New figures released today by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) to coincide with the re-launch of WTO talks in Geneva show the potentially devastating effect on employment that developing countries face from the current negotiations.

Remarks by Pascal Lamy that a coefficient of 20 would be an acceptable number to those involved in Non Agricultural Market Access negotiations were received with alarm by trade unionists worldwide, given the undeniably large number of job losses in which such a drastic cut would result.

The US and EU are arguing for a low coefficient of 15 or less for developing countries, which in effect would mean that some of the sectors that employ the highest number of people due to their labour-intensive nature are facing the prospect of tariff cuts of up to 75%.

The end of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing meant that all the quotas in this sector were reduced to zero in January 2005.

Textiles and apparel would be the hardest hit again, with rubber and plastic products, furniture and auto sectors also faring badly. These sectors represent a high proportion of formal employment in developing countries and the cuts would inevitably lead to a large number of job cuts. Argentina would be asked to cut its bound tariffs on textiles and auto parts by 50% and 62% respectively and Morocco would have to reduce tariffs by 78% in the clothing and textiles sectors, which employ just under half of those in formal employment in the country.