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The first day of the WTO 'mini-Ministerial' turned out to be a kind of 'Waiting for America' process as delegations and media in one meeting after another waited for the United States to proclaim on whether it was willing to improve its offer to cut agricultural domestic support.

France, Ireland, Italy and Portugal yesterday strongly opposed any move by the European Union

Within a day of starting their negotiations, ministers today (June 30) raised significant doubts about how much progress they could make on developing modalities for agriculture and non-agricultural market access this week.

As various WTO groupings held their own meetings on Thursday to plan ahead of the mini-Ministerial Green Room the next day, and as some Ministers gave their previews to the media, the question being asked by delegates and observers alike is “Who will move first, or will no one move at all?”

As many Ministers and senior officials arrived today in Geneva for several days of WTO meetings, speculation was still rife on how the 'Ministerial Green Room' would be run, what issues would the Director General Pascal Lamy really want to focus on (and what issues may thus be left out), and what the Ministers and officials who are not invited to the Green Room would be doing.

The Chair of the WTO's Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) Pascal Lamy, at an informal Heads of Delegation meeting Wednesday, outlined to WTO members the process, and substantive issues that are to be tackled at a 'mini-Ministerial' that begins on Friday (30 June).

Threats, deception and manipulation are among the negotiating tactics used by rich countries in the current round of trade talks reveals a new report, The Doha Deception Round: How the US and EU cheated developing countries at the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial, launched today by ActionAid.

A group of over 100 civil society organizations has denounced the mini-Ministerial meeting to be held in Geneva in the next days as not legitimate as it does not allow for the effective participation of all Ministers.

Press statement: Farmer leaders representing the international peasant movement La Via Campesina are in Geneva to express their rejection of the WTO Doha Round. The agreement currently negotiated in

The NAMA-11 group of developing countries has strongly criticised the paper relating to modalities for non-agricultural market access(NAMA) for its unhelpful structure, for omitting the views of members or not reflecting their views accurately in some areas, and for creating confusion as to whether the textual language provided on specific issues was supposed to enjoy agreement or were merely put forward by the Chair under his own responsibility.