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1. INTRODUCTION
The Second Southern and Eastern African Trade Information
and Negotiation Initiative (SEATINI) Workshop was held in
Kampala, Uganda, from 4 to 9 March 1999, under the auspices
of the International South Group Network (ISGN). It was facilitated
by resource persons with wide experience in Trade and Development
issues and participants were trade policy officials drawn
from 16 Eastern and Southern Africa Countries as well as representatives
of Non Governmental Organisations and the Civil society.
The objective of the Workshop was to prepare African Countries
from Eastern and Southern Africa and enhance their capacity
to participate effectively in the process leading to the third
World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Conference and
subsequent round of trade negotiations.
This was a follow-up to the first SEATINI workshop held in
Harare, Zimbabwe (1998), aimed at initiating a process of
strengthening the capacity of African trade negotiators.
Honorable Manzi Tumubweine, Uganda's Minister of State for
Trade officially opened the workshop. The UNDP Resident Representative
and UNCTAD representative made introductory remarks.
2. FRAMEWORK
The workshop noted that the framework and content of the
next negotiations are currently under discussion within the
WTO, with the following proposal emerging:
Sectoral approach
Comprehensive Approach
Cluster Approach
There are also proposals to have negotiations completed within
a shorter timeframe. In view of our past experience, there
would be need to have a preliminary mid term review to evaluate
progress.
Despite the divergent proposals by the WTO members on the
form the future negotiations will take, there is an emerging
consensus among the major trading powers of having a round
of negotiations. African Countries will want to limit the
focus to issues relating to implementation and the built-in
agenda. A new comprehensive round would entail an unsustainable
burden and should not include new issues.
It is however, important that whatever form these negotiations
will take, our countries should be adequately prepared to
negotiate and defend our interests. Our objectives in these
negotiations should be spelt out clearly.
3. CONTENT
The participants recognized the regrettable fact that their
countries did not participate effectively in the previous
rounds of negotiations, and the last two Ministerial Conferences,
resulting in marginalization of issues of interest to African
Countries. Therefore, the Agreements negotiated thus far largely
reflect the interests of the developed countries.
3.1 IMPLEMENTATION
African countries still face difficulties in the implementation
of Uruguay Round agreements. This situation has been exacerbated
by the developed countries' failure to fulfill their commitments
in a fair and balanced manner especially those relating to
special and differential treatment. Furthermore, there has
been no significant progress in the implementation of commitments
made during the High Level Meeting on LDCs held in October
1997.
Concerted effort should be made at both national and regional
levels to address issues related to the implementation of
Uruguay Round Agreements. These problems should be raised
as items for consideration during the preparatory process
at the General Council.
The six core organisations under the Integrated Framework
for Technical Assistance Programme should broaden the scope
of national needs assessment to ensure that technical assistance
progammes are directed at addressing supply constraints and
the capacity of Least Developed Countries (LDCs). The solution
needs to be more systematic and include active promotion of
LDC imports by Developed Countries; and increasing the Technical
Assistance component of the regular WTO budget. LDCs should
also be provided with longer transitional periods in the implementation
of certain WTO Agreement.
3.2 ANTI-DUMPING
The agreement on Anti-dumping is complex and costly to use.
However, this is an important instrument that can be used
by our countries as they liberalize and participate more in
the international trading system. There is therefore need
for awareness building and education of both governmental
institutions and the private sector. Developed countries have
had the tendency to use anti-dumping investigations for harassment
and protectionist purposes. Therefore, developed countries
should fulfill their obligation to consider alternatives before
imposing anti-dumping duties against products from developing
countries.
3.3 SUBSIDIES
The agreement has benefited Developed Countries more than
the developing countries. To redress the situation, African
countries should present proposals for making subsidies targeted
at development and diversification programmes to be non-actionable.
3.4 DISPUTE SETTLEMENT
The WTO Dispute Settlement mechanism is recognized as a crucial
pillar for effective functioning of the rules-based multilateral
trading system. However the system contains an inherent asymmetry
which disadvantages developing and African countries in particular.
These countries find it difficult and costly to seek recourse
to the system.
African Countries should make proposals for the consideration
of the relevant WTO organs to ensure that our countries can
also effectively utilize the Dispute Settlement mechanism.
African countries should also support the proposal for the
establishment of an independent Advisory Centre on WTO Law
to assist developing countries in dispute settlement.
