Global trade talks present a crucial test for how a new world order can handle future world challenges such as climate change and food supply, the EU's trade chief said Thursday. EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said next week's World Trade Organization talks in Geneva would test the ability of WTO members to strike a deal at a time of “huge reordering of the global economy and politics.” “If collectively we fail this test in Geneva, it will reduce our ability” to tackle future tests to negotiate a pact limiting greenhouse gas emissions or tackle food scarcity, energy security or other world problems, he said. “Rising powers are reshaping the postwar world,” he told reporters. “The risk we face is ... the absence of coordinated global action and leadership.” The Doha round of trade talks - under way since 2001 - “happens to be the first test of global leadership in this new order,” he said, describing it as a test of responsibility for fast-growing countries like Brazil, China and India. Mandelson said a deal to create more trade opportunities was even more essential as the world economy slowed, saying the last 15 years of rapid expansion had relied heavily on an earlier WTO agreement that opened up world markets. The EU expected strong exporters like Brazil and China “to make the contribution that reflects their growing strength,” he said. The EU's top farm official Mariann Fischer Boel said an agreement on farm subsidy cuts needed to be made this month or talks would likely be frozen for the foreseeable future.
