Collapsed WTO talks

WTO director general Pascal Lamy

Wednesday, 30, Jul 2008 12:00

The latest failure of agreement on talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) has been met with universal dismay by British commentators.

Last night the Doha trade round meeting in Geneva ran into a stumbling block after the US, China and India failed to reach agreement on reforms to farming import rules.

Nine days into talks, after agreement was reached on 18 of the 20 topics on the WTO's to-do list, director general Pascal Lamy was forced to concede that members had failed to bridge their differences.

While developing nations such as China and India wish for greater exports of their agricultural produce in the US and the European Union (EU), a compromise became impossible after the US accused the emerging nations of unfairly insisting on raising farm tariffs.

Commentators are warning the ongoing delay is hitting those in developing countries the most. Delays in opening up global economic growth could keep millions in poverty as a direct result, they argue.