It is crucial for World Trade Organization (WTO) members to meet the April 30 deadline if they want to conclude the Doha round of trade negotiations this year, WTO chief Pascal Lamy said on Tuesday.

"The April 30 deadline will be a moment of truth. It's approaching fast, so we don't have any minute to waste," Lamy told reporters following a meeting of the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC).

He said during the meeting, he warned WTO members against any postponement of the deadline, by which WTO members should reach a broad agreement on reducing trade barriers for agricultural and industrial products.

"I'm of the view that recalibrating the April deadline, either on timing or on substance, would be a huge collective mistake," he stressed, adding that missing the deadline would endanger the Doha round.

Lamy also urged WTO members to accelerate their pace of negotiations, especially on the three key issues - agricultural domestic support, agricultural market access and non-agricultural market access, which hold the key for solving other issues on the agenda.

He said some progress had been made on all issues since the last TNC meeting was held in February, but the pace was too slow for the deadline to be met, so key players such as the U.S., the EU and the G20 of developing members need to more flexible.

According to the WTO director-general, the U.S. has to agree to more farm subsidy cuts, the EU has to make further concessions on farm tariff cuts, and G20 members such as Brazil have to accept deeper cuts in industrial tariffs.

"The question is not whether, but when," he said.

The Doha round of trade liberalization talks was launched in 2001 with the aim to boost the global economy and lift millions worldwide out of poverty by lowering trade barriers across all sectors.

The round was originally meant to end in 2004, but WTO members missed the target due to severe disagreements. A new target was set in the Hong Kong ministerial conference last December to conclude the negotiations by the end of this year.

Source: Xinhua