Here we go again. The World Trade Organization is in Montreal and the protest drums are beating. At the risk of the side-show taking centre stage, the real issues on the table for the Doha Development round of trade negotiations cannot be forgotten -- they are too important for both Canada and the world.
The January, 2005, deadline for completion of the latest round of negotiations is rapidly approaching, but many hurdles face negotiators.
At the Montreal mini-ministerial meeting, governments will attempt to get the discussions back on track and prepare for the full gathering of WTO ministers in Cancun, Mexico, in September.
Canada is a relatively small and open economy integrally linked to global markets. These negotiations are vital to the long-term growth of our exports and our prosperity.
Trade agreements are about much more than just setting tariff levels and border measures. In part, that is why the WTO has become so controversial in recent years. The various provisions in these agreements involve many other areas of economic governance, such as non-tariff barriers, the environment, government procurement, movement of people and trade remedies. They reflect the reality of an integrated and globalized world -- exactly what Canada itself is, a country oriented to a worldwide stage for our products, services and people.
The WTO is also important for developing countries, because liberalizing international trade is vital to lifting many of them out of poverty. It is one of the few realistic ways of giving hope to the world's poor.
One of the key issues that must be resolved to complete the Doha round is agricultural liberalization and subsidies. At Montreal and Cancun, it is essential that the world's leading economies ensure that the WTO makes substantive progress on dismantling the trade-distorting domestic support systems and export subsidies and improves market access.
These goals on agriculture are important to middle-sized countries such as Canada, which do not have the fiscal capacity to compete with the enormous agricultural subsidies doled out by the European Union and the United States, among others.
They're also vital to developing countries that require enhanced market access into the world's larger markets for what are often their principal export products.
The reduction or removal of remaining tariff barriers is also of particular concern to Canadian business. Our exports still face significant tariffs in some sectors and countries, in spite of many years of progress since the establishment of the original General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade. The EU's tariff on aluminum ingots is one significant example, as is its tariff on cooked shrimp, and Brazilian tariffs on computing equipment.
Achieving progress in the remaining 17 months before negotiations end may seem a daunting task, but Canadian business hopes it can happen. We are mindful, however, of one key factor: Without a win-win outcome, everyone will lose.
So as the drums beat and the placards are waved, do not let them distract from the real and vital questions confronting all of us in these meetings.
Canada and the world need progress on the WTO agenda for our collective well-being. As host, Canada has a mission to provide leadership and vision to its WTO colleagues. We wish them well.
Nancy Hughes Anthony is president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.
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