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The Failure of the Fifth WTO Ministerial Conference is a matter for deep regret. The challenge now is to pick up the pieces in Geneva, and to do so with as little delay as possible. Progress was being made in Cancún on a wide range of issues, including agriculture, which for many lies at the heart of the Doha Development Agenda. That progress must not be lost. All parties must seek to play a constructive role – governments and NGOs – and avoid the temptation to revert to discredited North-South rhetoric.
If the momentum of multilateral reform is lost, then there are many who will pursue their goals through bilateral deals; we are already seeing evidence of this in several continents. This trend, if unchecked, may further marginalise the least-developed countries, which have little negotiating clout individually. Regional trade agreements can complement the multilateral trading system, but only if that system is itself strong, fostering steady, non-discriminatory liberalisation and strengthened rules.
In the face of persisting differences over agriculture and cotton and over the negotiation on "new" issues (investment, competition, trade facilitation and transparency in government procurement), WTO Members were unable to exercise their own enlightened self interest and reap the gains on offer from more liberal trade and strengthened rules. All countries have suffered as a result, but the real losers – because they had the most to gain - are the poor of the developing world. If OECD countries were to open up their agricultural markets, the annual welfare gains to developing countries are estimated at more than US$100 billion. This is well above the amount spent by OECD countries on development assistance. Improved trade facilitation could also yield some developing countries gains of up to 5% of their GDP.
The OECD as an organisation has an important role to play here : through its policy analysis that demonstrates the gains from trade and how alternative policy approaches can help open markets; through dialogue with partners in the developing world; and through the fostering of the process of peer review and good practice. OECD is at the forefront of analysis of the costs, to developed and developing countries alike, of distortions in agricultural policies, and of the potential gains associated with each of the "new" issues. We must strive to spread our message more widely and more effectively - to national governments, to engaged NGOs, and to the general public. We are actively cooperating with the IMF, World Bank and WTO to pursue our shared objectives.
With continued uncertainties about prospects for the world economy and with persisting inequalities in levels of income around the world, it is the special responsibility of OECD members to show leadership. But this is a shared undertaking, and developing countries too must play their full part in a trade deal that benefits everyone.
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