"We are deeply disappointed that the first African ministerial is becoming a ministerial [conference] that delivers outcomes not for Africa, but for the United States. The only country that will walk away from here with all their demands met will be not an African country or any other developing nation, but the United States," Patnaik told journalists.
According to Patnaik, the United States, which extends its export credits from 180 to 540 days or beyond, is "getting the export credit concessions, which developing countries are conceding without getting anything in return."
He said that, unlike most developed countries, developing countries do not have access to "the special safeguard, which allows them to raise tariffs in order to protect domestic [food] producers in order to stabilize prices in their own countries," as their demand to allow this safeguard has been denied.
The Kenyan capital, Nairobi, is currently hosting the WTO's four-day 10th ministerial conference. The summit of the economy ministers from over 160 states aims to define the course of multilateral trade relations for the coming years.
