Venezuela Threatens to Forestall WTO Agreement
Friday, Dec 16, 2005
By: Simone Baribeau - Venezuelanalysis.com
Caracas, Venezuela, December 16, 2005—Venezuelan officials say the WTO discussions taking place in Hong Kong are failing, and was among the countries threatening to forestall the agreement, citing concerns about unfair advantages in agriculture for the global north and the risk that the agreement could lead to industrial sabotage in southern countries.
“Developed countries invade the world with their subsidized products and, as if it were nothing, hermetically seal their boarders to the products of the global south,” said Venezuelan Foreign Affairs Minister Alí Rodríguez Araque.
Venezuela, along with 10 other countries, including Argentina, Brazil and India, formed a group which set forth conditions which needed to be met before they went ahead with negotiations on non-agriculture market access (NAMA).
The group’s statement said, “The ambition in NAMA cannot be viewed in isolation. It has to be proportional and commensurate with the contributions by developed countries in other market access areas. Developing countries cannot be expected to pay for the much-needed reforms in the agriculture sectors of developed countries.”
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