Key players from the World Trade Organization are to meet during the G8 summit in Russia to try to break the deadlock in the Doha Round talks on tearing down barriers to commerce, WTO sources said July 13. The meeting will be held on July 17, on the sidelines of the July 15-17 summit in Saint Petersburg, and WTO chief Pascal Lamy is scheduled to take part.
Brazil, China, India, Mexico and South Africa, which are considered heavyweight developing countries in the 149-nation WTO, are set to hold talks with the members of the G8. The Group of Eight comprises WTO members Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the U.S, as well as Russia, which is still waiting to join the global trade body.
The WTO-related talks in Saint Petersburg come just two weeks after the organization's members failed in Geneva to settle their differences and revive their floundering Doha Round negotiations.
The negotiations have proved to be a struggle because of deep disagreements between rich and poor countries over the relative concessions required.
After they were unable to reach a deal on the mathematics for cutting customs duties and rich countries' farm subsidies, WTO negotiators mandated Lamy to try to bridge the gaps.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2006
