GENEVA – Six maritime powers that account for over 60% of the world maritime market will call on the World Trade Organization to kick-start talks aimed at opening shipping markets during a special WTO session that begins on Thursday, according to senior diplomats.
The maritime nations involved are the European Union, Hong Kong, Japan, Norway, Singapore and South Korea.
“We would like to get as much maritime liberalization as possible. With so much trade, it would make it easier and cheaper than what we’re likely to pay now,” one Asian official said.
The talks were suspended on June 28,1996, effectively until 2000, after the United States effectively torpedoed them a month earlier when the Clinton administration said it would not make an offer to liberalize trade in maritime services. Twenty-four conditional offers had been submitted in the talks, which were aimed at opening up markets in international shipping, port use and port support services.
“Our intention is just to get the process going and give some impetus for movement,” one chief trade negotiator familiar with the joint initiative said on Wednesday.
Senior negotiators familiar with the proposed joint text said the objective is to make a a joint general statement to ensure that the talks resume and to encourage participation in the negotiations.
But a U. S. official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said,“It’s a bit premature” to be making such calls.
A number of WTO diplomats consider the joint statement weak. Others, however, pointed out that it would have been counterproductive to put forth a stronger and more demanding declaration.
Senior trade diplomats said most maritime negotiators realize that not much is likely to happen on the issue until a new U. S. administration is in place next year. They noted, however, that the move also is meant to put the United States on notice.
John Zaracostas can be reached at 011-41-22-917-2989
