The World Trade Organisation's ministers meeting on March 29 in Geneva will be a key indicator of whether the marathon Doha Round of trade talks can be wrapped up this year.
Thawatchai Sophasatienpong, Thai ambassador to the WTO, told The Nation that while not enough progress has been made to warrant the attendance of trade ministers at the Geneva meeting, which will essentially be a stock-taking exercise, senior officials and ambassadors would attend and work hard to narrow the gaps between members, in particular on farm subsidies.
WTO members are trying to conclude the Doha Round by the end of 2010 as scheduled.
"It is in the interest of all members to see the deal done within the time frame mandated by the leaders and trade ministers. While there are some serious gaps to be bridged, provided there is a strong political will by some important players to iron out their differences, taking into account the need for a balanced package, 2010 is still quite possible," said Thawatchai.
He pointed out some positive signs that the round can be concluded, saying there is a clear indication at the political level that ministers are aware of the situation and remain very much engaged in the process.
Meanwhile, the world's major sugar exporters - Thailand, Australia and Brazil - on February 18 expressed concern regarding the European Union's submission of a new sugar measure to the WTO's Settlement Body. The three countries accused the EU of breaching its obligations to the WTO by subsidising sugar exports.
Thawatchai said the three countries viewed the EU measure as inconsistent with WTO rules because the EU is exporting subsidised sugar above the amount allowed by the organisation.
"Right now, we [three countries] all believe that the EU is in breach of its WTO commitments," said Thawatchai, adding that they are waited to receive detailed information from the EU, whose actions he said had caused sugar prices in the global market to collapse.
Under WTO rules, the EU has committed itself to exporting a maximum of 1.273 million tonnes of subsidised sugar per year. However, as a result of the new measure, the EU would export more than half a million tonnes of sugar above the WTO-permitted level.
This violates the EU's WTO commitments, which were upheld by both a WTO panel and the Appellate Body in the original WTO dispute that Thailand, Australia and Brazil won against the EU sugar regime back in 2005.
In that dispute, the Panel and Appellate Body ruled that the EU was violating its WTO obligations by exporting subsidised sugar above its commitment level. The EU promised to change its regime in order to comply with its WTO obligations, and committed to export no more than 1.273 million tonnes of subsidised sugar per year. Nevertheless, the EU's most recent measure is in contravention of that obligation, Thawatchai said.
At their latest meeting, Thailand, Australia and Brazil demanded in front of the Dispute of Settlement Body (DSB) that the EU explain and provide more information about its new measure, and justify it in light of its WTO obligations. The EU promised to do so in the near future but did not provide any concrete data during the meeting, said Thawatchai.
The DSB statements that Thailand, Australia and Brazil delivered regarding the EU measure do not serve to initiate a new WTO dispute. However, as all three countries have previously indicated, no course of action is excluded at this time, Thawatchai said.
At present, the three countries are contemplating all courses of action, including further resort to the WTO dispute-settlement system, the ambassador said.
Which course of action they decide to take may well depend on the extent to which the EU is forthcoming and can justify its new measure, he said.
