South Africa could take advantage of the extra time that the suspended Doha Development Agenda trade negotiations provided, which could resume in December, to strengthen its technical preparations in dealing with trade matters, Department of Trade and Industry chief trade negotiator Xavier Carim said earlier this week.

The wait would allow the country to improve its technical expertise across a wide range of negotiating areas, including agriculture, dumping and subsidies.

“It also gives us the opportunity to consult with the Southern African Customs Union (Sacu) and the regular bodies of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), which are important to the negotiating process,” Carim stated. “We haven't paid enough attention to this in the past.”

President Thabo Mbeki indicated at the recent post-Cabinet lekgotla briefing that the country wished to see the negotiations resume as soon as possible. He warned that they should resume before the US Congress trade-negotiation mandate expired next year.

“The best time to move forward with the talks would be after the US mid-term elections, in September,” Carim suggested.

“If we are not able to re-engage in talks by the end of this year, or early next year, then the next possible window only appears in three-to-four year's time,” he added.

Carim also stressed that crucial to the resumption of the talks was that “what was on the table remains on the table”.

“Once you start to take parts out of the package and deal with them differently, there is a great chance that the overall package could unravel.”

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy recently suspended talks after six key WTO members, who were attempting to finalise an acceptable text against an increasingly tight deadline, were unable to agree to suitable compromises, particularly on farm trade reform.