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Lamy urges members to focus on compromises

23 Jul 2008

Director-General Pascal Lamy, at the informal Trade Negotiations Committee meeting on 23 July 2008, characterized the second round of consultations held the day before as “constructive, with a strong commitment to engaging directly and in good faith”. He said he plans to start “working on key issues in agriculture and non-agricultural market access in smaller groups, together with the Negotiating Groups and General Council Chairs”.

Chairman’s opening remarks

 
Good morning and thank you for coming to this informal meeting of Heads of Delegation.

A piece of good news to start the meeting: Today we welcome the Republic of Cape Verde as the 153rd Member of this Organization. Cape Verde is the third LDC and first country from Africa to have completed the accession procedures under Article XII of the Marrakesh Agreement. Membership will provide a stable and predictable basis for the growth and development of Cape Verde. They have worked very hard to achieve this, knowing it will give a welcome boost to the economy, and their efforts serve as an example to us all.

The purpose of our meeting this morning is to report in this open-ended format on the second round of consultations I had yesterday afternoon with a number of delegations.

These consultations involved as before a broad range of the membership, including representatives of regional and other groupings, with the aim of ensuring that the full spectrum of Members' views and interests was represented.

Let me stress that, in this process, I am counting heavily on the coordinators of the various WTO Groupings to assist in maintaining transparency and inclusiveness. I know that Group coordinators face a big burden, but I do ask that you continue to ensure the flow of information and maintain consultations with your constituencies from smaller consultations so that they are kept informed and involved, as well as to convey your groups' positions to other Members, the negotiating group Chairs and myself.

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Source: WTO News