War on Want welcomes the collapse of the WTO trade talks in Potsdam today (Thursday 21 June 2007).
John Hilary, Campaigns and Policy Director of the anti-poverty charity War on Want, said: "US and EU intransigence has finally killed the Doha round. Yet it has long been clear that these talks would never deliver a pro-development outcome. It is better to acknowledge failure now than to press ahead towards what was going to be a negative outcome for the world's poorest countries."
Hilary continued: "This final collapse of the WTO negotiations offers the chance of a new beginning. The world's major trading nations should step back and use the next few months to reflect on their failure. Alternative approaches are available, and the WTO will only survive if it embraces a new mandate which puts justice and equity for the poor above the dogma and self-interest of the rich."
War on Want noted that EU and US intransigence on agricultural trade had been matched only by their aggression when it came to their offensive interests. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson had joined with his US counterpart Susan Schwab in demanding far-reaching cuts to the industrial tariffs of developing countries, even when it was clear that this would lead to widespread bankruptcies and redundancies.
Similarly, developing countries had come under intense pressure to give up key protections for their most vulnerable agricultural communities. Hilary added: "The hypocrisy of the EU and US in demanding market access in other countries yet still striving to protect their own producers has been staggering. A collapse is the best possible outcome in the circumstances, but the world's poorest countries deserved better."
For more information and interviews, please contact Paul Collins on +44 20 7983 550 728, or pcollins@waronwant.org
