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Trade ministers may have to delay WTO push
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Trade ministers may have to delay WTO push
Top trade ministers admitted yesterday they could have to delay a mid-December deadline for a global deal, although the European Union (EU) warned such a move was risky and there was still time to overcome deep divisions. Officials from key members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said it might not be possible to achieve a full blueprint for a treaty before a December meeting in Hong Kong to give the world economy a boost and help alleviate poverty.
?We may need a Hong Kong II,? Brazilian Trade Minister Celso Amorim said yesterday ahead of a meeting of trade ministers from around the world. Amorim and his EU, US, Indian and Japanese counterparts met in London on Monday, but failed to break new ground, although they all described the discussions as positive.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said he was still pressing for a wide-ranging agreement when all the WTO?s 148 members meet in Hong Kong between Dec. 13 and 18. ?The moment you start reducing expectations, you risk introducing complacency,? Mandelson said, heading for the Geneva meeting which is due to stretch up till tomorrow. ?My view is that we should keep up the pressure to narrow the differences.?
After four years of talks, the gap between rich and poor nations, chiefly over agriculture, remains wide. All sides have warned the negotiations risk collapse if the deadlock remains. Some ministers and senior trade officials feel the time has come to lower the target for Hong Kong to avoid a damaging failure like the conference in Cancun, Mexico, in 2003.
But they add that any delay could not lead to a weakening of the overall goals of the round ? slashing of rich nation farm subsidies and market-opening across the global economy ? or for a postponement of the round?s final end-2006 deadline. The EU has so far borne most of the criticism from other major trading nations for the impasse in the negotiations.
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