GENEVA, July 27 (Chinese media) -- A crucial bid to salvage the long-stalled Doha
Round of global trade talks continued Sunday after signs of emerging consensus
revived hopes of reaching a deal in an extended week of discussions.
Ministers from over 30 members of the World Trade Organization ( WTO)
returned to the contentious issues in the areas of agriculture and industry
following a one-day shift Saturday to the services sector, a key priority for
developed countries.
The WTO major players have been engaged in a crucial effort since Monday to
bridge their lingering divergences on agriculture and industrial goods trade so
as to wrap up the Doha Round of global trade talks this year.
The Doha Round, officially launched in 2001, had been deadlocked in the
past seven years mainly due to differences between the developing and developed
countries over agriculture and non-agricultural market access.
Friday saw a tentative breakthrough in the two areas after the negotiations
had been on the verge of collapse.
Seven trading powers within the WTO, namely Australia, Brazil, the European
Union (EU), India, Japan, the United States and China, found common ground on
the draft agreement proposed by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy.
Saturday's primary talks on the services sector injected new optimism into
the negotiations which had been scheduled for a week but were extended until
Wednesday this week.
"Whether it was the developed countries or the developing countries'
participants, this conversation about services, the first really that the
ministers have had together, was a good step forward, a positive step forward,"
said U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.
India also sounded upbeat.
"The process of engagement is continuing, and this process will continue
again tomorrow. So I am optimistic," said India's Commerce Trade Minister Kamal
Nath after almost five hours of meetings with his counterparts Saturday.
However, the reviving optimism remained under test since there were still
some sticking points which may derail the talks.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said the negotiators were closer to a
deal than they had been at any point in the last seven years, but he warned the
road to a successful WTO deal is littered with "potholes".
"There are a number of potential potholes in the road," Mandelson said,
citing India and other countries with millions of people as blocking a deal on
agriculture.
"There is no guarantee that the fragile package that began to emerge on
Friday night will survive," he wrote in his daily blog on the trade talks here.
Even within the EU, differences among member states posed additional
challenge to the job of Mandelson.
French Trade Minister Anne-Marie Idrac, whose country holds the EU rotating
presidency, said EU ministers at a meeting Saturday called on Mandelson to
"improve the accord" proposed by Lamy late Friday.
Both India and Argentina have also made it clear that they were not
satisfied with the new draft.
"We're not very happy with the package, primarily on agricultural issues,"
the Indian ambassador to the WTO, Ujal SinghBhatia, said before Saturday's
talks.
In a letter to Lamy released Saturday, Argentina said it feared that
"without significant changes to (Lamy's draft) ... it would be impossible to
reach a positive outcome."
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