3.5 TBT AND SPS MEASURES
Developing country exports to Developed Country markets face
various technical standards and sanitary and phytosanitary
measures that constitute market access constraints and barriers
to trade. It will be necessary to ensure that international
standards are negotiated by consensus and that African countries
participate in the process.
Developing Countries should take advantage of their right
to technical assistance to upgrade conformity assessment procedures
and standards while the Developed countries should meet their
obligations on technology transfer.
3.6 TRADE IN SERVICES
WTO negotiations in the area of services present both challenges
and opportunities to African Countries. In most African countries
the services sector is one area that has not been adequately
explored despite its great potential. The lack of adequate
data, weak human and other resource capacity, has further
limited effective participation by African Countries under
GATS.
There should be an element of flexibility in the agreement
and effective special and differential treatment provisions
that will inter-alia allow African countries to provide subsidies
for certain services, take emergency safeguard measures, etc.
There is need on the part of African countries to identify
areas for negotiating commitments in line with their developmental
needs.
3.7 AGRICULTURE
The area of Agriculture is of social, cultural, environment,
and political concern, as well as economic importance to developing
countries. The developed countries are maintaining high levels
of domestic support and export subsidies as well as very high
levels of tariffs on several agricultural products. Further
negotiations in the area of agriculture should result in immediate
withdrawal of domestic support and export subsidies by developed
countries and significant reduction in their tariffs, thereby
increasing market access for developing countries.
Food security and the maintenance of agriculture-based livelihoods
are major development goals for African countries. The participants
were convinced that the developing countries have to do their
best in producing food for their domestic consumption, and
any hindrance in their effort caused by the existing WTO rules
should be removed. African countries should therefore propose
that food imports are exempted from the minimum access provisions;
that food products locally produced for domestic consumption
in Developing Countries should be excluded from the disciplines
of import control and domestic support; and that Developing
Countries should have flexibility regarding import restraint
and domestic subsidy for the protection of and support to
all household subsistence farming and small scale farming.
The Marrakech decision on net food importing developing countries
should be made more effective and enforceable, (for example,
by a Fund to which major Agricultural exporting countries
should contribute through an assessed compulsory system in
the WTO). Improving market access for these countries should
also be facilitated through concrete measures.
3.8 TEXTILES
Concern was raised that the developed importing countries
had not liberalized their textiles sector in the spirit of
progressive liberalization as envisaged in the agreement by
taking recourse to technicalities. Furthermore, the major
importing Developed Countries had taken recourse to transitional
safeguard measures and anti-dumping measures repeatedly against
the exports of developing countries. Developed countries should
accelerate the process of liberalization and refrain from
taking safeguard and anti-dumping measures.
3.9 TRADE RELATED ASPECTS OF INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY RIGHTS (TRIPS)
The TRIPS Agreement contains fundamental imbalances inimical
to developing countries' interests due to the one sided manner
in which it was negotiated. Adverse effects include constraints
on domestic technological development, barriers to technology
transfer, monopolistic high prices (including of medicinal
products, seeds and computer software). As far as Africa is
concerned, the most serious problem in TRIPS is that it does
not specifically recognise the rights of local communities
to their traditional and indigenous knowledge, and this may
lead to unjustified patenting of their knowledge and of biological
resources by foreign corporations. African countries should
make proposals to correct this situation and thus propose
revisions to the Agreement that will support their development
and access to appropriate technology.
With regard to Article 27.3b, even though developing countries
have not yet started implementing this article due to their
transitional periods, they have however, identified areas
of priority to be considered in the review.
African countries are very concerned that Article 27.3b may
facilitate the appropriation of local knowledge of the use
of biological resources through patenting of this knowledge
by corporations. We urge that the following priorities and
proposals be considered in the review of this Article; the
option for countries to exclude all biological materials or
life forms from patentibility the development by African countries
of a suitable sui-generis systems of protection for plant
varieties, indigenous knowledge and technologies and community
rights in line with their national developmental priorities;
and to ensure that the TRIPS agreement conforms with the Convention
on Biodiversity.
3.10 ACCESSION.
African countries should lend their support to those countries
who are the in process of accession.
3.11 NEW ISSUES
African Countries will need to clearly define their interests
and objectives as the basis for their participation. This
would require governments to be adequately prepared to prevent
the emergence of new multilateral rules and obligations that
may unduly restrict nationally determined policy objectives.
