Will there be a WTO trade deal in 2007, or are the recent noises from the US and EU a lot of hot air?

The WTO talks were suspended in July 2006 when it became clear rich nations - such as the US and EU - were unprepared to make big cuts to their harmful farm subsidies and protective tariffs barriers.

Despite this rich nations also wanted poor countries to liberalize a host of their domestic markets – from fisheries, to automobiles, leather goods to banking services. It was no surprise there was an impasse – poor countries realized there was little in it for them, and much that could harm their prospects.

But recently the US and EU have restarted unofficial WTO talks and say they are closer to cutting a final deal. Trade ministers from 25 countries are meeting at Davos in Switzerland and will try to narrow their differences.

But ActionAid believes poor countries will be plunged further into poverty if they are forced to accept the global trade deal currently on offer. The UN say poor countries could lose $64bn in revenues and that millions of jobs are threatened. Some estimates predict poor people in poor countries will gain less than a cent a day each.

Doha Development Round
The WTO trade talks were launched in Doha in 2001 with the explicit intention of putting the interests of poor countries at the heart of global trade in order to tackle poverty. Instead, rich countries did the opposite and continue to push for an unfair deal that would have increased unemployment and poverty.

Developing countries want to protect millions of their poorest farmers and demand rich countries slash their $100bn programme of farm subsidies which lead to food mountains and excess crops dumped onto markets in poor countries.

No deal is better than a bad deal
“Poor countries are being asked to throw open their own economies in return for minor concessions in the WTO talks,” Aftab Alam Khan, head of ActionAid's Trade Justice Campaign.

“If the EU and US are serious about fighting poverty through global trade then they should stop trying to con poor countries out of the right to protect their own economies. Until they do, developing countries should not be swayed by artificial deadlines and should stay away from the negotiating table.”