Friday December 12, 03:26 PM
WTO head says meeting scrapped as risk of failure too high
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GENEVA (AFP) - WTO head Pascal Lamy said Friday he had scrapped plans to summon ministers to thrash out a new trade pact due to an "unacceptably high risk of failure" which could hurt the whole commerce system.
"In my view ... calling ministers to try to finalise modalities by the end of the year would be running an unacceptably high risk of failure which could damage not only the (Doha) Round but also the WTO system as a whole," Lamy told the WTO's 153 member states.
Lamy said he drew the conclusion after talks with key trading powers over the past week, but added that he was ready to keep consulting, "if your collective view is that you are ready to try in the next few days."
He pointed to the two revised draft negotiation texts on agriculture and industrial products which were produced in anticipation of a possible ministerial meeting, and said they brought discussions "closer to the end line of modalities.
"This being so, my sense is that we should now focus on seeing how we gather the necessary political energy into the new year," he said.
The so-called Doha Round of talks, which started at the end of 2001 in the Qatari capital, aims to boost international commerce by removing trade barriers and subsidies.
A deal has so far proved elusive as countries are reluctant to open up their markets or reduce financial support to farmers.
Marathon talks in Geneva in July collapsed amid deadlock between the United States and India over a mechanism designed to protect poor farmers against import surges.
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