WTO应放弃多哈回合谈判另起炉灶

This week trade ministers from around the world will gather to engage once again in the Doha Round of talks which, for all the initial hopes it represented, simply has not delivered. If global trade is to drive development and prosperity as strongly this century as it did in the last, we need to write a new chapter for the World Trade Organisation that reflects today’s economic realities. It is time for the world to free itself of the strictures of Doha.

本周，世界贸易组织(WTO)召开部长级会议，来自世界各地的部长们将聚在一起，再次进行多哈回合(Doha round)贸易谈判。尽管最初曾被寄予厚望，但多哈回合谈判迄今未能取得预定成果。如果想让全球贸易在本世纪像上世纪一样有力推动发展和繁荣的话，我们需要为世界贸易组织(WTO)撰写一个反映当今经济现状的新篇章。是时候让世界摆脱多哈回合的约束了。

While these talks have drifted, other efforts have raced ahead. Leading a group of 12 nations, the US recently concluded the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which raises standards and tackles emerging issues across nearly 40 per cent of the global economy. Meanwhile, the US and the EU are moving forward with the world’s largest bilateral agreement. Trade initiatives outside the WTO have become the norm, with hundreds of agreements signed by scores of countries since Doha was launched.

尽管多哈回合谈判脱离了正轨，但其他努力进展迅速。在美国的引领下，12个国家最近达成了《跨太平洋伙伴关系协定》（Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement，简称TPP）。TPP成员国经济总量占到全球经济的40%，该协定提高了标准，并针对一些新问题提出解决方案。与此同时，美国和欧盟正在推进全球最大的双边协议。多哈回合谈判启动以来，已经有数十个国家签订了数百份协议，在WTO以外发起贸易协议成为了常态。

Experience, however, suggests that the WTO can deliver with pragmatic approaches. Ratification of the Trade Facilitation Agreement, which would benefit developing countries even more than rich ones by streamlining the flow of goods across borders, is within reach. An expansion of the Information Technology Agreement promises to eliminate hundreds of tariffs on $1tn of technology products, from MRI machines to semiconductors. Also encouraging is progress on an agreement that would liberalise trade in environmental goods.

然而，经验表明，以务实的方式，WTO能够产生成果。《贸易便利化协定》(Trade Facilitation Agreement)的正式生效触手可及。通过简化商品的跨境流动，该协定对发展中国家的益处甚至超过富裕国家。《信息技术产品协议》（Information Technology Agreement，简称ITA）扩大范围，有望取消对价值1万亿美元的科技产品——从核磁共振仪器到半导体产品——征收的数百项关税。另一项旨在实现环保产品贸易自由化的协议，也正在取得令人鼓舞的进展。

So, two-way deals are working. Regional pacts are working. Groups of countries have struck sectoral deals. Only multilateralism — the attempt to reach a comprehensive global deal — is stuck. Getting it unstuck begins with acknowledging that Doha was designed in a different era, for a different era, and much has changed since.

因此，双边协议进展顺利；区域性协定进展顺利；一些国家已经敲定区域性协议。只有试图达成全球整体协议的多边主义陷入僵局。要打破僵局，首先要承认，多哈回合是在一个不同的时代、为另一个不同的时代设计的，自那以来很多事情都已经改变。

When Doha was launched in 2001, the focus was on US and EU agricultural subsidies, which have since been cut. Now, some emerging markets are the biggest providers of agricultural subsidies but would be exempt under Doha from cuts. If you are a poor farmer facing a global market distortion, it does not matter where the subsidies causing it came from. Artificial distinctions between developed and emerging economies make no economic sense.

2001年多哈回合谈判启动时，其重点是美国和欧盟的农业补贴——后来补贴已经被削减。如今，一些新兴市场是最大的农业补贴国，但是其补贴政策却不受制于多哈回合。如果你是一名面对全球市场扭曲的贫穷农民，造成市场扭曲的补贴来自于哪里对你来说无所谓。人为对发达经济体和新兴经济体进行区别，在经济上没道理。

Today, Doha negotiations remain deadlocked. After 14 years, including the past two years of intensified engagement, there is no light at the end of the tunnel. Cecilia Malmstr洀, EU trade commissioner, and many others have been clear about the need to chart a more productive path.

如今，多哈回合谈判仍陷于僵局。在启动14年(其中包括过去两年的密集谈判)后，多哈回合谈判仍然看不到胜利的曙光。欧盟贸易专员塞西莉亚氠尔姆斯特伦(Cecilia Malmstr洀)和其他很多人一直清楚地表明，需要绘制一条更有效的路径。

That route forward is a new form of pragmatic multilateralism. Moving beyond Doha does not mean leaving its unfinished business behind. Rather, it means bringing new approaches to the table. Doha issues are too important to leave to the Doha architecture that has failed for so long.

那条能够带领我们取得进展的路径，是采取一种新的务实多边主义。跳过多哈回合并不意味着将其未完成的事情抛诸脑后。相反，这意味着拿出新方法。多哈回合的问题太过重要，我们不能把这些问题留给多哈回合架构来解决，这么长时间以来，这个架构一直未能有效地发挥作用。

Freeing ourselves from the strictures of Doha would also allow us to explore emerging trade issues. Many developing countries have encouraged new discussions on issues like ecommerce and the needs of small businesses.

摆脱多哈回合的约束，也可能让我们得以探索贸易领域出现的新问题。如今很多发展中国家都鼓励就电子商务及小企业需求等问题开展新讨论。

One way or the other, this week’s WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi will mark the end of an era. The US is still working to secure a package of measured but meaningful results, but what cannot be achieved in Nairobi will not be achieved by trying again with the same failed approach. Pretending otherwise would intensify the search for solutions outside the WTO, raising questions about its relevance in trade negotiations.

不管怎样，本周在内罗毕举行的WTO部长级会议将标志着一个时代的终结。美国仍在努力促成一揽子慎重但有意义的结果，但是在内罗毕无法实现的目标，以同样的方法再尝试一次也不会实现。不正视这一事实，会加剧各国在WTO以外寻找答案的势头，让WTO在贸易谈判中的重要性受到质疑。

With global growth slowing and uneven and many traditional economic tools constrained, trade policy has an outsize role to play in spurring inclusive growth. Multilateralism still promises the greatest economic gains in theory. To realise those gains in practice, we need the courage to look, think, and act beyond Doha.

在全球增长放缓且不平衡、许多传统经济工具受到制约之际，贸易政策在促进包容性增长方面要唱重头戏。理论上，多边主义仍有望取得最大的经济收益。要真正实现这些收益，我们需要拥有跳过多哈回合去展望、思考和行动的勇气。