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This week's ministerial meetings in Geneva aimed at settling on negotiating modalities for agriculture and nonagricultural market access are 'make-or-break' for the World Trade Organization's Doha Development Agenda trade round, Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns said yesterday

Leading countries in the troubled

WTO members met this morning after the release of the draft possible modalities prepared by Ambassador Crawford Falconer of New Zealand, Chair of the Committee on Agriculture (Special Session) the previous day.

Key members of the World Trade Organization yesterday sharply differed over what constitutes the level of political 'ambition' in the Doha Development Agenda modalities for agriculture and market-opening for industrials challenging whether 'real cuts' and 'new market access' are part of the overall mandate

In a letter sent today to Trade Ministers at the WTO, more than 100 civil society groups from around the world denounced the legitimacy of an exclusive Ministerial meeting in Geneva this week, and urged trade ministers to develop a new approach to the multilateral trading system. The signatories represented civil society groups from more than 30 countries, including the big WTO players - US, EU, Japan, Canada, Australia and India - as well as smaller countries like, Senegal, Uganda, Nigeria and Bolivia.

The two papers on draft possible modalities for agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA) for the WTO negotiations were issued on Thursday (22 June) at lunch-time, a day after they were expected to be sent to Members. A meeting on Friday morning will allow members to give their comments on the agriculture paper.

The paper on draft modalities for non-agriculture market access (NAMA) that will serve as the basis for WTO negotiations in the next ten days contains little in the form of agreed text, and more in terms of comments on the areas of present disagreement among the WTO members.

More than 100 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) opposed to trade liberalisation on Tuesday demanded the WTO's troubled Doha round be 'buried' as ministers prepare to fly to Geneva in a bid to revitalise it.

The stage is set for a week or more of intense negotiations at the WTO as Ministers of some 40 to 50 countries are expected to arrive in Geneva in an effort to boost the flagging Doha negotiations.

The Dance of the Seven Veils appears pedestrian when compared with the strip-tease currently being performed by the world's trade negotiators in Geneva. They are slowly and finally revealing their concessions to open global trade - just in time.