Doha round talks brought back from brink of collapse, WTO chief warns of failure of global trade talks

Doha round talks brought back from brink of collapse

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-26 13:06:44

GENEVA, July 25 (Xinhua) --

While the ministerial negotiations of World Trade Organization (WTO) Doha round talks were on the brink of collapse, Director-General Pascal Lamy put a proposal on the table Friday revitalizing the deadlock.

Though the ministers attending the talks have not yet reached final agreement on the proposal, they agreed that it could be a basis for compromise.

"What's on the table is not perfect, it's not beautiful but it's finally put together what will be a genuine boost for the world economy and particularly good for developing countries," European Union trade chief Peter Mandelson said.

"There is an emerging deal but not a done deal," Mandelson said.

According to the proposal, the talks would be restricted to seven key countries to crack open the toughest issues, ranging from caps on farm subsidies to limits on special treatment for developing countries.

One of the key elements in the proposal was a cut in U.S. farm support to 14.5 billion U.S. dollars, improving on Tuesday's U.S. offer of 15 billion dollars -- one third of the current ceiling but double current outlays which have fallen as food prices soared.

In goods trade, Lamy's offer also contains concessions for both rich and poor countries. It gives developing countries a choice for industrial tariff caps from 20 percent to 25 percent. The steeper the cuts developing countries chose, the more loopholes they receive to protect strategic industries such as automobiles.

U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said after a meeting of more than 30 countries that many issues remained to be resolved if the WTO were to reach a framework deal slashing farm subsidies and cutting agricultural and industrial tariffs around the world.

WTO spokesperson said that Lamy's proposal did not satisfy every WTO member, but no one has rejected it.

On Saturday negotiators will also look at the prospects of liberalizing services such as banking and telecom, which will color the outcome of the core farming and industry talks that are the focus of the current talks.

According to the agenda of the ministerial talks, the ministers will continue their negotiations on Lamy's proposal in the coming three days. The results of their negotiations are scheduled to be released in the WTO plenary session on Wednesday.

Editor: Jiang Yuxia

WTO chief warns of failure of global trade talks

www.chinaview.cn 2008-07-26 03:51:09

GENEVA, July 25 (Xinhua) --

A crucial bid to salvage the global trade talks was on the edge of failure after four days of negotiations which made little progress, World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy warned Friday.

"If we do not see this rapid progress toward convergence, I am afraid that the deal that you came here for this week will not happen with all the intended consequences," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell quoted Lamy as saying in a briefing to WTO delegations.

"This is the bloody reality," Lamy said. "The situation as I see it is critical, edging between success and failure."

Ministers from three dozen major WTO members were engaged in a week-long effort here to seek a breakthrough in the long-stalled Doha Round of global trade talks, but the negotiations remained deadlocked as the deadline approaches.

Lamy said that although some convergences had been recorded, progress had been "painfully slow" in the last four days of ministerial negotiation. lamy urged delegates to spare no effort to resolve the outstanding issues as the negotiations entered their fifth and final day as planned.

"If the negotiators show no further flexibility to deliver outcomes that take account of different interests in the next hours, we will face the serious consequences of failure," Lamy said. "Time is running out and the next 24 hours are crucial."

The Doha Round of global trade talks, officially launched in 2001, was designed to slash subsidies, tariffs and other barriers to trade so as to help reduce poverty and spur economic growth in developing countries.

However, the round had missed repeated deadlines in the past seven years due mainly to differences between the developing and developed countries over agriculture and non-agricultural market access.

Those differences continued to hinder the latest push by major players in the WTO, which was billed as the last chance to see a conclusion of the Doha Round within this year. Any failure this time would mean a delay of another several years.

"We need to change gears very quickly to turn things around," Lamy said.

The talks over the stalled Doha Round trade negotiations had shown some "encouraging signs" over the past couple of hours, and "interesting proposals" had been put forward, WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said later Friday. without giving details.

There had been speculation that the ongoing talks, which were scheduled to conclude on Friday, would drag into next week.

Rockwell said ministers had indicated they were ready to stay longer into next week "if they had indications today that there was progress likely to be made that worth their while."

In order to speed up the negotiations, trade and agricultural ministers from the world's seven trading powers, namely the United States, the European Union, Japan, Australia, Brazil, India and China, have been in meetings since Wednesday in their quest for a compromise, but they remained far apart on some key issues.

According to Lamy's arrangement, key WTO members should reach agreement first; and then their agreement would be sent for approval by the full WTO membership. Any member has the power to veto a deal.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

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