§ 4. Mr. Anne Campbell (Cambridge)What assessment she has made of the impact of the world trade talks in Cancun on developing countries. [130818]
§ The Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Ms Patricia Hewitt)I made a full statement on the recent World Trade Organisation ministerial conference yesterday. The statement included an assessment of the impact on developing countries of our failure to reach agreement.
§ Mrs. CampbellI share my right hon. Friend's disappointment that no agreement was reached in Cancun. Can she reassure me that there will be no going back on the progress that was made through negotiations, and that EU Ministers will not expect the Commissioner for Trade to press for agreements on investment and competition, which was one of the causes of the failure?
§ Ms HewittMy hon. Friend raises an important point. As I said yesterday, if we are to make progress and reach the agreement that we should have reached at Cancun, all member countries will have to pick up from where we left off in Cancun, where we were closer to agreement when we left than when we arrived. I shall seek an early opportunity to talk to ministerial colleagues in the European Union and directly to Commissioner Lamy to ensure that the European Commission, in negotiating on our behalf, sticks to the position that we took—with the full support of the Council of Ministers—that we would no longer press for negotiations in the WTO on investment and competition.
§ Sir Robert Smith (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine)Could the Secretary of State clarify the report in yesterday's Financial Times that Pascal Lamy was contemplating moving to bilateral negotiations as a result of what had happened in Cancun? If we are trying to persuade the US not to take the bilateral approach, what discussions has she had with EU colleagues to ensure that that report is erroneous and that the EU will stick to the Cancun approach?
§ Ms HewittThe Commissioner not only made plain his commitment to multilateral negations, but he reflected the fact that the Council of Ministers will need to discuss our stance on bilateral agreements. Several countries would like bilateral agreements with the EU. Quite rightly, we have put all our effort and energy into the WTO talks and the Doha round, rather than into bilateral agreements. We all need to look at that matter, as one undoubted consequence of the failure to agree at Cancun will be that there will be more of those bilateral agreements, including between G21 members. Our priority in Europe should remain the strengthening of the WTO, and trying to get the Doha round back on track.
§ Mr. Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich, West)I welcome the emergence of the G21 countries as a power bloc within the WTO, and the possible change in the balance of power inside that organisation. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that the Government will do all in their power to ensure that that development, and the possibility that bilateral trade talks might be opened with some countries, does not prejudice the prospects of the very small and underdeveloped countries that are not part of the G21 bloc?
§ Ms HewittMy hon. Friend raises an extremely important point. There was a tendency in much of the early comment on the G21 group to assume that it spoke for the whole of the developing world. Not surprisingly, that was resented quite strongly by many of the smaller developing countries, not least those in Africa. Clearly, it is not up to us to decide what countries such as Brazil, China and India do in the future, but we will continue to speak up for the interests of the poorer developing countries. They had the most to gain from an agreement at Cancun, and from successful completion of the Doha round. We will continue to put their interests first in the work that we do, both on trade and on development.