The New Round Suffers Throes

On Nov. 13, the last day of the Fourth World Trade Organization (WTO) Ministerial Conference, member nations are suffering throes in compromising their different interests and working out an agreement.

Even though it is highly possible for the New Round to emerge since member nations agree on it emergence, the result of negotiations cannot be easily predicted.

Accordingly, the final ministerial declaration, which had been supposed to be released at 10 AM of that day (4 PM Korean Time), was delayed, and there is a view that the negations will be continued till Nov. 14, one day extension from the original schedule.

``Nothing has been agreed regarding the six key issues over which interests of member nations are confronting each other.`` Hwang Doo-Yun, Korea`s minister for trade and head of Korean delegation said on Nov. 13. ``It is difficult to forecast the result.``

According to the Korean delegation, WTO Ministerial Conference chairman Youssef Hussain Kamal (Qatari Finance, Economy and Trade Minister) made revised drafts of the ministerial conference declarations containing issues discussed by the preceding day and is conferring with members on key controversial issues. Member nations are expected to continue several consultations based upon the drafts in six key sections, to revise the drafts, and to bring them over to the plenary session in which the heads of delegations will participate for determining as to whether they will finally accept them or not. But negotiations upon `environmental` issues on which the European Union (EU) are insisting have made no progress so far, and thus, those issues can become hindrance to the emergence of the New Round.

The EU is holding out in its original position that the `gradual reduction` of export aids in the field of agriculture is not acceptable, and thus is confronting agricultural exporters including the United States.

Regarding the anti-dumping abuse issue, the U.S. has withdrawn a little from its stubborn position and agreed to open negotiations tentatively, and is known to settle the wordings of declarations at the level where oppositions from the Congress and industry can be appeased.

It is also known that the view subsequent negotiations to undertake the New Round after its emergence should be done within three years prevails over the view that insists upon five years.

sckim@donga.com