Trade talks collapse ‘not end of road’
He said failure to reach agreement should be seen as a pause in negotiations and that the WTO process will continue.
Mr Walsh said the objective in coming months will be to get the negotiations back on track and build on the momentum of recent weeks to bring about a successful conclusion.
While he was disappointed the Cancun discussions were not successful, he said he remained optimistic about the final outcome.
Trade and Commerce Minister Michael Ahern said efforts must be redoubled by the WTO in Geneva to resolve outstanding difficulties.
The collapse in the Cancun talks occurred over issues of international investment and competition before a final discussion on an agricultural trade deal could take place.
However, IFA president John Dillon said the latest WTO paper on agriculture went totally beyond CAP reform.
It would cost the Irish economy 500m in export earnings and would put at risk 20,000 farm families and many jobs in the rural economy. ICMSA president Pat O’Rourke said no deal was better then a bad deal. The draft agreement was dangerously vague in many important aspects.
If it had been adopted, the whole decoupled and direct payments system would be open to challenge and reductions.
The draft proposals on export refunds could have amounted to complete abolition of all export subsidies over the next five years, he said.
Macra na Feirme president Thomas Honner said farmers were concerned that the CAP would be the sacrificial lamb in any deal. They were relieved this had not happened.
But ICSA president John Deegan said EU agriculture remains in peril following the failure to make progress at Cancun.
Trócaire director Justin Kilcullen said while the outcome represents a moral victory for the developing world, it does mean they are left with the present unjust system. The challenge for the WTO is to get the development round back on track.
“Trócaire takes no pleasure in the breakdown of the talks. This was supposed to be the development round. The right deal could have raised millions of people out of poverty,” he said.
Oxfam Ireland, calling for talks on farming subsidies to resume as early as possible, said developing nations will be in limbo until a date for further negotiations is set.
