Many developing countries are already expecting a repeat of the pre Doha and Doha experience, that on Singapore issues, their objection to the launching of negotiations at Cancun, will be ignored.
Also, after the draft is given out on 22 August, the counties whose views were excluded have only very few days to give their views or make counter proposals as the GC meets just three days after.
Many developing countries recognise that such a process will put them at a disadvantage and prejudice their capacity to influence the text. Some voiced these concerns at the GC meeting of 24-25 July. Some have put forward specific proposals to improve the process.
One of the strongest countries on these issues was Cuba. While noting with satisfaction that there would be August meeting of the GC, Cuba stated, "that that meeting should approve, by consensus, the draft text to be presented to the Ministers in a clear and unambiguous language". To this end, Cuba agreed with Jamaica in demanding that the secretariat should make available before the meeting of the General Council, the draft text in all the working languages of the WTO. In relation to the series of consultations which the Chair of the General Council planned to undertake, Cuba stated that the sequencing of the subject matters to be discussed should give priority to the issues which had direct implications on development before other subjects can be dealt with later.
Furthermore, Cuba proposed that "regular written reports on the discussions of the informal heads of the delegations meeting should be circulated to enable every members to be equally informed as to the state of the process".
In a similar vein, Bangladesh insisted that the principle of inclusiveness must be cardinal to the process of preparing the draft declaration. The consultation must be open-ended. In addition, the draft declaration must reflect the areas of convergence, while areas of divergence must also be reflected and not glossed over. Above all, the draft must not be sent to ministers without the agreement of the WTO membership in Geneva.
India also expected that "the draft text and the attachments will be developed in such a manner that, at the end of the process, they fully reflect the views of all Members, and that wherever there are divergence of views, they will be fully and faithfully expressed"
The fears behind the concern by many developing countries for a process which allows them to reflect their priorities was summed up by one African country delegate when he stated that "Adding flesh to the skeleton in the dark may end with a deformed monster which will attack our interests." He was making reference to the so-called skeletal first draft of the Ministerial text.
The need for a fair, balanced and democratic process is even more important in view of the clear split between developed and developing countries on the issues, which would form the content of the draft ministerial declaration. This came out most clearly in the discussion of the general council on the content of the draft ministerial declaration.
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