Cuba and Venezuela formally expressed their reservations on the texts on non-agricultural market access and services and the meeting noted these.
The meeting also noted statements made by ministers in the preceding informal heads of delegations meeting. Almost all of them described the agreement as not fully meeting their expectations but most urged fellow-members to accept it as a good basis for making progress in the negotiations.
Many delegations thanked Hong Kong for providing excellent facilities, good organization and a secure environment for the negotiations. They said future Ministerial Conferences would find it difficult to top Hong Kong's record.
Most delegations praised the “bottom-up” approach (inputs coming directly from members rather than from above) as contributing to the success of the conference.
Many delegations welcomed the agreement on 2013 as deadline for eliminating of agriculture export subsidies although most of them said they would have preferred an earlier date. Some delegations commended the “statemanship” of the EU and the US in achieving agreement.
A number of delegations underlined the positive results in the development issues — particularly in cotton and the package for least-developed countries — and the importance of capturing these by adopting the draft declaration. The new draft was a step in the right direction, and a good basis for continuing work in Geneva next year.
Some delegations expressed disappointment with what they said was lack of ambition in non-agricultural market access and services, while others said the level in these areas were too high.
marketing@alchempro.com
