Lamy requests members to break deadlock soon over Doha round WTO talks

03 Jul '06

4 min read

“I will not beat about the bush,” Mr Lamy told delegates in an informal meeting that immediately preceded the formal meeting. “We are now in a crisis. We are far from the necessary convergence to be able to establish modalities in agriculture and NAMA [non-agricultural market access], despite all the hard work put in by everyone.”

He reported that he had continued consultations since the informal meeting on 30 June with delegations, coalitions and the group of six key players known as the G-6 (Australia, Brazil, the EU, India, Japan and the US).

“However, the fear that I expressed for you yesterday — that a real negotiation might not take place — seems to be the reality facing us. This is serious, not only for the agriculture and industrial tariffs, but also obviously for the round as a whole if we want to conclude it by the end of this year.”

The news was not all bad. Mr Lamy said he had witnessed no acrimony in his consultations. And “no one … appears to want to throw in the towel. Everyone is still committed to finishing the round this year. Everybody agrees with this deadline. So the question now facing us is how we deal with the situation.”

Shuttle diplomacy, high level contacts, use of modern communications and testing numbers lie ahead for the director-general, he told a press conference afterwards. The gaps are not unbridgeable and there is no panic despite the crisis, he said.

Asked about timing, Mr Lamy said he had just received the mandate and would reflect on how to proceed. “I'm in a hurry and if the G-6 members are also in a hurry, so much the better,” he told journalists.

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