WTO members to intensify multilateral process of Doha Round talks

The World Trade Organization (WTO) 's 150 members agreed on Friday to intensify the Geneva-based multilateral process of the Doha Round trade talks and to try to reach agreement by the end of the year.

Although the United States, EU, Brazil and India, known as the G4, failed to make breakthrough on the key agriculture issue in their latest talks in New Delhi, their commitment to a successful outcome of the Doha Round by the end of the year was welcomed by all WTO members, a WTO official said.

But at a meeting of delegation heads on Friday, WTO members stressed that the Geneva-based multilateral negotiations should be the core of the Doha Round talks and small group consultations should be integrated into the multilateral process in order to ensure transparency and inclusiveness.

"Other processes in or outside Geneva have an undeniable importance, but they must feed into the multilateral negotiations, which are the core of our business and which must move on," WTO chief Pascal Lamy told the meeting.

"Now, more than ever, we cannot afford to let the multilateral process wait upon the timing of any other process," Lamy said.

Lamy said it was a difficult task to reach full agreement by the end of the year, given the long time stalemate on agricultural subsidies and tariffs among the G4 key participants of the talks.

But he believed that it was still "doable" if all WTO members " put every effort into making the multilateral process the pathway to success."

At the meeting, developing members stressed that their concerns must be addressed in order to realize the development goal of the Doha Round, which was launched in 2001 with an aim to reduce poverty through fairer trade conditions.

"The major issue holding back and impeding the progress in the Round is the lack of movement by the developed countries in terms of early removal of distortions, caused by huge subsidies and significant market access barriers," said Sun Zhenyu, Chinese ambassador to the WTO.

He urged major developed players to take tangible and concrete action by committing themselves to an early removal of trade distortions.

Source: Xinhua