South Africa a Voice for Developing Countries at the WTO

Keynote speaker Mandisi Mpahlwa, South Africa’s Trade and Industry Minister, addressed South Africa’s National Economic Consultative Conference on the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Nov. 1, in preparation for the WTO’s upcoming sixth Ministerial Conference in Hong Kong, to be held in December.

The country’s differing voices seek consensus before the December conference. Members of South Africa’s National Economic Development and Labor Council (NEDLAC) and the South African Parliament have an important voice in the final negotiating terms brought to the table at the conference in Hong Kong.

The WTO is viewed as an effective tool for developing nations in international trade, as it is one of the only viable venues for adjusting trade imbalances between nations. South Africa lobbies the WTO because it allows access to international markets, removes uncertainties in trade relations, uses non-discriminatory practices, maintains transparency, and grants developing countries some clout during negotiations.

Mpahlwa stressed the WTO’s ongoing Doha discussions in Qatar as the most important tool for achieving equal partnership between Africa and developed nations of the world.

“We are clear that the existing rules largely reflect the interests of powerful players in the system,” said Mpahlwa. “In almost all the agreements one can find imbalances and inequities that prejudice the trade and development interests of developing countries. Without a new round of negotiations we would remain locked into prejudicial existing rules.

“Making the WTO deliver for Africa is critical. An early conclusion of the current round of the Doha negotiations would deliver the best overall context for the development prospects of African countries. Correcting the profound imbalances in agricultural trade is a central element of our objectives, but it also requires expanding real market access for industrial products of exporter interest to developing countries. Differential treatment in favor of developing countries must underpin the negotiations.”

South Africa believes the United States’ proposal on agriculture was fair, but did not go far enough to address the concerns of less developed nations. The European Union was singled out for stalling negotiations.

Mpahlwa had a number of suggestions to be presented in the upcoming WTO conference, including fast-track elimination of export subsidies and tariff peaks, non-reciprocal duty-free and quota-free access to all products from less developed countries, certain rule exemptions for poorer African countries, and preferential long-term loans.

South Africa has deep concerns regarding agricultural trade imbalances and skewed negotiations that favor developed nations. But these concerns do not overshadow Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA) negotiations by the WTO. South Africa is aware of the need for flexibility until African countries have caught up with developed nations and become equal partners.

“We need to prepare detailed negotiating positions in a manner that is both technically and politically defensible. This is our collective challenge,” said Mpahlwa in his concluding statement.

NEDLAC was established in 1994 as an arm of South Africa’s Department of Labor, and was South Africa’s first step away from apartheid into participatory democracy. NEDLAC joined forces with the South African government, labor, business, and community organizations in an effort to erase economic and social inequalities.

The Doha round of WTO negotiations began in 2001 in Doha, Qatar. It was designed to even the playing field—especially in the manufacturing and agricultural environment between developed and developing nations—by reducing trade barriers worldwide. The rift between the major developing countries has not been closed, and a new negotiation phase—in preparation for the Hong Kong Ministerial meeting—started in September with an address by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy. The discussions will mainly center on agricultural subsidies, to the detriment of NAMA negotiations.