Mary Robinson says negotiators must change approach
Former United Nations human rights commissioner Mary Robinson yesterday warned that WTO delegates were taking the wrong approach to negotiating what ought to be a development round.
Mrs Robinson, a former president of Ireland who is in Hong Kong in her capacity as honorary president of Oxfam, said negotiators had to realise they could not negotiate a development round 'as if it was a trade round'.
'It is a good idea to step back a little from the nitty-gritty of trade negotiations and ask ourselves what this event here should be about - this is the Doha Development Round,' she said. 'Everyone is trying to get what they want, which means the most powerful members will get their way.'
Mrs Robinson said she did not see the 'kind of change in language and approach that would make it a real development round'. A sense of trust had to be created and the impact of trade on development assessed.
'What is very important in a development round is that a lot of thought is given to the development implications of trade issues, how to close the widening gap between rich and poor,' she said.
'If that was being done, it would be clear that US subsidies on cotton deeply affect poor farmers in Mali, Burkina Faso, Chad and Benin. We must recognise that trade rules have actually made poverty worse in some of the poorest countries.' She said she visited Mali last year and could see 'very clearly' the impact of the cotton subsidies on poor farmers.
