| WTO Chief warns of social, political crises ahead, blames "protectionism" Worst of social, political crisis ahead: WTO chief AFP 7/7/09 The worst social and political effects of the economic crisis are "still to come," WTO chief Pascal Lamy said Tuesday, warning these could push countries deeper into trade protectionism. Lamy told reporters he thought "the worst of the crisis in social terms is still to come, which means that the worst of the crisis in political terms is still to come." Therefore "the stress test for the WTO system as a system that prevents high intensity protectionism is still to come," he added, and "the fight goes on" against such restrictive trade moves. Lamy said there had been a trend towards restrictive trade practices despite efforts to curb outright protectionism since the Group of 20 summit of leading economies in London in April, citing a WTO report to member states last week. "In the past three months, there has been further slippage towards more trade restricting and distorting policies," that report said. Lamy said he would stress the need to resist protectionist tendencies when he meets G8 leaders at their summit this week in Italy. He also reiterated the urgency of concluding the long-stalled Doha round of negotiations towards a world trade liberalisation deal. "If you are serious about keeping trade open, please understand... that the best way to keep trade open is to keep opening trade, hence the renewed urgency in concluding the round," he said. The Doha round started in the Qatari capital in 2001 but has foundered since over disputes between developed and developing nations on measures to ease restrictions on trade in agricultural and industrial products. |
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