Feb 27, 1990

URUGUAY ROUND IN JEOPARDY WARNS THIRD WORLD.

GENEVA, FEBRUARY 25 (BY CHAKRAVARTHI RAGHAVAN) -- The informal group of Third World countries in the GATT have warned that the present attitude of Industrial Countries in ignoring the essential interests of the Third World participants was "unacceptable" and if the situation persisted it would "seriously jeopardise" the Uruguay Round.

The warning was in a statement adopted by the group on February 23.

In their statement, drawn up after assessing the state of play in the Uruguay Round, the Third World countries complained of lack of balance in the negotiations and called for political decisions being made manifest now to correct the situation.

The statement also urged all participants to recognise the gravity of the present situation and to negotiate with renewed intent to implement the Punta del Este Declaration and the Mid-Term Review Agreement in their entirety.

The decision to launch the Round had been taken when the multilateral trading system was characterised by:

* Prevalence of protectionist and distorting policies resulting in serious macro and micro-economic imbalances and a growing erosion of benefits arising from the international trading system, to the developing country-participants;

* An evolving transformation of the international economy signifying a growing inter-dependence inter alia through expansion in new areas of international trade; and

* The adverse effect of protectionism an the ability of indebted countries to promote their trade and development and meet their financial obligations.

The Third World countries, the statement recalled, had given their backing to the Uruguay Round because they were convinced that it represented an opportunity to secure a fair and equitable and a more open, truly multilateral trading system, as a means of promoting the economic growth of all participants and the development of the Third World countries.

They had sought and obtained a "political commitment" for a balanced outcome of the results and for an operational reflection of their development needs and concerns in these results. It was only on this basis that a balanced expansion in the rights, obligations and indeed benefits of all participants could be achieved.

Based on these premises, the Third World participants had been negotiating in the Uruguay Round "constructively and in good faith" and they were prepared to continue to do so in the coming months in order to contribute to the success of the round.

"However, after assessing the state of the negotiations developing-country participants note with deep concern the current lack of balance in the negotiations, which stems from a failure by many developed-country participants to engage meaningfully in the traditional areas while at the same time pressing for cross-linkages to, and far reaching results in the new areas".

Such imbalances, the statement said, were evident in the prevailing position in the market access groups especially tropical products and natural resource-based products, where "procedures have been substituted for substance"-

The imbalances, the statement went on, were also evident in the "apparent lack of political will fully to integrate textiles and agriculture within GATT disciplines; in the proposals to introduce selective safeguards as a permanent feature of the system and thereby weakening the fundamental principles of the GATT; and to enlarge the scope of antidumping and countervailing duty rules for protectionist purposes".

"Furthermore, imbalances are also manifest in proposals and initiatives advanced in various negotiating groups which aim at depriving developing countries of their rights under the GATT, and at imposing obligations in disregard of the special needs and conditions of developing-country participants including those of the least developed and in contravention of the commitment undertaken at Punta del Este for a balanced outcome of the negotiations".

"The present attitude has the potential to undermine the essential interests of developing-country participants in the Round and is thus unacceptable to them".

"Consequently it should be pointed out now, while there is still time to adopt the necessary corrective measures, that if this situation persists it will seriously jeopardise the Uruguay Round".

"Developing country participants are convinced that after three years of negotiations the time for political decisions has arrived and these must become manifest without further delay. The Trade Negotiations Committee in its April and July meetings, will have to produce a balanced overall package that will be the basis of the evaluation procedures for developing countries established in the Punta del Este Declaration which, if found acceptable, could be finalised in the Brussels Ministerial meeting planned for December".