European business chiefs on Thursday demanded that big power trade negotiators, many of whom are attending talks in Davos, engineer a quick and successful resumption of stalled global free trade negotiations.
Warning that time was running out, nearly 50 senior executives from companies such as BT Group, IBM and Unilever, said business and consumers world-wide would gain from a new World Trade Organisation (WTO) deal.
"Too much time has already been lost. European business urges all WTO member governments to make their contribution to revive the Doha round and conclude it successfully as soon as possible," the executives and organisations, including the Confederation of European Business, said in a statement.
The statement was timed for release as leaders and business chiefs met in Davos for the World Economic Forum. The WTO's Doha round, named after the Qatari capital where it was launched in 2001, was put on hold last July after states failed to resolve big differences, particularly over reforming international farm trade.
But hopes for a resumption have been raised after major trading powers such as the United States, the European Union and Brazil, made progress in bilateral discussions and some technical work got underway at the WTO's Geneva headquarters.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, his US counterpart Susan Schwab and some two dozen ministers are attending the annual business and political forum at the Davos Alpine resort.
On Saturday, Switzerland will host talks on the round, the first between a group of trade ministers since WTO chief Pascal Lamy called a halt to the negotiations six months ago.
Ministers have played down the chance of a breakthrough at Davos, but say that the meeting could see a call for an official renewal of the negotiations, which aim to lower barriers to business across the globe and lift millions out of poverty. Lamy and others have warned that if talks do not start soon, the round could be on ice for years or fail altogether.
But the United States and the European Union must give a clear sign they are willing to compromise on farm subsidies and tariffs, while leading developing states also need to show more readiness to open up their farm markets, diplomats say.
Although the negotiations cover a host of areas, including industrial tariffs, services and slashing commercial red tape, agriculture has long been the thorniest issue.
The business leaders said harmonising customs procedures - trade facilitation in WTO-speak - would alone bring savings of some 300 million euros ($389.6 million) a year to importers and exporters, while cutting tariffs would boost competitiveness and growth. "Should governments allow all this to be lost because of disagreements over certain aspects of agricultural policy? Absolutely not," they said.
"All WTO members, including (the) EU and (the) US, must make the necessary compromises," the business chiefs added. Mandelson, who faces strong pressure from France and other major EU farm goods producing states not to give ground, welcomed the statement. "(It is) a very strong commitment from business leaders, both sides of the Atlantic, that their top priority is to see the Doha talks succeed," Mandelson told Reuters in Davos.
French business leaders also issued a statement saying they hoped that Mandelson's negotiating partners would make the concessions he needs to able to sell any trade deal in Brussels. But in Davos, French Trade Minister Christine Lagarde stressed that she did not expect any breakthrough there.
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