MEETING OF THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE - JULY 21,

UNCLAS GENEVA 001778 SIPDIS PASS USTR FOR ALLGEIER AND DWOSKIN EB/OT FOR CRAFT USDA FOR FAS/ITP/SHEIKH, MTND/HENKE USDOC FOR ITA/JACOBS E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ETRD WTRO USTR SUBJECT: MEETING OF THE TRADE NEGOTIATIONS COMMITTEE - JULY 21, 2005 ¶1. The Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) met on the morning of July 21, 2005 to hear statements from Director-General Supachai on the overall state of play of the Doha Development Agenda and in ongoing consultations over implementation. Supachai suspended the TNC after the statement, saying it was important to give Members more time work on substance, rather than to make statements. He said the TNC would reconvene before, and at the latest immediately before, the meeting of the General Council scheduled for Friday, July 29. Status Report on the Doha Development Agenda ¶2. Supachai reminded Members of his prior warnings, including his reference at the last TNC that his finger was hovering over the alarm button. Now it is time to push it, Supachai said - the crisis of immobility is deepening, and there is a continuing failure to turn political support into progress in the negotiations. Referring to the informal gathering in Dalian, Supachai said there is political willingness to find common ground, but few answers are forthcoming. But it is not too late, he stressed, for some advances to occur on key issues by the end of next week: -In the agriculture negotiations, Supachai highlighted the need to work on structure, particularly in the area of market access, -In NAMA, the chair wants agreement on the shape of the formula by the end of July; there have been useful ideas to bridge gaps, including by Pakistan, but the link with agriculture is a brake on progress, and -In development, there have been intensive consultations but differences remain, and he urged participants to show more flexibility. ¶3. Overall, there has been little substantive progress in key areas, Supachai said, and that means there will be a lot of work to do in the autumn. All leaders seem committed to drive the negotiations forward to completion by 2006, he said, and there is no time to be lost. He reiterated his message from the HODS that MC6 is not far away and there needs to be a balanced package in sight by then if the DDA is to finish in 2006. Consultative Process on Implementation ¶4. Supachai also provided a report on ongoing implementation consultations, noting a lack of convergence on the two tracks, the GI extension issue and the other outstanding implementation issues related to TRIPS, BOP, market access, TRIMS, Customs Valuation, Safeguards, and TBT. Supachai concluded by saying he would recommend that his successor continue the consultative process after the summer break. ¶5. Following his remarks, Ambassador Georgiev of Bulgaria took the floor to charge that the chair swept the GI extension issue under the carpet by saying there were continuing disagreements among Members over the relation of the GI extension issue with the Doha mandate. Georgiev argued that the mandate is clear in letter and in spirit and he alleged that some Members are not negotiating in good faith because they are not negotiating. He added that if there is a failure this month, one reason for it will be that the the July 2005 date for appropriate action had been missed. Supachai rejected these assertions. He insu=isted that no one was sweeping anything under the rug. There is simply a disagreement among Members, a situation that is hardly unique to GIs. Reports by Chairs ¶6. None of the chairs made substantive reports, but Faizel Ismail, chair of the ongoing work on S&D, took the floor briefly to say he would make a statement on development when the TNC resumes and he hoped to be in a position to report progress by Tuesday. Shark