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An anticipated meeting of trade ministers in Geneva at the end of April aimed at pushing forward a deal for the Doha Round talks on agriculture and nonagricultural market access looks more doubtful as chances for securing a final agreement on 'modalities' in the two sectors fade, according to officials contacted by BNA April 11 and 12.

Links to the 'reference papers' submitted by the Chair of the Agriculture negotiations, Ambassador Falconer, to the WTO membership on Wednesday 11 April.

Governor John Baldacci wants to carve Maine out of current international negotiations that would open up the service sector of the economy to international trade. The Governor says the federal government has been deaf to sovereignty concerns raised by the states, and as Jeanne Baron reports, he's pushing to leave Maine out of the deal.

President Bush met with U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman April 10 to discuss the World Trade Organization negotiations just three weeks ahead of a key deadline in the talks, saying that he had done so 'because I'm a big believer that trade helps lift people out of poverty.'

EU trade chief Peter Mandelson said Tuesday the European Union was ready to give more ground in world trade talks but it needed to see similar concessions from other trade partners.

Government

The prospects for successfully concluding the Doha Round of World Trade Organization talks by the end of the year appear to have dwindled significantly in recent weeks, sources said April 7, as the United States and the European Union continue to be at odds over the make-or-break issue of agriculture.

European Union Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson scorned as 'offensive' a U.S. lawmaker's proposal to drop the EU as a partner, highlighting the obstacles to a new World Trade Organization agreement.

A two-week 'cluster' on services ended at the WTO last Friday (7 April), after a flurry of meetings on several sectors, which marked the start of the new 'plurilateral method' of negotiations.

Below are the links for your information the following documents on the Malaysia-US FTA opposition that is building up in Malaysia.