Friday, July 11, 2008

Too Many Technical Issues For Ministers?

This also from Reuters

The idea was always to present trade ministers with a few simple political choices rather than have them wrestle with intricacies of tariff quota underfill mechanisms, decoupled income support or bananas.
But when ministers come to Geneva later this month seeking a breakthrough in long-running World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks they will still face a series of complex technical issues.
After a year narrowing gaps in the most sensitive areas of agriculture and industrial goods, the focus of discussions on the WTO's Doha round in the meeting starting July 21, WTO mediators say their proposals are now ready to go to ministers.
But in the often arcane negotiations, everything is intertwined.
An apparently straightforward political decision on how much to cut tariffs by is inextricably tangled up with import volumes of the various members of customs union, or consumption figures for processed foods versus fresh produce.
So the question arises whether ministerial discussions on the technical issues risk derailing the negotiation -- whose chances of success are put by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy at only "more than 50 percent."

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