WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy, in his report to the General Council on 10 October, said that, from his contacts with many trade ministers, ‚it is now obvious that the cost of failure [of the Doha Round], and the missed opportunity to rebalance the trading system, would hurt developing countries more than others”. Lamy said he was aware of the political difficulties but added, ‚the fact remains that there is no acceptable alternative to the successful conclusion of the Round, and we all need to act upon that basis”. Highlighting the widespread support for swift resumption of Doha negotiations from ‚every quarter”, he said the next step was to determine how and when everyone could be brought back to the table, but that the established parameters were:
– Resumption only when substantive positions have changed on key issues, notably agriculture;
– Resumption across the board only, i.e. the whole negotiating in step;
– To finish in 2007, the latest time for a breakthrough is between November 2006 and Spring 2007.
Lamy undertook to keep up his engagement with WTO Members ‚to facilitate the movement we need” and encouraged the Negotiating Group Chairs to do the same. ‚This is no time for inaction but rather for discreet and quiet activity‘, he said. http://www.intracen.org/mts/wtn/newsletters/2006/10_2/10_2_a.htm