The G8 nations dropped a commitment on Saturday to complete the troubled Doha trade round this year and promised to pursue bilateral and regional trade talks until a global deal could be done.
WTO members launched the Doha Round in 2001 but talks have stalled amid arguments over how much rich countries should cut farm subsidies and tariffs in exchange for developing nations opening up their markets.
A communique issued at the end of the G8 summit said merely that members renewed their pledge to finish the round.
PHOTO: AFP
Last year, a G8 summit in Italy and a Pittsburgh meeting of the G20 both committed to an end date for this year.
“G8 members of the WTO renew their commitment to the successful conclusion of the Doha Development Agenda, building on the progress already made,” a joint statement of the eight said.
The text dropped a previous deadline to complete the round by the end of this year. In Toronto, leaders instead appeared to open the door to more regional and bilateral deals, which backers of the Doha Round say make it more difficult to secure a global deal.
Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, who chaired the G8 summit, used words like “at some point” and “eventually” to describe when the deal could be done.
“I would never go so far as to say Doha is dead. I don’t think it’s true and I don’t think we can afford to say that. We’ve got to find a path over time to get to a successful conclusion,” Harper told a closing news conference.
“Those of us who favor liberalized trade are not going to stand still ... Canada and many other governments are committed to more aggressively pursuing bilateral and regional trade deals as a way of kick-starting the process while we see the Doha talks remaining stalled,” he said.
Trade ministers have long said a multilateral trade deal at the WTO is more beneficial for the global economy than more limited bilateral and regional agreements.
Canada, which is holding talks with the EU about a possible free-trade agreement, has in recent years signed such deals with Israel and Chile. Along with the US and Mexico, it is part of the North American Free Trade Agreement, which came into force in 1994.
The US last week blamed China and other big emerging economies for the deadlock.
Harper said the G8 agreed that “to have a successful round in the Doha Round, eventually we all must raise our level of ambition.”
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique