British Prime Minister Tony Blair urged the United States and the European Union to 'go further' on agriculture to make a success of next month's World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting in Hong Kong.
Asia-Pacific nations blamed the European Union for the gridlock in global trade talks as they called an urgent meeting to rescue next month's World Trade Organisation forum in Hong Kong.
Senior U.S. officials on Monday called on China to open its markets further but also sought Chinese help in breaking an impasse in global trade talks, a combination of tough demands and pleas for assistance that increasingly characterizes the broader Chinese-American relationship
European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said on Sunday there would be no new world trade agreement at a summit in Hong Kong next month unless the United States and Brazil compromised.
A militant Korean farmers' group, considered among the world's most violent anti-globalisation groups, has been granted a permit for an upcoming trade summit in Hong Kong, an official website revealed.
For Amorim and the other negotiators from developing countries that have been run over by the rich world in trade talks for the past 50 years, this page has two words: Stand fast.
Top WTO negotiators said they had failed to bridge key differences on a global trade accord in talks this week and acknowledged that the scope of a crucial ministerial meeting in Hong Kong next month would have to be scaled back.
By Martin Khor, TWN Info Service on WTO and Trade Issues
WTO members invited to a 'super Green Room' meeting at the WTO headquarters have significantly scaled down their expectations of the outcome of the WTO's Hong Kong Ministerial conference in December.
Preparations for the World Trade Organization's important ministerial conference in Hong Kong were thrown into disarray following two days of fruitless ministerial talks in Geneva Nov. 8-9, where member governments essentially gave up on achieving their stated goals for the December gathering.
