Round and round
the World Trade Organization (wto) mini-ministerial scheduled for late April has been called off. The meet intended to break the impasse on farm and industrial tariff negotiations. The April 30 deadline set at the Hong Kong wto ministerial last December for working out modalities has been missed.
Though no new date has been set, the ministerial could be held in June 2006. But this will delay the Doha Round of trade negotiations, scheduled to be completed by the year-end. The negotiation, which began in 2001, has already missed its first deadline: December 2005. According to media reports, differences between developed and developing countries on phasing out farm subsidies and lowering industrial tariffs for improved market access led to the talks being called off.
Around 25 issues are to be settled by this year-end. "But farm and industrial tariffs are crucial issues without which it will be difficult to arrive at a consensus for completing the Doha Round,' said director-general Pascal Lamy, during his visit to India in April.
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