LVE archives. 1994, GATT-WTO, Business to Watch…

The 800 journalists who followed the international event in Marrakesh did not miss the procession of heads of delegations from 120 countries towards the stage that dominates the large hall of the Palais des Congrès. On that same platform, the “Final Act,” some 500 pages, sanctioning a decade of trade negotiations, was signed during Friday’s four-hour closing ceremony. An event that is, without a doubt, of global importance, because the signed agreements, not without difficulties, set in motion the future of commercial relations and foreshadow a new world economic order.

WTO sovereignty
It is true that some problematic issues will not be absent with the constitution of the WTO and the effective start of the work of this new body, scheduled for January 1, 1995. In fact, numerous additions had to be attached to the Final Act, especially regarding the agreement on public procurement, the international treaty on the dairy sector, the agreement on beef and veal and the agreement on trade in civil aircraft from 1979. The Americans, Europeans and Japanese managed to complete this entire “package” after often difficult compromises, as evidenced by the closed-door meetings held in Marrakesh. Even if these agreements have been initialed, the details have yet to be defined, once the WTO has established its structures. Moreover, entire parts of international trade still remain subject to further scrutiny. This is the case for the Services folder. From May, negotiators will be responsible for raising this hot-button issue, even if it means multilateralizing bilateral agreements. The month of May will be quite a busy one, as the program of chapters yet to be discussed is proving to be very extensive. Indeed, only for chapters that are in the service sector, discussions will focus on the telephone, finance for which regulations are already heavy, maritime transport, movement of natural persons, international accounting, etc. In Geneva, where the WTO is most likely to be based, there is great fear that the compromises reached in Marrakesh will drag on before they can be implemented. Moreover, a close associate of the GATT Directorate General did not hesitate, during the press conference, to emphasize that “trade is an endless tapestry”. Discussions on audiovisual, individual elements of the agricultural file, textiles and intellectual property will develop later. Of course, all this in no way diminishes the positive impact of the meeting in Marrakesh. In Havana, in 1947, the number of countries interested in regulating world trade did not exceed 23. In Marrakesh, there are more than a hundred signatories to the Final Act, including twenty who have recently joined the GATT, while another twenty are preparing to join it. It is a vote of confidence that affirms “the reliability of the global trading system as it currently stands.” Because the institutionalization of global trade will help balance the pressure exerted by economic forces. That is why developing countries come out of Marrakesh as winners”, he concluded.

Morocco, a special case?
Of course, it goes without saying that the systematic reduction of tariffs and the end of the era of subsidies will help to expand the commercial margin of maneuver of the countries of the South. But what exactly will happen to Moroccan exports, especially fresh and processed horticultural products? As reported in our previous edition, Rabat did not hesitate to challenge the European Union authorities ahead of the GATT Ministerial Conference. Indeed, Mr. Filali, the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, issued an ultimatum to the European side to respond, before the end of the Marrakesh conference, to the Moroccan counterproposals submitted to Brussels for consideration last February. A press release written to that effect confirmed, in fact, the existence of “intense contacts”, during the three weeks before the Marrakesh conference, between the two parties. Allal El Maleh