Failure of WTO agricultural negotiations: morocco expresses disappointment of African group

Morocco, chairman of the African Group at the World Trade Organization, expressed in Geneva on Wednesday the Group's disappointment following the failure of WTO's agriculture negotiations, warning against "negative repercussions" on other negotiations.

In a speech before the Commercial Negotiations Committee, currently holding a high level session, Morocco's ambassador to the United Nations, Omar Hilale recalled the negative performance of agriculture negotiations since 2000, as demonstrated by the Chairman of agriculture negotiations' committee, Stuart Harbinson.

Harbinson had said that despite "sustainable efforts," bones of contention between member states on key issues made it difficult to come around an agreement by March.31, adding that these disagreements are related to tariffs and subsidies as well as on commercial aspects of agriculture.

The Moroccan diplomat further noted that the ambition voiced by ministers at the Doha conference "may well leave room to suspicion and distrust."

The African Group, he went on, wonders how the Cancun Conference (10-14 September 2003), next WTO's ministerial meeting, will manage to reach concrete results, given the fact that the three other chapters of negotiations were unfruitful.