The great success of the WTO's 9th Ministerial Conference in Bali last December was the Trade Facilitation Agreement. It was a real success, and it re-energized the WTO. But there were loose ends. Further action by the WTO's General Council would need to be taken to make the Trade Facilitation Agreement part of the WTO's system of rules and obligations. In the language of the Ministerial statement:
"The General Council shall meet no later than 31 July 2014 to annex to the Agreement notifications of Category A commitments, to adopt the Protocol drawn up by the Preparatory Committee, and to open the Protocol for acceptance until 31 July 2015. The Protocol shall enter into force in accordance with Article X:3 of the WTO Agreement."
Well, July 31st has come and gone, and the Protocol - in effect the Trade Facilitation Agreement - was not adopted. That is the situation that Director-General Azev�do addressed last night in Geneva. When he spoke there were a few hours left, but as he said:
"My understanding is that the remaining gaps are unbridgeable."
Today is the 1st of August, and, regrettably, the Director-General's pre-deadline assessment is now unassailable. As for his summation of the differences between India and her supporters one the side and the bulk of the WTO membership on the other, it is as gentle a version of the situation as we are likely to find. He said:
"On the one side we have the firm conviction, shared by many, that the decisions that ministers reached in Bali cannot be changed or amended in any way - and that those decisions have to be fully respected.
"And on the other side of the debate we have some [primarily India] who believe that those decisions leave unresolved concerns that need to be addressed in ways that, in the view of others, change the balance of what was agreed in Bali.
"These are the two sides."
Finally, we recognize that when we excerpt a quote from a larger statement, as we did today, it may seem stronger than might have been intended. You should click the link below and read or listen to Mr. Azev�do's statement for yourself. For the record, though, here is the full paragraph with today's quote:
"My sense, in the light of the things I hear from you, is that this is not just another delay which can simply be ignored or accommodated into a new timetable - this will have consequences. And it seems to me, from what I hear in my conversations with you, that the consequences are likely to be significant."