Is the failure of WTO talks destroying the Washington Consensus?
By Dr. Odeen Ishmael – Posted August 29th. 2006 – Spanish Version The suspension of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations on 24 July has raised concern in Latin America and the Caribbean. The deadlock in the talks occurred after the trade representatives of the so-called G6 – Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, the European Union and the United States – failed in Geneva to agree on the crucial questions of agricultural subsidies and market access for agriculture and non-agricultural goods. The crucial issues of subsidies and market access have always been of great concern to the small and vulnerable economies of Latin America and the Caribbean. These are also important matters championed by larger economies in the Mercosur group whose agricultural exports are quite substantial. The Mercosur group, led by Brazil, is championing these issues as it has done also in the collapsed Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) negotiations. It will be recalled that in those discussions the U
