Lamy calls for collective determination to move Doha Round forward

World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy said on Monday that WTO members must show collective determination if they want to see progress in the Doha Round of trade liberlization talks.

WTO members cannot conclude the talks "by the work of magic, but by our collective determination and effort to breach remaining gaps and find consensus," the director-general told a meeting of delegation heads.

He said reaching consensus "remains doable, but only if a sense of urgency starts appearing in each and every delegation."

The 149 WTO members have missed an April 30 deadline for a deal on reducing agricultural and industrial tariffs and subsidies. Member governments acknowledge that they are running too far behind schedule to meet their target.

The Doha Round was launched in 2001 with the goal of boosting world trade in an effort to increase development in poor countries.

The round was originally meant to end in 2004 but has stumbled because of persistent disputes between rich and poor countries over the concessions they should make.

Negotiators still aim to finish the round by the end of this year but have been repeatedly warned by Lamy that they must step up efforts in the next several weeks to achieve that objective.

"I do not believe that we have lost the opportunity to produce positive results, but we really have no more time to spare," Lamy told the Monday meeting.

He reiterated that WTO members must reach agreement on cutting agricultural and industrial tariffs and subsidies in weeks rather than months in order to conclude the whole Doha Round on schedule.

Source: Xinhua