Archive - nov. 9, 2005

Trading nations still deeply divided on key issues faced the prospect of a watered-down WTO ministerial conference next month in Hong Kong, where they are hoping to put together a framework deal to lower global trade barriers.

Negotiations seemed to have been put 'on hold' at the World Trade Organisation as delegates in Geneva awaited the outcome of a Ministerial meeting in London Monday involving the US, EU, India and Brazil.

A Mini-Ministerial meeting was under way at the WTO this afternoon in an attempt by the Director-General Pascal Lamy to provide some political momentum to the faltering preparatory process for the Hong Kong Ministerial conference in mid-December.

Geneva Just how substantial a planned sixth ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization in Hong Kong December 13 to 18 can be has been called into question because of the inability of trade ministers to reach agreement on full modalities in the Doha Development Agenda agriculture and nonagricultural market access talks

Most members of Congress do not think much at all of the ongoing Doha Development Agenda of trade negotiations and when they hear that the United States is getting little of what it is demanding in agricultural and industrial products market access, they think even less of it