Wednesday, 23 July 2003 - MVT56/2003

Vaile to Push for Increased Commitment to World Trade Reform

Trade Minister Mark Vaile will push for increased action in opening world trade markets this week, when he travels to Washington for talks with the US administration and Montreal for an informal World Trade Organisation ministerial meeting.

In Washington, 25-27 July, Mr Vaile will discuss with US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick the outlook for the WTO meeting and the Australia US Free Trade Agreement.  

“Bob Zoellick and I will review progress following the current round of AUSFTA negotiations in Honolulu this week.  We will know by then what needs to be done to meet the December 2003 goal set by Prime Minister Howard and President Bush,”Mr Vaile said.

“I will also meet with the IMF and World Bank, attend an FTA business lunch hosted by the US Chamber of Commerce, and meet the new Chairman of the House of Representatives Agriculture Committee, Congressman Bob Goodlatte and Democrat Senator Max Baucus of the Senate Finance Committee.”

Mr Vaile will attend an informal meeting of key WTO ministers in Montreal, 28-30 July, to discuss the current state of the Doha Round negotiations. 

“With only six weeks to go until the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún, this meeting provides a timely opportunity to take stock of developments in Geneva,”Mr Vaile said. “It is probably the last occasion for Ministers to meet together before Cancún, and therefore it is crucial that we make progress in keeping the multilateral trade negotiations on track in order to fulfil the ambitious mandate we agreed with the Doha Round.  Australia's invitation to this meeting is further recognition of the Government's strong commitment and leadership in the WTO and the Doha Round negotiations.

“Ministers from 26 developed and developing countries will discuss how best to make progress on a number of aspects of the Doha Round, including agriculture, market access, and industrial products issues.  Progress in this Round so far has been disappointing, with some important negotiating deadlines being missed.”

Since the last informal Ministerial meeting, held in June in Egypt, the European Union has agreed on internal reforms to the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

“With this progress in Europe, hopefully we will now be able to move ahead on agricultural modalities –which are the key to progress in this round,”Mr Vaile said. 

“Without such progress it will be difficult to secure benefits for Australian farmers and for the millions of people in developing countries who rely on agriculture for their livelihoods”. 

Contact:  Matthew Doman  02 6277 7420