World trade talks end in collapse / Negociaciones de comercio mundial terminan en colapso

Marathon talks in Geneva aimed at liberalising global trade have collapsed, the head of the World Trade Organisation has said.
Pascal Lamy confirmed the failure, which officials have blamed on China, India and the US failing to agree on import rules.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the result was "heartbreaking".
The talks were launched in 2001 in Doha and were seen as providing a cornerstone for future global trade.
The main stumbling block was farm import rules, which allow countries to protect poor farmers by imposing a tariff on certain goods in the event of a drop in prices or a surge in imports.
India, China and the US could not agree on the tariff threshold for such an event.
Washington said that the "safeguard clause" protecting developing nations from unrestricted imports had been set too low.
Possible solution?
The negotiations floundered as trade officials gathered for a ninth day.
"There's no use beating around the bush, this meeting has collapsed," Mr Lamy said.
"Members have simply not been able to bridge their differences."
He added that time was needed to determine "if and how" WTO members could end the stalemate.

The Doha development round of trade talks initially started in 2001 with the aim of remedying inequality so that the developing world could benefit more from freer trade.
However, the talks have repeatedly collapsed as developed countries failed to agree with developing nations on terms of access to each others' markets.
The US and the European Union want greater access to provide services to fast-growing emerging countries, including China and India.
Meanwhile, developing countries want greater access for their agricultural products in Europe and the US.
Recent complications
Analysts have said that the collapse of the Doha talks could symbolise an end to multilateral trade agreements.

Instead, nations may pursue dual agreements with partner nations, preferring to focus on their own requirements rather than a more common negotiating goal.
The talks in Geneva were complicated by recent increases in the price of food and fuel.
Higher prices have prompted protests in both developed and developing nations, making it harder for negotiators to reach a compromise on opening up their markets to greater competition, analysts said.
Mr Mandelson, the EU trade commissioner, blamed the collapse on a "collective failure" but warned that the "consequences would not be equal", predicting that it would be countries that most needed help that would be hit hardest.
"They [the consequences] will fall disproportionately on those who are most vulnerable in the global economy, those who needed the chances, the opportunities most from a successful trade round." he said.
'Protecting livelihoods'
Trade officials had struck an optimistic tone on Friday, but this evaporated over the weekend amid acrimonious exchanges with the US accusing India and China of blocking progress.
The US said they were being overly protective towards their own farmers and are failing to do enough to open their markets, with US trade representative Susan Schwab calling the stance "blatant protectionism".
"In the face of the global food price crisis, it is ironic that the debate came down to how much and how fast could nations raise their barriers to imports of food," she said.
But India's trade minister, Kamal Nath, who had been criticised by a number of countries for his intransigence said the US demands were unreasonable.
"It's unfortunate in a development round we couldn't run the last mile because of an issue concerning livelihood security," Mr Nath said.

Inicia en Nicaragua foro de la OEA sobre comercio y medio ambiente

El seminario se imparte en momentos en que Centroamérica se apresta a iniciar negociaciones con la Unión Europea para la firma de un Acuerdo de Asociación que incluirá un tratado de libre comercio.

Managua.- La Organización de Estados Americanos (OEA) inició hoy en Nicaragua un foro sobre comercio y medio ambiente que cuenta con la participación de 30 funcionarios de alto nivel de Centroamérica y República Dominicana.

El curso, auspiciado por la Agencia Canadiense para el Desarrollo busca fortalecer las capacidades de la región en aspectos ambientales de la negociación e implementación de acuerdos comerciales internacionales.

El seminario se imparte en momentos en que Centroamérica se apresta a iniciar negociaciones con la Unión Europea (UE) para la firma de un Acuerdo de Asociación que incluirá un tratado de libre comercio.

La representante del Departamento de Desarrollo Sostenible de la OEA Claudia de Windt, señaló que la región enfrenta múltiples desafíos ambientales y en los procesos de liberalización comercial en los que se encuentra inmersa.

Estimó que el curso facilitará a los funcionarios herramientas prácticas y los conocimientos necesarios para la toma de decisiones orientadas al desarrollo sostenible en el marco de los acuerdos comerciales.

El consejero Comercial de Canadá para Costa Rica, Nicaragua y Honduras, Mark Strasser, destacó que los pactos comerciales “contribuyen a una mayor prosperidad, y cuando se complementan con otras políticas y medidas, crean oportunidades para abordar objetivos sociales y medio ambientales”.

Agregó que Canadá tiene el compromiso de hacer esfuerzos para asegurar que los beneficios económicos de la liberalización comercial estén concentrados en promover el desarrollo sostenible.

La actividad se llevará a cabo hasta el próximo viernes en el centro turístico de Montelimar, a unos 60 kilómetros al oeste de Managua.

La iniciativa, ejecutada por la OEA a través de su Departamento de Desarrollo Sostenible, busca dar respuesta desde diversos enfoques a las necesidades de los países tanto en la agenda multilateral de la Organización Mundial del Comercio como en los acuerdos regionales.

Las clases son impartidas por expertos de varios países de la región, además de funcionarios del sistema de Naciones Unidas y de la OEA.

Notimex