INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STATEMENT
ON THE DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA:Failure is Not an Option
January 15th 2007

The Doha Development Round: Failure is Not an Option•••Business stakeholders from across the globe call for the speedy conclusion of theDoha Round – the failure of the Round is unacceptable for business.
WTO members must re-start the negotiations with more flexible offers with thegoal of achieving agreement on core elements of an ambitious and balanced
outcome of the Doha Round within the next 2-3 months.
Meaningful improvements in business conditions must be sought in parallel for
manufactured goods, services and agriculture.

It is critical to the world economy and to the competitiveness of all countries, rich andpoor alike, that this Round is not allowed to fail. As representatives of industry fromcountries across the globe accounting for around 60% of world trade we call for theimmediate re-start and speedy, ambitious conclusion of the World Trade Organisation
Doha Development Agenda (DDA) negotiations.
It is now commonly accepted that if negotiations are not re-opened soon and the coreelements of the Round are not agreed within the next 2-3 months, the final window ofopportunity for concluding the Doha Round may close. Missing this timeframe will likely
delay for many years any possible re-opening of negotiations. Furthermore, it is quitepossible that the political fall-out accompanying postponement may make WTO members
reticent to start another round of international trade negotiations altogether. And given
the single undertaking nature of the negotiations, the progressive offers now on the table
could be lost.
While our governments may have found it difficult to come to agreement so far, forbusiness the definition of a successful Round is clear. It must be ambitious and include
the following:• In industrial goods, the DDA must provide commercially meaningful new market
access by substantially reducing or eliminating tariffs. Non-tariff barriers, which
will constitute the protectionism of the future, must also be comprehensively andeffectively tackled.
• In agriculture, an agreement must lead to commercially meaningful new market
access and the reduction and eventual elimination of trade-distorting mechanisms
and subsidies in all countries in a coherent and progressive manner, including
export subsidies and disciplines on export measures with equivalent effect by theend of 2013 as agreed in the Hong Kong declaration. Only balanced and ambitious
liberalisation in all three pillars of the agriculture negotiations will genuinely openmarkets.
AMCHAM EU • AUSTRALIAN SERVICES ROUNDTABLE • BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA •CANADIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE • CANADIAN COUNCIL OF CHIEF EXECUTIVES •CANADIAN SERVICES COALITION • CNI • ESF • FIESP • GENERAL CHAMBER OF ROC • HONG KONG CSI• KITA • NASSCOM • NFTC • NIPPON KEIDANREN • UNICE • USCIB • USCSI •WELLINGTON REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCEINTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STATEMENTON THE DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA:Failure is Not an Option
January 15th 2007
• In services, WTO members must recognise the benefits of services liberalisation –in terms of increased trade, investment and economic development – bysubstantially improving their multilateral commitments to tackle non-tariff barriers
and provide new market access.
• The trade facilitation negotiations are a welcome bright spot in the bleak DDApicture. To bring them to a successful conclusion, members must agree on abinding, reviewable agreement, which aims to reduce trade transaction costs while
improving the transparency and automation of procedures.
• The DDA is the only opportunity in the near term to improve the multilateral rules
on which business depends. Clear rules governing anti-dumping and anti-subsidy
actions are vital for a level playing field.
• The development package will be key to ensuring a balanced DDA. The developedand developing countries should provide tariff-free and quota-free market access forleast developed country exports. An ambitious aid-for-trade package is vital toequip developing countries to reap the opportunities of the global market.
The principle of the single undertaking must remain at the core of the Round if any result
is to be achieved. As to figures, they speak for themselves. The potential gains ofconcluding an ambitious Round are enormous. The World Bank estimates that full
liberalisation of trade in goods and agriculture alone could generate up to US$287 billion,
with developing countries gaining about a third of this – a comparable liberalisation inservices could lead to up to five times this figure.
While the benefits for an ambitious conclusion of the Round are great, the costs of failure
are diverse and grave. Notwithstanding the loss of potential welfare gains, a failed Round
could lead to challenges to the World Trade Organization and a strong multilateral rulesbased trade system; increased regionalism and protectionism; shocks in financial markets
and the loss of an opportunity to catalyze domestic economic reform.
To reap the rewards and avoid the costs of failure, business communities all over theworld urge you, as negotiators and leaders of key WTO member countries, to go back tothe negotiating table immediately and to show more flexibility in negotiating mandates.
Business will support all your efforts to negotiate an ambitious agreement within the next
2-3 months. Failure is not an option.

AMCHAM EU • AUSTRALIAN SERVICES ROUNDTABLE • BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA •CANADIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE • CANADIAN COUNCIL OF CHIEF EXECUTIVES •CANADIAN SERVICES COALITION • CNI • ESF • FIESP • GENERAL CHAMBER OF ROC • HONG KONG CSI• KITA • NASSCOM • NFTC • NIPPON KEIDANREN • UNICE • USCIB • USCSI •WELLINGTON REGIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCEINTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STATEMENTON THE DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA:Failure is Not an Option
January 15th 2007

Signatories(North)Americawww.chamber.ca

www.ceocouncil.ca

www.canadianservicescoalition.com

www.uscsi.org

The Canadian Chamber ofCommerce is Canada’s leadingbusiness organization bringing
together a strong, diverse network of
170,000 chambers of commerce,
boards of trade, businessassociations, and businesses of all
sizes and from all sectors and allregions of Canada.
The Canadian Council of Chief
Executives (CCCE) is Canada’s
premier business association, withan outstanding record ofachievement in matchingentrepreneurial initiative with soundpublic policy choices. A not-for-profit,
non-partisan organization composedof 150 leading chief executives andentrepreneurs, the CCCE was the
Canadian private sector leader in thedevelopment and promotion of theCanada-United States Free Trade
Agreement during the 1980s and of
the subsequent trilateral North
American Free Trade Agreement.

