Tariffs will top agenda at meeting of world trade ministers

SOUTH AFRICA will join the meeting of trade ministers in Qatar this weekend (November 10) at probably the last gathering of its kind, says trade minister Alec Erwin.
"There's not much logic in any further rounds in this series," he says. "I think there is general agreement in that respect. When the first meeting was held in Singapore five years ago it was agreed to open up more topics for discussion. Most countries said at the time that there was no option but to have one more round. But the last attempt in Seattle three years ago ended in failure and it's time to rethink the process."
What Erwin sees as important in any further gatherings is that developing countries have to ensure they are not bulldozed into agreements that benefit only the richer nations, with the matter of hammering out tariffs high on the list of considerations. Richer nations, says Erwin, often impose higher duties on processed goods, preventing countries that produce raw materials from processing them at home, and artificially protecting industries. Industrial tariffs are probably the biggest paybacks countries like South Africa are seeking, he says.
Erwin is hopeful that at Qatar agreements can be reached on services and government procurements, but agriculture is likely to prove a continuing problem. Here developing countries want to break subsidies which are claimed to give an unfair advantage to producers in richer countries.
One point of discussion in which South Africa is expected to feature prominently is a World Trade Organisation (WTO) intellectual property agreement known as TRIPS, which developing countries want clarified to allow them to break patents held by pharmaceutical companies.