Annan hails accords reached at world trade talks in Qatar

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today welcomed the successful conclusion of the World Trade Organization's (WTO) conference in Qatar, calling the agreements reached in Doha "an important achievement for multilateralism."

"The decision to launch a new round of talks on global commerce holds great promise for all countries, especially in the developing world," Mr. Annan's spokesman, Fred Eckhard, told a press briefing at UN Headquarters in New York. "The Secretary-General hopes that these negotiations will lead to a true 'development round' that removes trade barriers to developing-country goods, opens additional market opportunities and helps developing countries build up the capacity to take advantage of those opportunities."

Mr. Annan was especially pleased by the WTO's affirmation that nothing in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) should prevent developing countries from taking measures to protect public health, the spokesman said. "This will lead to increased availability of drugs to combat AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and other epidemics."

The Secretary-General pledged that the UN system would continue to work with all countries to make the new round of negotiations a success, while ensuring full and timely implementation of agreements reached during the Uruguay Round, Mr. Eckhard said. "Helping developing countries to trade their way out of poverty is in everyone's interest, especially at a time of considerable uncertainty for the global economy," he said. "The WTO's Member Governments must now follow through and realize the potential embodied in the Doha agreements."

Meanwhile, the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) said that for the first time, countries have firmly acknowledged that the globalization of commerce and the reduction of trade barriers must take into account environmental issues and the development needs of some of the world's poorer countries.

In a statement released from its Nairobi headquarters, the UN agency said environment, fighting poverty and the push towards sustainable development have moved towards the centre of the international trade debate following the WTO Ministerial Conference.

UNEP Executive Director Klaus Toepfer said he was optimistic that the new round of trade talks, based on the agreements in Doha, offered real hope for delivering fairer and more environmentally friendly trade.

"Negotiations on trade and the environment were, until recently, a taboo subject in the WTO," he said. "But the Ministerial Declaration issued in Qatar has shown that countries are now willing to address these complex links between the need to liberalize trade and the need to protect the world's forests, fisheries, wetlands, wildlife and other precious natural resources."