Trade, agriculture and private sector officials of OECS-WTO members met in Roseau, Dominica on March 31st and April 1st 2009 to review and respond to the latest developments in the negotiations on agriculture, industrial goods and services in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Doha Development Round (DDA).  The activity was organised by the OECS Secretariat with funding from the EU-funded Commonwealth Secretariat Hub and Spokes Project.  The WTO Secretariat, International Trade Centre and the Caribbean Regional Negotiating Machinery provided technical support.

The global crisis and its implications for increased protectionism and reduced economic growth set the context for the officials’ deliberations.  It has been estimated that global trade will decline by 9% this year.  Political developments in some of the major players in the negotiations are also impacting on the progress of the DDA – a new US Trade Representative and a yet-to-be-defined US trade policy and agenda, elections in India and a change in the EC presidency.

The meeting discussed the major subjects being negotiated such as the tariff liberalisation formula, bananas and preference erosion and recommended negotiating positions while noting areas in which more technical work was required.  The OECS Mission in Geneva will utilise the outcome of the Consultations to table positions at the WTO.

The meeting welcomed progress in securing flexibilities for small, vulnerable economies, and maintained that the OECS negotiating strategy and priorities must be underpinned by the need to preserve policy space and ensure the round delivers on the promise of development from which it derived its name.  The meeting agreed that text circulated by the WTO in December 2008 proposing modalities for the liberalisation of trade in agricultural and industrial products provided a basis for advancing the negotiations.