Such consideration may cover potential costs and benefits
for being party or not to the possible outcome in these areas.
3.11.1 Trade and Environment
Trade and Environment should be discussed in the context
of sustainable development. African countries are as concerned
as others about the environment but insist that the issues
be tackled with due balance to environmental protection and
trade promotion for sustainable development. African countries
are against the use of trade measures, especially unilateral
measures, for narrow protectionist purposes. We are also against
attempts to prevent multilaterally agreed environment measures
to deal with genuine environmental problems such as the trade
in hazardous wastes and products, and measures to promote
biosafety, through the fallacious claim that such legitimate
measures are against WTO rules. Furthermore, developed countries
must meet their commitments on financial aid and technology
transfer to African countries to enable more environmentally
sound development, including for exports products.
3.11.2 Investment
The failure of OECD MAI negotiations has led to greater pressures
from major developed countries to initiate negotiations for
an investment agreement in the WTO. We view such initiatives
with grave concern since an MAI type agreement would severely
restrict African countries' ability to regulate investment
towards development objectives. The WTO Working Group on Trade
and Investment should continue its study process, since the
relations between trade and investment policies and processes
are very complex. It would be premature, burdensome and even
a danger to African countries should there be a decision in
1999 to start negotiations towards an Agreement.
We therefore believe that proposals to change the study process
into a negotiating process should not be accepted. Meanwhile
African governments should deeply study the most appropriate
national policies for maximizing the benefits and minimizing
the risks and costs of various categories of foreign investment
and capital flows. Such studies would help clarify the issues
in the relationship between trade, investment and development
and thus our position in the Working Group.
3.11.3 Competition policy
Competition policy should remain principally an issue of
domestic domain so that governments can tailor and use it
in a way that is in line with their national objective on
development and fair trade practices. It should be recognized
that a balanced policy would aim at curbing anti-competitive
conditions whilst also dealing with the danger of large foreign
firms taking too much market share at the expense of the local
sector. It is also recognized that there is a need to deal
with anti-competitive practices in international trade, such
as restrictive business practices, transfer pricing and abuse
of anti-dumping provisions. The Working Group on trade and
competition policies has not yet produced an adequate clarification
of the issues involved. Therefore the Group should continue
to study the issues.
3.11.4 Government procurement
The present mandate of the Working Group on Government Procurement
is to study the elements of transparency in procurement processes.
African countries should insist that the Working Group continue
its work on this limited topic. There should be no attempt
to expand the scope of the Group's mandate beyond transparency.
African governments should continue to have the authority
to decide on their procurement priorities and processes, and
there should be no negotiations for multilateral disciplines
in this area.
3.11.5 Electronic Commerce
Serious adverse consequences of duty free status for products
transmitted electronically include: a) loss of revenue for
African governments; b) establishment of a dangerous precedence
in which a mode of delivery becomes ground for tariff free
status.
African countries should closely monitor the work programme
on electronic commerce. The tariff-free status of products
delivered electronically should remain within a temporary
timeframe as the issues involved here have not been fully
understood and require further analysis.
3.11.6 Industrial Tariffs
African countries are concerned that many industrial products
of their export interests are still subject to tariff peaks,
tariff escalation and tariff dispersion in the developed countries.
However, the proposal to include tariff reductions in future
negotiations is premature; it may lead to request for reductions
in the industrial tariffs of Developing Countries. There is
a real danger that if tariffs are reduced in sectors where
local firms are not yet sufficiently competitive, these firms
will be closed, resulting in further de-industialisation in
Africa.
3.11.7 Labour
At Singapore Ministerial Conference ministers agreed that
labour issues belong to the International Labour Organisation.
Africa reaffirms this position. Any new attempts to link social
issues to the WTO and its Dispute Settlement System should
be resisted.
3.12 OTHER ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE TO
AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Africa today faces severe trade and economic problems, including
external debt, drastic decline in commodity prices, currency
and financial instability, all of which affect their export
earnings and balance of payment position. These issues are
not being considered in the WTO and the WTO system should
incorporate these key issues into its discussions with the
view to eventually have them in its rules so as to aid the
growth and development of African countries.
4. STRATEGIES
- African countries should prepare national papers on the
problems they face in implementing the Uruguay round agreements
and submit these to the WTO negotiation organs by July 1999.
