The members of the world trade club had never been so close to signing a new agreement as this autumn. The WTO General Council in Geneva was in session for ten weeks. Director-General Roberto Azevedo, who was elected in September, managed to do things that his predecessors failed to do since 2001. Negotiations on further liberalization of trade started 12 years ago in Doha (Qatar) entered the final stage. Last week, there were reports that developed countries, including the United States, as well as developing economies, such as China and India, managed to overcome divergence of opinions on the issues of subsidies and tariffs on agricultural products. Developing countries received a promise of a duty-free access to the markets of the developed countries. And the developed countries agreed to cut their national support for farmers.

It seemed, the most vexed question of the Doha round was overcome. But when only a week was left to the WTO summit on Bali, "the devil hiding in the detail" jumped out again. While agreeing with the essence of the document, the countries started to claim for preferences on specific issues. In particular, India insists that subsidies for the establishment of agricultural reserves aimed at supporting the poorest farmers and consumers were withdrawn from their regulation by the WTO. It's every man for himself in the WTO as usual, expert of the Institute of Applied Economic Research of the Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration Vadim Novikov says.

"This organization (WTO) was established by governments, each of which is more or less engaged in protectionism. A typical example is protection of agricultural producers. As a rule, tariffs on agricultural products are many times higher than tariffs on everything else. It is clear that states engaged in protectionism cannot reach a unanimous agreement".

But there are issues, which are unanimously recognized as needing a solution. One of them is removal of barriers to free trade and cross-border transportation of goods. Logistic, administrative and other non-tariff barriers become a serious hindrance to the growth of international trade flows. A simple example: sometimes, a customs post of some country operates from 6.00 till 18.00, and a customs post on the other side of the border - from 8.00 till 20.00. It does not require complicated technical decisions; a more effective coordination is enough, Professor of the International Trade Department of the Russian Foreign Trade Academy under the Ministry of Economic Development of the Russian Federation Vladimir Obolensky notes.

"The greatest progress was made on the issue of simplifying measures regarding trade facilitation. According to the WTO assessment, all the organization's member states will be able to save nearly 1 trillion dollars on it. That is, the cost of these measures is estimated at about 5% of the value of goods circulating in international trade. In general, the developed and developing countries have a common position: these measures should be taken in order to facilitate trade".

But difficulties arose even in this aspect. The poorest countries did not manage to secure financial assistance of other WTO members on equipping custom-houses according to the common rules. The question remained unsettled.

According to Head of the WTO Roberto Azevedo, ambassadors of the 159 member states have agreed on the details of global innovations in the field of trade. A political will is required now. A WTO ministerial summit will be held on Bali on December 3 - 6. They can launch the reform of the international trade rules currently in force since the middle of the 90ies. Otherwise, the WTO will be stuck in bilateral agreements and disputes between the participants and will lose its reputation of a global organization.
Read more: http://voiceofrussia.com/2013_11_29/Global-trade-disputes-in-WTO-4242/