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| Venue Move Highlights WTO Informal Talks |
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MON, OCT 15, 2001
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Representatives of the World Trade Organization ended their informal meeting in Singapore on Sunday. The Singapore Minister for Trade and Industry said that "good progress" was made on key world trade issues. Among other issues, the trade ministers discussed the possiblity of shifting the venue of a crucial WTO meeting scheduled for next month in Qatar to other locations, including Singapore.
Ministers from the 142 members of the World Trade Organization had hoped to agree on an agenda for a new round of world trade talks in Doha, the Qatari capital, next month.
But some of the 21 ministers present questioned whether the conference venue itself should be moved because of the escalating tensions in the Middle East following the US-led military strikes in Afghanistan. Qatar occupies a peninsular that juts out from Saudi Arabia and lies across the Gulf from Iran.
Regarding other issues, the participants have not yet been able to make any progress on a compromise on farm trade. Japan opposed any quick moves to eliminate market protection measures.
However, leading farm exporting countries said the trade in farm products should be opened up in a similar way to that of the trade in industrial products. They said that target levels for any market opening must be clearly set.
Some developing nations say trade liberalization in general does not serve their national interests, while developed countries do not want to slow the pace of their market penetration through liberalization.
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