WTO members give mixed reaction to new numbers
26 Jul 2008
A new set of compromise numbers has been circulated to WTO members and in the first response of the full membership today (26 July 2008) all speakers said it would be painful to accept but several said members should do so nonetheless.
As members continued to examine this new “package” on Day Six of these ministerial-level talks, a group of ministers participated in a services signalling conference, postponed from Thursday 24 July.
The new numbers are proposed compromises on a handful of major issues in the agriculture and industrial products negotiations. They are the result of discussions the previous day first among a group of seven ministers and then the larger representative group of about 30 ministers (the so-called Green Room).
“The package will remain on the table as a contribution toward our work” WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy reported to members in the informal Trade Negotiations Committee, where the full membership can oversee the “concentric circles” of small and large meetings.
“But as you will recognize, this is by no means the full picture of our task. There remain many elements not in this package which are dear to many of you and therefore need to be tackled urgently in order to find the overall political balance. This is necessary because as I have said to you, there is no such thing as partial modalities.”
“Modalities” is the term used to describe the blueprint agreements in agriculture and non-agricultural market access, including formulas for cutting tariffs and agricultural subsidies, which will then be applied to individual products and support programmes.
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Source: WTO News
The new numbers are proposed compromises on a handful of major issues in the agriculture and industrial products negotiations. They are the result of discussions the previous day first among a group of seven ministers and then the larger representative group of about 30 ministers (the so-called Green Room).
“The package will remain on the table as a contribution toward our work” WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy reported to members in the informal Trade Negotiations Committee, where the full membership can oversee the “concentric circles” of small and large meetings.
“But as you will recognize, this is by no means the full picture of our task. There remain many elements not in this package which are dear to many of you and therefore need to be tackled urgently in order to find the overall political balance. This is necessary because as I have said to you, there is no such thing as partial modalities.”
“Modalities” is the term used to describe the blueprint agreements in agriculture and non-agricultural market access, including formulas for cutting tariffs and agricultural subsidies, which will then be applied to individual products and support programmes.
Read More...
Source: WTO News
