WTO: Capture progress and continue work, members say
30 Jul 2008
Issues settled in nine days of talks among ministers should be preserved and work in the Doha Round should continue despite the ministers’ talks collapsing the previous day, WTO members said on 30 July 2008.
They were speaking on the record, in a formal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee, the forum for the full membership to oversee the negotiations. The focus was on the talks among ministers, which broke down on 29 July when a small group of them could not agree on details of a new “special safeguard mechanism” for developing countries (explained below).
The members were echoing WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy’s opening comments in the meeting.
He spoke of “a collective responsibility” to reflect on next steps. The progress made in agriculture, non-agricultural market access and other subjects should be preserved, Mr Lamy said.
“This represents thousands of hours of negotiation and serious political investment by all the members of the WTO. This should not be wasted.”
Mr Lamy also suggested members allow time for “the dust … to settle a bit before we can have a clear idea of those next steps”.
The formal Trade Negotiations Meeting brings to a close the talks among ministers. Several of them stayed to the end and spoke in today’s meeting.
Over the previous nine days they met, sometimes late into the night in meetings of various types, including a group of seven ministers — Australia, Brazil, China, the EU, India, Japan, and the US — who reported next to Green Room sessions of about 30 representative delegations, and finally to almost daily informal meetings of the full membership.
Working closely with Mr Lamy were Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who chaired talks on intellectual property issues, the chairs of the agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations, Crawford Falconer and Don Stephenson, and General Council chairperson Bruce Gosper.
Reports from the agriculture and non-agriculture chairs will be circulated shortly, along with Mr Lamy’s own report on the 26 July “signalling conference” on services. These will join reports on other Doha Round subjects already submitted to the Trade Negotiations Committee.
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Source: WTO News
The members were echoing WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy’s opening comments in the meeting.
He spoke of “a collective responsibility” to reflect on next steps. The progress made in agriculture, non-agricultural market access and other subjects should be preserved, Mr Lamy said.
“This represents thousands of hours of negotiation and serious political investment by all the members of the WTO. This should not be wasted.”
Mr Lamy also suggested members allow time for “the dust … to settle a bit before we can have a clear idea of those next steps”.
The formal Trade Negotiations Meeting brings to a close the talks among ministers. Several of them stayed to the end and spoke in today’s meeting.
Over the previous nine days they met, sometimes late into the night in meetings of various types, including a group of seven ministers — Australia, Brazil, China, the EU, India, Japan, and the US — who reported next to Green Room sessions of about 30 representative delegations, and finally to almost daily informal meetings of the full membership.
Working closely with Mr Lamy were Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, who chaired talks on intellectual property issues, the chairs of the agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA) negotiations, Crawford Falconer and Don Stephenson, and General Council chairperson Bruce Gosper.
Reports from the agriculture and non-agriculture chairs will be circulated shortly, along with Mr Lamy’s own report on the 26 July “signalling conference” on services. These will join reports on other Doha Round subjects already submitted to the Trade Negotiations Committee.
Read More...
Source: WTO News
