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ROBERT EVANS and LAURA MACINNIS, Reuters
Ministers from the world's top trading nations intensified attempts to rescue a global commerce deal yesterday after signals that their political leaders could be more flexible.
World Trade Organization chief Pascal Lamy warned the Doha round was doomed to failure without more room for manoeuvre.
Soon after, the ministers from the so-called Group of Six agreed to meet again in Geneva on Sunday and yesterday, then on July 28 and 29.
"The moment of truth will emerge in the next two weeks," Indian trade minister Kamal Nath told reporters after brief discussions with ministers and officials from the European Union, the United States, Brazil, Japan and Australia.
Yesterday's meeting in Geneva was called quickly after leaders of the industrialized G8 countries on Sunday set a one-month deadline to get the Doha round back on track.
The WTO's Doha round was launched in 2001 as a way to tackle poverty and boost the global economy.
But it is now two years behind schedule and risks a delay of several more, or complete collapse, without a deal in the next few weeks.
"At this stage, the deadlock in which we are caught will lead us to failure very soon if you do not give your ministers further room for negotiation," Lamy told the leaders of the G8 and developing nations yesterday, according to a WTO statement.
U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab said the time has come for negotiators to check what kind of concessions they can make.The Gazette (Montreal)
