Oxfam : Davos meeting must change tack

The future of the world economy and trading system is at a critical juncture, with global trade negotiations leaving the poorest countries behind, Oxfam warned early this week on the eve of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

The international aid agency called on powerful business leaders and politicians at the meeting seriously to consider ways in which poverty and development could be prioritised in global trade negotiations, and warned that without a change of tack, inequality and insecurity would increase, which would be in nobody's interests.

Barbara Stocking, director of Oxfam Great Britain, who is attending the Forum, said pro-development trade reform at the multilateral level was badly needed, and yet agreement at the World Trade Organisation that would serve poor countries' interests still seems a long way off.

Rich countries are concentrating on regional and bilateral deals that impose harsher conditions and entrench existing inequalities.

"The EU, US and others are carving up the world into a series of agreements that undermine multilateralism and stretch the negotiating capacity of developing countries, who face unprecedented pressure to make radical policy changes that will seriously undermine their efforts to reduce poverty."

Oxfam said that talk of an approaching accord between the European Union and United States on agricultural negotiations at the WTO should not detract from the reality that there is a long way to go to get a multilateral deal that is genuinely pro-poor.

"What was being proposed when WTO talks were suspended was far from acceptable from a development perspective," Stocking said. "Just because the EU and US may be able to find a mutually acceptable compromise that satisfies their domestic lobbies does not mean that we are any closer to a deal that will reduce poverty."

Meanwhile, the US should focus on agreeing a pro-development Farm Bill, which would help facilitate a WTO agreement to reduce trade-distorting agricultural subsidies and end dumping. Both trading powers should re-prioritise the multilateral negotiations, above regional and bilateral deals, and focus on meeting the promises made for reforms that boost development.

The private sector has an important role to play, she said. It should reduce behind-the-scenes pressure for trade agreements that favour corporate interests above the needs of poor people and the environment.

True corporate social responsibility respects the need of developing countries' economies for space to grow, and extends this down the supply chain by guaranteeing workers' rights, transferring technology and training local staff.

The Nation Thailand
Sunday January 28, 2007