The International Chamber of Commerce-Bangladesh (ICCB) has warned that failure to seal a deal on trade in services at the upcoming ministerial conference in Bali would raise questions on the WTOs role.

“If there is no deal in Bali, the risk for the WTO is that major trading powers, which are already spending much more energy on bilateral deals than on the push for a global agreement, would give up for good,” the chamber said in an editorial of its latest quarterly news bulletin released yesterday.

Some experts say that these could foster the growth of rival trading blocs and deepen divisions, the opposite of what the WTO (World Trade Organisation) was meant to achieve, according to the editorial.

The four-day ninth biannual ministerial conference of the WTO will start at Bali in Indonesia on December 3.

The chamber made five recommendations: conclude a trade facilitation agreement, implement duty-free and quota-free market access for exports from least-developed countries, phase out agricultural export subsidies, renounce food export restrictions and expand trade in IT products and encourage growth of e-commerce worldwide.

The ICCB said the race to agree on a deal at the Bali conference is not only an opportunity to slash the cost of shipping goods around the world, it also represents what many experts see as the last chance to restore confidence in the WTOs ability to reform global trade rules.

For the past 60 years, the chamber said, trade has been a driver of growth and employment.
This engine of the world economy is threatened by the stalemate in multilateral trade negotiations, according to the chamber.

“The increase in trade and investment restrictions fuelled by the global economic downturn is damaging the business climate and prospects for recovery, precisely when global trade and investment liberalisation could provide a debt-free and much-needed boost to world economic growth.”

Trade facilitation is a series of measures whereby countries reduce red tape and simplify customs and other procedures for handling goods at borders.

An agreement on trade facilitation should significantly reduce costs, speed up and streamline administrative and other official procedures as well as create a more transparent, predictable and efficient environment for cross-border trade.

A WTO trade facilitation agreement would, thus, add significant momentum to these initiatives, leading to even greater reductions in trade costs, according to the statement.

The ICC is committed to a strong and effective WTO, one whose members collectively negotiate the lowering of trade barriers and the strengthening of global trade rules.

The ICCs world trade agenda initiative includes a longer-term proposal that governments should begin discussions towards a multilateral framework on investment.

“With more than 3,000 agreements on investment already in place, it is time to move towards a single multilateral framework to facilitate cross-border investment, which will encourage to economic growth and job creation,” the editorial added.