World Trade Organization (WTO)
Current Negotiations
Informal meeting of WTO Trade Ministers held in Tokyo
Minister Pettigrew and Minister Vanclief attended an informal meeting of WTO Ministers hosted by Japan's Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ms. Yoriko Kawaguchi, and Japan's Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry, Takeo Hiranuma, in Tokyo February 14-16. The meeting brought together current trade and agriculture ministers from a broad range of member countries to discuss progress in WTO negotiations, launched at the Fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, November 2001. These negotiations are scheduled to conclude by January 2005. | 
Pictured right to left are:
Kenya: The Honourable Dr. Mukhisa Kituyi, Minister for Trade and Industry
Canada: The Honourable Pierre S. Pettigrew, Minister for International Trade
Senegal: H.E. Mrs. Aïchatou Agne Pouye, Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and Trade
Nigeria: H.E. Chief Precious Osaro Ngelale, Honourable Minister of Commerce
(At the WTO Informal Ministerial in Tokyo) |
Informal discussions in Tokyo focussed on agricultural reform and how to maintain momentum for the negotiations in the lead up to the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancun, Mexico, in September 2003. Minister Vanclief used the meeting to convey Canada's objectives to achieve the elimination of export subsidies and the substantial reduction or elimination of trade distorting domestic support to agriculture and significant improvements to market access for all agriculture and food products. For many WTO Members including Canada and most developing countries, negotiations that will result in fundamental agriculture reform are central to this round.
A few days before the Tokyo meeting, Mr. Stuart Harbinson, the Chair of negotiations on agriculture, released his first draft of a modalities text to stimulate debate in agriculture negotiations. Modalities are the rules and formulas that WTO Members would use to draft their schedules for reducing tariffs, trade-distorting domestic support, export subsidies and for increasing the size of tariff quotas. The Doha Ministerial Declaration set March 31, 2003, as the deadline for the establishment of modalities in the WTO agriculture negotiations. While Canada is pleased that Mr. Harbinson has proposed the phase-out of export subsidies, we have fundamental difficulties with other parts of the text related to market access and state trading enterprises. Canada is particularly disappointed that the Chair did not go further in his proposal to reduce trade-distorting domestic support, which is the issue of greatest importance to most countries, including Canada.
Minister Pettigrew discussed a range of issues on the WTO negotiating agenda with trade ministers in Tokyo. Working towards a multilateral solution on the issue of TRIPS and access to medicine that takes into account the interests of developing countries is of continued interest to Canada. At the same time, we seek continued intellectual property protection that allows for new and better medicines to be developed. The meeting also helped to focus attention on the approaching deadlines for market access and services negotiations. Ministers also reviewed the status of other negotiating areas such as rules and the dispute settlement understanding. Canada is actively seeking a way forward on each of these issues.
Minister Pettigrew led a discussion among Trade Ministers on the Singapore issues (trade facilitation, transparency in government procurement, investment, and competition) that will help WTO Members decide on next steps for these areas.
Countries that attended the informal meeting were: Australia, Brazil, Chile, Costa Rica, the European Community, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Lesotho, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Nigeria, Senegal, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United States. The Director General of the WTO, Dr. Supachai Panitchpakdi, also attended. The informal meeting, while not a decision making forum, was an important arena for discussion and an opportunity to help move WTO negotiations forward.
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