The Canadian Services Coalition(CSC) is a membership basedorganization designed to provide astrong and cohesive voice to theCanadian services industry. The
main objective of the CSC is toincrease opportunities for Canadianservices companies by removing
trade and investment barriers.

CSI is the leading US businessorganization dedicated to the
reduction of barriers to international
trade and investment in services.
CSI was formed in 1982 to ensurethat trade in services, once
considered outside the scope oftrade negotiations, would become acentral goal of future tradeliberalization initiatives.

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www.nftc.org

www.uscib.org

The National Foreign Trade Council
is the premier business organization
advocating a rules-based world
economy. Founded in 1914 by agroup of American companies that
support an open world trading
system, the NFTC and its affiliates
now serve 300 member companies
through offices in Washington andNew York.
Representing more than 300 leading
U.S. companies, professional
services firms and associations, theUnited States Council forInternational Business promotes anopen system of global commerce.
As the exclusive American affiliate
several leading global businessgroups, USCIB provides businessviews to policy makers andregulatory authorities worldwide, andworks to facilitate international trade.

(South)Americawww.cni.org.br

www.fiesp.org.br

The National Confederation ofIndustry is the chief institutional
representative of the Brazilianindustry. It focuses on improving thecompetitiveness of Brazilian industry
and integrating it to the world
economy.

The Federation of Industries of theState of São Paulo (FIESP) is theleading regional manufacturingsector organization in Brazil, and iscomprised of 132 sectoral tradeassociations representing over 40%of the country's industrial GDP and
more than 140.000 companies.

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Asia

www.roccoc.org.tw

www.hkcsi.org.hk

The ROCCOC is a non-profit
organization dedicated to promoting
the common interests of private
sector business community in
Taiwan, and to elevate the domestic
commercial environment as well as
the investment both domestic andabroad. It strives to foster prosperity
through promoting foreign trade,enhancing economic growth andcooperative relations among thevarious parts of the businesscommunity.

The Hong Kong Coalition of Service
Industries was founded in 1990 by
the Hong Kong General Chamber ofCommerce. It is the Chamber's
service policy think tank. With
representatives from more than 50
service sectors, the HKCSI is themajor private sector voice for Hong
Kong's service industries.

KITA, founded in 1946, is the leading
voice of international traders in
Korea and Korea’s largest and mostinfluential economic organization,
representing more than 70,000
members. It advocates free trade, afavorable and competitive businessenvironment to foster sustainableeconomic growth.

www.kita.org

www.nasscom.in

NIPPON KEIDANREN
www.keidanren.or.jp

NASSCOM is India's National
Association of Software and Service
Companies, the premier trade bodyand the chamber of commerce of theIT software and services industry inIndia. NASSCOM is a global trade
body with over 1050 members, ofwhich over 150 are global
companies from the US, UK, EU,
Japan and China. NASSCOM'smember companies are in thebusiness of software development,
software services, software products
and IT-enabled/BPO services.
Nippon Keidanren is a key
organization in Japan, consisting of
more than 1,300 companies andabout 130 industrial sector
associations, and represents theinterests of all businesses.

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Australasia

www.servicesaustralia.org.au

The Australian Services is a peakbusiness body for the services
industries in Australia. TheRoundtable is composed of seniorindustry representatives from the fullrange of services firms.

The Business Council of Australia isan association of the CEOs of 100 ofAustralia’s leading corporations witha combined workforce of one million
people. It was established in 1983 asa forum for Australia’s businessleaders to contribute to public policy
debates to build Australia as the bestplace in which to live, to learn, towork and do business.

www.bca.com.au
The Wellington Regional Chamber ofCommerce has been in the businessof encouraging regional
development and representing theregion's wealth creators - itsbusinesses - since 1856.

www.wgtn-chamber.co.nz

The 1,150 members, ranging frommajor corporations to sole traders,
benefit from the broad pro-business
policy platform promoted by theChamber and the close personal
networks and contacts membershipbrings.

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Europewww.amchameu.be

www.esf.be

The American Chamber ofCommerce to the European Union(AmCham EU) is the voice ofcompanies of American parentage
committed to Europe towards theinstitutions and governments of theEuropean Union.

The European Services Forum(ESF) is a network ofrepresentatives from the European
services sector, gathering European
trade associations and multinationalcompanies. The 80 members arecommitted to actively promoting theinterests of the European services
sector and the liberalisation ofservices markets throughout the.

UNICE is the voice of business in
Europe. It represents 39 national
business federations from 33
countries including the 25 EU
Member States.

www.unice.org

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