OECS Member Countries are seeking to maximize opportunities from the resumption of Doha Round Trade talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Doha Round Trade Talks suspended in July of this year have resumed at the technical informal level.

Elliot Paige, Charge D’Affairs at the OECS Geneva Technical Mission welcomes the restart of talks as an opportunity to formalizethe quiet diplomacy, bilateral and plurilateral contacts which have been ongoing since the suspension of the Round:“The resumption means that OECS Countries can now reengage in a very intense way in technical negotiations at the WTO. We very much support and think that there is a lot for us to gain the multilateral trading system. We need to take part in the process with our capital based people at a maximum level.” 

Although pleased with the resumption of talks the OECS Mission has recognized that divergences still remain on the key issue of agriculture, particularly market access and the subsidies of developed countries. Paige says negotiations on Trade Facilitation and Services are among other proposals on the agenda for the OECS at WTO level.

In addition the OECS Geneva Office is concerned that negotiations may be fast tracked to get a resolution to the easier issues and that this approach may not be in the best interest of  the negotiating positions of the OECS and other developing countries. Further, the OECS Geneva office is advocating inclusiveness and that the issues of importance to the OECS are not left behind: “There have been talks at maybe looking at the easier issues first and maybe leaving those issues that may be more difficult to negotiate such as Development Issues behind. We don’t believe that we should leave anything behind. We should certainly have a horizontal approach to all issues and to all areas of interest for all members of the WTO…We should negotiate Development Issues up front. This is why we are negotiating in this development round”-Paige

Director of the Economic Affairs Division of the OECS Secretariat Randolph Cato also visited the OECS Geneva Technical Mission and engaged in the resumed negotiations. Cato emphasized that with this resumption of talks one must ensure that future engagements will reinforce the process of development.“It places back on the table the urgency to ensure consistency and coherence between what is happening in the EPA negotiations and what is happening at the level of the WTO. For us these negotiations must speak to an environment and support for the transformation of our economies and the negotiations we are engaged in must add value in that context and since development is a holistic concept we cannot develop one way on the EPA and a different way in the WTO Negotiations.” He called for discussions on cooperation between the OECS Secretariat and Geneva based Organisations and Missions. Cato’s visit includes a stop in Brussels for discussions on Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) negotiations with the European Union. This is seen as an opportunity for the OECS to also contribute to these negotiations while building on ties with multilateral agencies as well as laying the foundation to benefit from interventions in the area of technical cooperation.  

The resumed Doha Round Trade talks coincided with the annual WTO Geneva Week forum, during which the OECS Mission hosted a meeting of resident and non-resident delegations on the status of CARICOM technical work and discussed further coordination in crafting responses to the negotiations between capital and Geneva-based officials.