Members largely favourable
Delegations were generally positive about Stephenson's report, although Argentina complained that it did not refer to Paragraph 24 of the Hong Kong Declaration, which links the level of ambition in NAMA to that in agriculture.
The EU noted that the report's section on sectoral liberalisation failed to mention their October 2002 proposal for heavy cuts to tariffs on textiles, clothing, and footwear. India and Egypt, for their part, argued that text-based negotiations on sectoral initiatives should start only after the formula takes clearer shape.
China called on developed countries to take the first step to break the impasse in the negotiations.
Negotiating timeline set out through 16 June
Stephenson's plan provided for one-on-one meetings with Members from 24-28 April, especially with delegations that had sponsored proposals in the negotiations. After these, he would convene plurilateral consultations with small groups of Members from 1-5 May, to focus primarily on exceptions and unresolved technical issues. Subsequent meetings from 8-19 May would attempt to finalise which countries would be covered by the various exceptions, and determine any commitments that they would have to make. The following week, from 22-26 May, would see a return to bilateral and plurilateral consultations.
Only then would Stephenson have Members turn to the three central issues in the negotiations, first with plurilateral consultations from 29 May to 2 June, and subsequently with two NAMA weeks from 5-16 June aimed at finalizing the modalities.
Bridges Weekly Trade News Digest
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