- There is need for African Countries to coordinate their
position at national, sub-regional and regional levels. In
this process of coordination all relevant stakeholders must
be involved at all levels as well as among African representatives
in Geneva. This coordination should be done during the preparatory,
negotiation and aftermath.
- African government will have to carefully study, critically
analyse and understand possible implications of the proposed
new issues in order to strategize their positions. Such analysis
should entail full appreciation of the final structure of
the negotiations.
- There is need for a firm political will on the part of
African governments to adopt strategies and tactics that will
enable them to participate effectively in the preparatory
and negotiation process.
- SEATINI programme has contributed immensely to the enhancement
of African Countries' capacity to understand WTO issues and
better prepare themselves for multilateral trade negotiations.
This programme should be continued especially during this
preparatory process of the 3rd Ministerial meeting as well
as in the future. Our governments are called upon to support
this initiative through organisation of activities to further
these objectives; Regional and International Agencies such
as UNCTAD, UNDP, WTO, ITC, OAU, and South Centre are requested
to support this initiative.
- The capacity of African governments to participate in the
discussions and decision making process in the WTO system
is inadequate. This is due to the lack of financial and human
resources of African countries as well as several aspects
of decision making systems and processes in the WTO. Africa
proposes that:
- their governments give higher priority and therefore allocate
more resources to facilitate more effective and informed African
participation in multilateral trade negotiations.
- the international community should take measures to assist
African countries in this matter
- the decision making processes and systems in the WTO should
be improved to enable more transparent, more balanced participation
by the smaller and poor countries.
- African governments recognise and appreciate the efforts
of civil society particularly NGOs such as the ISGN and the
Third World Network in the area of trade and development and
encourage them to continue and expand their activities for
the benefit of African and other Developing Countries.
3.11.7 Labour
At Singapore Ministerial Conference ministers agreed that
labour issues belong to the International Labour Organisation.
Africa reaffirms this position. Any new attempts to link social
issues to the WTO and its Dispute Settlement System should
be resisted.
3.11.8 OTHER ISSUES OF IMPORTANCE
TO AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Africa today faces severe trade and economic problems, including
external debt, drastic decline in commodity prices, currency
and financial instability, all of which affect their export
earnings and balance of payment position. These issues are
not being considered in the WTO and the WTO system should
incorporate these key issues into its discussions with the
view to eventually have them in its rules so as to aid the
growth and development of African countries.
4. STRATEGIES
- African countries should prepare national papers on the
problems they face in implementing the Uruguay round agreements
and submit these to the WTO negotiation organs by July 1999.
- There is need for African Countries to coordinate their
position at national, sub-regional and regional levels. In
this process of coordination all relevant stakeholders must
be involved at all levels as well as among African representatives
in Geneva. This coordination should be done during the preparatory,
negotiation and aftermath.
- African government will have to carefully study, critically
analyse and understand possible implications of the proposed
new issues in order to strategize their positions. Such analysis
should entail full appreciation of the final structure of
the negotiations.
- There is need for a firm political will on the part of
African governments to adopt strategies and tactics that will
enable them to participate effectively in the preparatory
and negotiation process.
- SEATINI programme has contributed immensely to the enhancement
of African Countries' capacity to understand WTO issues and
better prepare themselves for multilateral trade negotiations.
This programme should be continued especially during this
preparatory process of the 3rd Ministerial meeting as well
as in the future. Our governments are called upon to support
this initiative through organisation of activities to further
these objectives; Regional and International Agencies such
as UNCTAD, UNDP, WTO, ITC, OAU, and South Centre are requested
to support this initiative.
- The capacity of African governments to participate in the
discussions and decision making process in the WTO system
is inadequate. This is due to the lack of financial and human
resources of African countries as well as several aspects
of decision making systems and processes in the WTO. Africa
proposes that:
- their governments give higher priority and therefore allocate
more resources to facilitate more effective and informed African
participation in multilateral trade negotiations.
- the international community should take measures to assist
African countries in this matter
- the decision making processes and systems in the WTO should
be improved to enable more transparent, more balanced participation
by the smaller and poor countries.
- African governments recognise and appreciate the efforts
of civil society particularly NGOs such as the ISGN and the
Third World Network in the area of trade and development and
encourage them to continue and expand their activities for
the benefit of African and other Developing Countries.
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