APEC Ministers Make Call for Successful Doha Round
End of June deadline set to cut farm subsidies and negotiate tariffs on agricultural and industrial goods.
Compiled by staff
Published: Jun 2, 2006
In a significant statement, Trade Ministers from 21 Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation economies committed to seek an ambitious agreement in the WTO Doha Round. The statement reiterated the message from APEC Leaders last November on the urgency of moving ahead on agriculture market access to unblock the negotiations.
This week World Trade Organization Director-General Pascal Lamy set an end of June deadline for a deal to cut farm subsidies and tariffs on agricultural and industrial goods. Over 40 ministers are expected to gather in Geneva the last week in June in hopes of concluding details for a possible agreement.
The APEC ministers, representing economies that amount for 50% of global trade, agreed that a strong market access result is a prerequisite for a successful conclusion of the Round, and intend to support strong formulas that deliver meaningful new opportunities.
Deputy U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab welcomed the commitment. "The APEC Ministers placed particular emphasis on enhancing market access, especially in agriculture. It is clear that we will not settle for less," she says.
Schwab, who is waiting a final Senate vote on her nomination for U.S. Trade Representative Ambassador, says "Leadership in trade must be exercised in bold, politically courageous moves with concrete proposals to lift the negotiations to a big overall result." Schwab adds the statement from APEC reiterates their commitment to exercise their leadership to making Doha a success.
The APEC meeting follows the meeting of trade ministers at the OECD in Paris, France at the end of May. Both ministerial meetings concluded that agriculture market access holds the key to unblocking the Doha Development Agenda negotiations.
Accounting for $1.8 trillion in U.S. global trade in goods and services, trade with the APEC region is crucial to the United States.
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