GENEVA, Jan 17 (AFP) - Wealthy nations should set a target date for the complete elimination of their customs duties and tariffs, a report on the future of the World Trade Organisation said Tuesday.
The report by an official panel led by former WTO chief Peter Sutherland said the move would help unravel a "spaghetti bowl" of discriminatory agreements struck by rich countries with trading partners, which burdened the global free trade system.
"Perhaps a commitment by developed countries of the WTO to establish a date by which all their tariffs will move to zero should now be considered seriously," the report said.
Sutherland, who also served as the European Union Trade Commissioner in the late 1980s, said only five of the EU's trade agreements with WTO's 148 member states were based on non-discriminatory "Most Favoured Nation" (MFN) status.
"We're deeply worried about the issue of non-discrimination becoming the exception rather than the rule," he told journalists.
The report sharply criticised the "proliferation" of "Preferential Trade Agreements", which are based on tailored tariff cuts and other advantages for selected countries rather than the clear set of MFN rules set in the WTO.
"The benefits of the (WTO) members are in danger of being undermined by a drift towards politically motivated trade relationships," Sutherland said.
He urged all trading nations to commit themselves to the WTO as "the umbrella" for agreemenst with trading partners.
01/17/2005 18:23 GMT - AFP