WTO Mini-Ministerial Evades Collapse, As Lamy Finds ‘Way Forward’
Despondency and bitterness gave way to guarded optimism at the WTO on Friday, as prospects for breakthrough agreements on agriculture and manufacturing trade brightened significantly during the fifth day of a high-level summit in Geneva.
By the end of the day on 25 July, an accord at least seemed possible, which was barely the case in [...]
“Time Is Running Out” For Struggling WTO Talks
The next 24 hours will determine whether governments can rescue WTO talks from the brink of collapse, officials said Thursday evening.
A crucial day lies ahead for the ongoing attempt to strike framework deals on liberalising agricultural and industrial trade. Discussions have been largely stalemated since they started Monday, and negotiators are under increasing pressure to [...]
WTO Mini-Ministerial, Day Three: And Then There Were Seven
Seven of the world’s largest trading powers emerged front and centre in the struggling talks at the WTO on Wednesday, meeting all afternoon and late into the night in an attempt to find a way out of the impasse in governments’ push for breakthrough deals on agricultural and industrial goods trade.
“We made progress, but not [...]
Little Movement on Second Day of WTO Talks
With little discernible progress on the second of what is supposed to be six days of high-level talks at the WTO, Director-General Pascal Lamy unexpectedly changed the negotiation process on Tuesday, dropping a planned ‘green room’ gathering in the hopes that issue-specific meetings among smaller groups of Members would yield compromise more swiftly.
A Wednesday evening [...]
Political Positioning Dominates Opening Day of WTO Talks
A week of high-stakes talks is underway at the WTO, as governments attempt to salvage a deal in the struggling Doha Round of trade negotiations. But the first day of the ‘mini-ministerial’ gathering was marked principally by political positioning, with the real horse-trading yet to begin.
Members are attempting to strike framework ‘modalities’ agreements on agriculture [...]