Lumpur (January 2003) gathered business and
government representatives from ten Asian countries and focused on
challenges in market access negotiations. At the second meeting in
Johannesburg, (March 2003), business leaders and WTO negotiators
from 15 southern African countries discussed preparations for the
Cancún Conference, with special emphasis on business advocacy for
African business interests.
E-discussions help raise
awareness
Each Business for Cancún regional meeting is preceded by an
e-mail discussion to extend the debate to a wider audience and
identify business concerns. For example, before the meeting in
Johannesburg, more than 200 business leaders, government officials
and trade development representatives from over 40 countries
registered to discuss the business advocacy situation in their
country.
Almost all participants pointed out that they were not being
well informed about the business stakes in WTO negotiations. What
also emerged is that in spite of constraints, in most of the
participating countries there are business organizations that
regularly follow WTO negotiations. However, business participation
is not uniform, as some business groups appear much more concerned
and active than others. For instance, specific interest groups like
sugar producers seem very active in certain African countries,
while 'farmers' as such are not. Many asked ITC to provide
additional assistance in developing business advocacy skills.
Regional meeting produces negotiations
checklist
Participants of the Business for Cancún workshop in Kuala Lumpur
created this checklist of issues for business to consider in the
lead-up to the Cancún meeting.
Market access
- Keep in mind the relationship between WTO provisions and
regional trade agreements.
- Consider whether there should be ceilings on tariff cuts for
developing countries.
- Advocate for an extended 'duty free' window for developing
countries in tariff schedules.
- Get agreement on the size of the 'coefficient' in the 'Swiss'
formula.
- Keep pressure up on reforming non-tariff barriers to trade
(sanitary and phytosanitary measures, anti-dumping
investigations).
- Consider budget implications of tariff cuts: look at
alternative revenue sources.
- Make sure special provisions for least developed countries
(e.g. the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), the European
Union's EBA (Everything-But-Arms) initiative) are integrated in the
Doha outcome.
Textiles
- Follow negotiations on anti-dumping and trade remedies
closely.
- Keep in mind the need for deep cuts to 'tariffied'
textiles/garment quotas.
- Watch rules of origin in regional agreements.
- Resist possible 'labour' or 'environmental' barriers.
- Work for rules limiting subsidies on fibre production.
For more information
The World Tr@de Net has developed some 25 ITC books, studies and
reports - many of which are online - to support the Business for
Cancún initiative. To see the full list, go to the World Tr@de Net
site
Below is a selection.
Trade Forum
magazine
- Doha: How Business Can Benefit (issue 3/2002)
Business Guides
- Business Guide to the World Trading System
- Business Guide to the General Agreement on Trade in
Services (GATS)
- Technical papers on trade remedies - in Canada, the European
Community and the United States
Progress reports on the status of WTO
negotiations
Business advocacy case studies
Training materials on key WTO Agreements
- Technical barriers to trade and sanitary and phytosanitary
measures
- Textiles and clothing
- Agriculture
E-discussion summaries
- Business advocacy for WTO negotiations
- Market access challenges after Doha
For more information about Business for Cancún, contact
Peter Naray, ITC Senior Adviser on the Multilateral Trading System
at naray@intracen.org or
visit the World Tr@de Net web site
(http://www.intracen.org/worldtradenet).