WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy attends a press conference at the WTO headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland July 29, 2008. The WTO announced Tuesday the collapse of a crucial ministerial meeting which tried to reach an outline agreement on agriculture and NAMA (non-agricultural market access) in the past nine days. (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>
GENEVA, July 29 (Xinhua) -- WTO Director-General
Pascal Lamy announced Tuesday that a crucial ministerial meeting seeking a
breakthrough of the Doha Round had collapsed.
The ministers were "simply not able to bridge their
differences", Lamy told a press conference after the breakup of negotiations by
trade ministers from some 35 major WTO members.
Lamy admitted that this was a "serious setback" for
the Doha Round, which was scheduled to conclude by the end of this year.
He said the negotiations failed mainly due to sharp
differences on agricultural SSM (special safeguard mechanism) for developing
countries and cotton subsidies by the United States.
"Issues like cotton were not even negotiated," he
said.
On the fate of the Doha Round, Lamy said he need to
consult with WTO members to decide what to do next.
Lamy said WTO members need to "have a sober look at
how to bring pieces back together."
"Let the dust settle a bit," he added.
Trade and agricultural ministers have been meeting in
Geneva since July 21, trying to reach an outline agreement on agriculture and
NAMA (non-agricultural market access), the two key areas of the Doha Round.
But the negotiations have been tough from the
beginning and they had been on the verge of failure for several times.
The Doha Round had been troubled by issues of agriculture and NAMA since it was launched in 2001, and it had missed repeated deadlines for conclusion.
