Economy
African negotiators prepare joint position on trade

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afrol News, 26 June - African trade negotiators are meeting in Addis Ababa this week to brainstorm on hot topics such as whether African countries should support a new trade round, what to do about the failure to implement existing World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, and whether labour and environmental standards should be part of any new trade round.

The negotiators are meeting under the auspices of a high-level workshop organised by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) with the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), and in collaboration with the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), WTO and the African Economic Research Consortium (AERC).

According to ECA, "The workshop provides an opportunity for Geneva-based African trade negotiators, their counterparts from African capitals, research economists, members of civil society and private sector operators to hammer out a common African negotiating position prior to the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference, to be held in Doha, Qatar from 9 - 13 November 2001. Participants will also address co-ordination issues around the ACP-EU Cotonou Partnership Agreement negotiations, as well as the US Africa Growth Opportunity Act (AGOA)."

ECA holds, the workshop "is important because it is taking place in the shadow of increasingly contentious debates about the multilateral trading system." The recent spate of protests at the IMF/World Bank meetings in Prague and Washington and protests at the WTO meeting in Seattle have provoked a deepening of the debate on globalisation.

Anti-globalists tell stories of how Mozambique's cashew nut processing industry was "destroyed" when export tariffs on raw cashew nuts was removed. They argue that trade has increased poverty in poor countries, that multinationals exploit foreign workers - particularly women - and that trade destroys the environment. Pro-globalists talk about making globalisation work for the poor and tout the benefits of a rules-based multilateral trading system.

A number of important meetings will follow this week's seminar, ECA informs, including: a meeting of Least Developed Countries (LDC) Trade Negotiators to be held in Tanzania at the end of July 2001; a meeting of the General Council of the WTO to be held at the end of July 2001 to take stock of preparations for the Doha WTO Ministerial Conference; and the OAU Ministers of Trade Meeting to be held in Abuja. Nigeria in September 2001.

Sources: Based on ECA

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