Sinking Doha ship

Next week, the Doha rounds will once again be the focus of world attention, a continuation of frustrating talks between developing and developed countries that have been ongoing since the first meeting in the Qatar city in November of 2001.

World Trade Organization head Pascal Lamy, who has expended much patience in driving what could become a landmark agreement between the haves and have-nots of the world economies, may be racing against time as current events and politics conspire against an amicable solution.

For one, while it is just the US among rich industrialized countries that is experiencing a severe economic downtrend, it continues to influence heavily on the proposed amendments that would relax global trade.

In its current situation, the US will not be inclined to make any changes, even for the good of the whole world, if it stands to risk the beleaguered chances of its own farmers and manufacturers in going through the next months under a recessionary atmosphere.

It may have issued a statement that it is willing to make substantial cuts in farm subsidy spending limits and to raise its barriers to foreign goods in the spirit of breaching a breakthrough next week’s world trade talks, but the US has also said this is dependent on how much developing countries will give up.

This just sounds like what it has been saying all along since Day One of the Doha rounds.

Make or break

The body language of the US and even the major negotiators in the forthcoming week-long talks are predicting an impasse. One does not need to read between the lines to conclude that we’re in for another dud.

With crude oil at its current levels, the operative word for many countries today is survival. Even if the WTO has estimated that the success of the Doha talks would inject in between $50 to $100 billion to the world economy, these days, it’s more prudent to make sure that your own economy survives the oil crisis.

And this should be the same way that our government officials are able to look at the unfolding global trade negotiations. Each man for himself, mate.

Japan, for instance, has keen on the success of the Doha development rounds, but has also been actively pursuing bilateral trade talks with China, and China reciprocating favorably. They both view the reciprocal initiative as complementary to the world trade talks.

Letting our guard down

And this is how the Philippines should be playing the game. Ever since we had signified our agreement in principle to the goal of free trade, our government has neglected to erect safety nets in the eventuality that succeeding negotiations would break down.

As developed countries like the US, members of the European Union and even Japan continued to provide heavy subsidies to their farmers and fishermen, we stopped the flow of monetary and infrastructure support for our agriculture, meat, poultry and fisheries sectors.

We now have in abundance in our fresh markets imported onions, garlic, fruits, fish, meat and even chicken. Because they were cheaper in the early years, consumers did not mind buying them over those locally produced.

Our farmers and fishermen therefore, in their disorganized and impoverished state, could raise but a feeble outcry and suffer the consequences of such unfair trade advantage. Today, for example, only a handful of Ilocos onion and garlic farmers continue to produce the local spice.

Protecting our right to food self-sufficiency

It seems remote that farmers and fishermen of rich countries will give up the subsidies that they enjoy – and which most likely keeps them profitable – for such a seemingly nebulous concept as free world trade.

While our own fishermen and farmers, and those of other developing countries, are not able to fend for their right, it is the duty of government to make sure that they are protected.

The recent crisis in rice should be proof enough. Had we maintained self-sufficiency of this staple food, we would have been spared of paying those extra-ordinary high prices of imported rice, while at the same time spending billions of pesos to subsidize rice for the poor.

It could be argued that government had never expected the explosion of international rice prices, in the same way that nobody really had thought this was going to happen five or 10 years ago.

And yet the principle of self-sufficiency, especially for food like rice, is something that should have been regarded with the highest reverence.

Hoping its not too late

So how do we proceed from here? There are many concrete positives steps that could be taken. For instance, let us make the Agricultural Competitiveness Enhancement Fund, or whatever is left of it, really work for our farmers instead of apportioning it to those who come up with project proposals that don’t necessarily benefit those who really need the financial support.

Instead of spending the bonanza of VAT collections from oil products on “political dole outs,” a sizeable chunk be set aside for truly worthwhile agriculture projects, i.e., repairing deteriorated irrigation canals, building more farm-to-feeder roads, modern storage buildings that will prolong the life of agriculture harvests, improved varieties of seeds that will yield more per hectare, and so many more.

At this stage, there is no sense in finding blame; let us instead learn from this painful episode, and with resoluteness, find a solution out of the mess that has been created. And keep our fingers crossed that it’s not yet too late.

Collegiate Champions League update

The road to the “Sweet 16” Final Challenge of the Philippine Collegiate Championship is turning out to be tough with the balanced competitions going on in Metro Manila. While Ateneo, San Beda, Letran, and UE are presently at the top of the power rankings, other teams like De La Salle and Mapua are making strides for the top slots.

In Regional Area 3, where the Naga City Inter-Collegiate Basketball tournament is in full swing, the University of Nueva Caceres Greyhounds and the Saints of Universidad de Sta. Isabel are leading the pack towards the regional championship. Meantime, “mother leagues” in other regions are scheduled to start competitions in August.

For more details about the biggest collegiate basketball event for the year, visit www.CollegiateChampionsLeague.net.

Should you wish to share any insights, write me at Link Edge, 25th Floor, 139 Corporate Center, Valero Street, Salcedo Village, 1227 Makati City. Or e-mail me at [email protected]. For a compilation of previous articles, visit www.BizlinksPhilippines.net.