Archive - Abr 21, 2006

Links to excerpts from Martin Khor's news article on this development which provides some background and context to the G33 letter. And the G33 letter to Lamy for your information and action.

In this final week of negotiations on non-agricultural market access (NAMA) before the end-April deadline for modalities, WTO members remain polarized over the key issues of the formula for making tariff cuts and flexibilities from the formula for developing country members.

The European Union and the United States blamed each other on Friday for a stalemate in global trade talks which put beyond reach an end of April deadline for a key deal on farm and industrial goods.

A group of 125 civil society organizations, in a letter sent Tuesday to WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, has called for the cancellation of a mini-Ministerial reportedly involving only about 30 WTO Members which Lamy had planned for end April and early May in Geneva.

The mood at the World Trade Organisation headquarters turned even more sombre Wednesday 19 April as many delegates have become convinced that it would be impossible to agree to modalities for agriculture and non-agricultural market access by the 30 April deadline set by the Hong Kong Ministerial.