21 June 2007

Today’s collapsed Potsdam trade talks have revived calls for a thorough review of the Doha trade process, said ActionAid.

Aftab Alam Khan, head of ActionAid's Trade Justice Campaign said: "Far from being standard bearers for the poor world, the collapse of these latest G4 trade talks shows once again that the EU and US are up to their old tricks on farm subsidies and market access.

"Last week in Geneva, two-thirds of WTO delegates from developing countries surveyed by ActionAid, were not expecting any development outcomes in the current negotiations. It is now time to review the global trading rules in favour of poor countries."

The declaration of the trade talks launched in, Doha, Qatar in 2001 had promised to promote "growth and development" and that the WTO would seek to put the needs of developing countries "at the heart of its work". Asked in ActionAid’s survey whether this is being fulfilled by the current negotiations, 28 negotiators said no, nine said it was too early to tell and just three answered yes.