Oct 9, 1991
SELA MEMBERS CONCERNED OVER PERSISTING ASYMMETRIES IN ROUND.
GENEVA, OCTOBER 7 (TWN) – The Latin American and Caribbean countries have expressed their "preoccupation" with persisting asymmetries in the Uruguay Round negotiations since the Brussels meeting and have called for their redressal.The conclusions reached at a consultation meeting of SELA (Latin American and Caribbean Economic System) held in 3 October were released here Monday. In the conclusions, the Latin American and Caribbean countries agreed on the need to conclude the Round in the shortest possible time and took note of the decision of the official level TNC chairman to accelerate the negotiating process so as to produce a new version of MTN/TNC/W/35/Rev. 1 (the draft Final Act of agreements in various negotiating areas which was before the Brussels meeting). But this process, the meeting said, "would only be valid if it redresses the asymmetries and guarantee transparency, full participation, and results that amply contemplate the fundamental interests of all countries". The statement said the countries reviewed and evaluated the situation in the Uruguay Round of multilateral negotiations in order to define their strategy for the final phase. They recognised that since the Brussels Ministerial meeting and its failure in December 1990, certain political developments had contributed to encourage the expectations that the negotiations could be finalised. However the SELA countries expressed their "preoccupation" with two kinds of asymmetries that had persisted since the Brussels meeting. On the one hand, in areas such as services and intellectual property the broad outlines of the final texts were clearly emerging in marked contrast with the "substantially unsatisfactory situation" in other areas of greater interest to the region such as: market access, including tropical products and natural resource-based products, textiles, agriculture and strengthening of the rules and disciplines of the multilateral trading system. On the other hand, while the Latin American and Caribbean countries have participated actively with constructive and flexible positions, this attitude had not been reflected in the position of the major industrialised countries. The decision of the TNC official-level chairman to accelerate the process of negotiations in order to produce a new version of W/35/Rev. 1 would permit "a global assessment of the state of the negotiations, of the linkages existing among different areas and issues of the Round, and of the negotiating process necessary in order to successfully complete the Round". "This process would only be valid if it redresses the above mentioned asymmetries and is subject to procedures that guarantee transparency, full participation and results that amply contemplate the fundamental interests of all countries", the SELA statement said. It reaffirmed also the earlier SELA Ministerial statement that a set of "limited or partial results, especially if they do not correspond to the objectives that are most important for our countries, would therefore be totally unacceptable". The SELA members underscored the Punta del Este declaration's mandate that "an evaluation of the results of the negotiations must be undertaken before their completion" and said SELA's updated evaluation would be based on the criteria that among other things the results should: * Contribute to a substantial improvement in conditions of market access for all products without exception so as to ensure that the developing countries have an increasing share in world exports, * Include reinforced and objective multilateral disciplines that strengthen the multilateral trading system through full respect for the principle of non-discrimination; an effective differential and more favourable treatment for developing countries; the prohibition of all arrangements for market sharing and managed trade; prohibition of any unilateral action outside the legal framework of the General Agreement; and the maintenance of a strengthened and fully effective system for dispute settlement.