WTO Talks Fail to Make BreakthroughBy JANE WARDELL, AP Business Writer
12:56 PM PDT, July 1, 2006GENEVA -- Negotiations on a global trade treaty ended in disarray Saturday when major trading nations failed to resolve differences on further lowering barriers to commerce.
More than 60 ministers from nations in the 149-member World Trade Organization had come together after months of failed discussions and missed deadlines to try to break a deadlock over sensitive farm tariffs and subsidies.
WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy had warned that the weekend talks were the last realistic chance to find agreement on lowering barriers to trade in farm and manufactured goods -- a vital step toward a new treaty billed as a recipe for lifting millions of people out of poverty.
Most of the key negotiators spent much of the three-day meeting publicly blaming each other for the failure to move forward. India's trade minister, Kamal Nath, walked out in disgust.
"The result of these discussions has been pretty clear," Lamy said. "There has been no progress and therefore we are in a crisis."
The ministers are slated to meet again later this month, and Lamy said "it is not yet panic," but conceded that it will take a great effort to close the gaps.
The Doha round of trade talks, named for the Qatari capital where it was launched five years ago, already is two years behind schedule.
Time also is tight because of the 2007 expiration of a law that requires the U.S. Congress to vote yes or no on a deal without being able to make changes. Diplomats say a blueprint must be agreed on this summer so that countries have enough time to review the deal.
