Minister of State Kitt welcomes Framework Agreement reached by WTO Ministerial Council

Minister of State Kitt today welcomed the Framework Agreement reached by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Ministerial Council on Saturday, 31 July. The Minister stressed that for Ireland the development agenda was at the heart of the current DOHA / WTO negotiations. Ireland has repeatedly worked to ensure these negotiations should result in an outcome favourable to the developing countries, taking account of the needs of the least developed among them.

Minister Kitt drew attention to the decision taken by the EU Council of Ministers, at the initiative of the Irish Presidency, last January, which underlined the special role of the EU in getting the DOHA negotiations back on track after the failure in Cancun and the need to pay special attention to the achievement of an outcome that would bring an immediate benefit to the developing countries in the short term.

“The agreement of this weekend,” said the Minister, “builds on that commitment and the EU must continue to work with our partners in the WTO to further advance this latest achievement.”

The Minister continued; “As someone who has participated in WTO talks over recent years in Seattle and Cancun, my experience is that a vital pre-condition for any breakthrough on the negotiations must be a willingness by the developed countries to agree to measures that will bring substantial benefits to developing countries. “

“This is essential if developing countries are to be convinced of the overall benefit that a fair, equitable trading system, based on WTO rules, can bring to developed and developing countries.”







Top