ID :
13833
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 20:58
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/13833
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WTO free trade talks face critical stage
GENEVA, July 25 Kyodo - The beleaguered global free trade talks approached a critical stage Friday at the World Trade Organization as a make-or-break meeting of ministers from major trading powers entered its fifth day with minimal progress.
''Some convergences have been recorded but progress remains painfully slow after four days of ministerial-level negotiations,'' WTO Director General Pascal Lamy told delegates, according to the Geneva-based institution.
If not enough progress is seen soon, an outline deal needed to unlock the long-delayed Doha Round of talks will not happen in the coming days, Lamy warned.
''The situation as I see is critical, edging between success and failure,'' WTO chief spokesman Keith Rockwell quoted Lamy as saying. ''Time is running out and the next 24 hours are crucial.''To salvage the floundering talks, trade and farm ministers from seven key trading heavyweights -- Australia, Brazil, China, the European Union, India, Japan and the United States -- held their exclusive meeting again Friday afternoon.
''Today's meeting will be extremely important,'' Akira Amari, Japan's economy, trade and industry minister, told reporters as he arrived for the high-stakes meeting.
The Doha Round of talks, launched in November 2001 in the Qatari capital, have been deadlocked chiefly due to a row between developed and developing economies on how to lower tariff barriers in the politically sensitive agricultural and industrial sectors.
Earlier this week, the European Union said it is ready to reduce agricultural tariffs by 60 percent, a wider margin than an average 54 percent cut proposed in the latest WTO text for the farm negotiations.
The United States also revealed Tuesday it is ready to limit farm subsidies to $15 billion a year, compared with the current limit of $48.2 billion.
A substantial cut in U.S. farm subsidies is seen as one of the crucial factors to prompt developing economies to make concessions in market access for nonfarm products.
Japan, which wants to secure the decision that at least 8 percent of all farm products will be exempted from high tariff cuts, is in dire straits as the European Union and the United States are now in tandem with a proposal of limiting the ratio of such an exemption to 4 percent.
''Some convergences have been recorded but progress remains painfully slow after four days of ministerial-level negotiations,'' WTO Director General Pascal Lamy told delegates, according to the Geneva-based institution.
If not enough progress is seen soon, an outline deal needed to unlock the long-delayed Doha Round of talks will not happen in the coming days, Lamy warned.
''The situation as I see is critical, edging between success and failure,'' WTO chief spokesman Keith Rockwell quoted Lamy as saying. ''Time is running out and the next 24 hours are crucial.''To salvage the floundering talks, trade and farm ministers from seven key trading heavyweights -- Australia, Brazil, China, the European Union, India, Japan and the United States -- held their exclusive meeting again Friday afternoon.
''Today's meeting will be extremely important,'' Akira Amari, Japan's economy, trade and industry minister, told reporters as he arrived for the high-stakes meeting.
The Doha Round of talks, launched in November 2001 in the Qatari capital, have been deadlocked chiefly due to a row between developed and developing economies on how to lower tariff barriers in the politically sensitive agricultural and industrial sectors.
Earlier this week, the European Union said it is ready to reduce agricultural tariffs by 60 percent, a wider margin than an average 54 percent cut proposed in the latest WTO text for the farm negotiations.
The United States also revealed Tuesday it is ready to limit farm subsidies to $15 billion a year, compared with the current limit of $48.2 billion.
A substantial cut in U.S. farm subsidies is seen as one of the crucial factors to prompt developing economies to make concessions in market access for nonfarm products.
Japan, which wants to secure the decision that at least 8 percent of all farm products will be exempted from high tariff cuts, is in dire straits as the European Union and the United States are now in tandem with a proposal of limiting the ratio of such an exemption to 4 percent.
