Global General

Special

Newsmaker

Asia Pacific

America

Middle East

Europe

Africa

WTO members seek way out of Doha Round impasse

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-07-31 14:04

GENEVA -- Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) were in a rush on Wednesday to seek way out of the current impasse of the Doha Round talks after a crucial bid for a breakthrough collapsed.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy attends a press conference at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland July 29, 2008. [Agencies]

A meeting of all the WTO members was called Wednesday to analyze the consequences and what should be the next steps, at which WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy urged delegates to have a time of reflection instead of making a hasty decision.

"I think we all now need to engage a serious reflection on the next steps of our collective endeavor, which is the Doha Development Agenda," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell quoted Lamy as saying.

"I believe we have collective responsibility to begin this process of reflection right now," he said.

Related readings:  World trade may expand even as WTO talks sputter  WTO talks collapse, rich world 'to blame'  Marathon WTO talks collapse in US-India farm row  WTO trade talks enters ninth day in tense atmosphere

After nine days of marathon negotiations, trade ministers from over 30 major WTO members failed to narrow their differences on agriculture trade and industrial market access, the two key and harshly disputed areas of the Doha Round.

The meeting had been billed as the last chance for a conclusion of the long-stalled Doha Round this year, but the effort was stopped by an unresolved dispute between the United States and India on the so-called special safeguard mechanism, which would allow developing countries to raise agriculture tariffs to protect domestic farmers in the event of an import surge.

Lamy said all members now need to seriously reflect about "if and when" they can remove obstacles for a final conclusion of a new global trade pact.

"Whether it has been deadlocked, we have to find new idea and new solutions," he said.

The WTO chief said the immediate priority for WTO members is to reaffirm their commitment to the multilateral trading system.

Analysts warned the fresh failure, third in the history of the Doha Round, would deal a heavy blow to the confidence people have in the multilateral trading system and may prompt countries to seek bilateral solutions.

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page  

   Previous page 1 2 Next Page