Meetings in Paris and Brussels that hoped to narrow differences in the ongoing Doha round of WTO talks showed no signs of convergence in the positions of member countries. 

At a meeting of trade ministers from 30 countries in Paris, held between May 14 and 16, 2007, during the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s (OECD’s) annual summit, members agreed that a successful conclusion to the negotiations would “endorse the multilateral trading system, and contribute to global economic governance and sustainable growth based on mutually agreed rules and concerted action,” thereby minimising trade conflict.

Representatives from India and the US suggested that the gaps had finally started to narrow, albeit slowly.

Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath said that US officials had shown some signs of flexibility. “We are now looking forward to these positive signals being converted into numbers,” he said, according to a Reuters report. Nath added that the talks were moving forward in “steps” rather than in “leaps”. US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said that there had been “some real progress,” although “significant gaps” remained between countries’ objectives.

Key areas of disagreement remain the US’s refusal to make deeper cuts to its farm subsidies until the EU and developing countries agree to greater agricultural market access and developing countries slash their industrial tariffs further.

Australian Trade Minister Warren Truss sounded optimistic when he told reporters: “I get the perception that there is now a view that an agreement is inevitable and that we will get an outcome.” WTO Director General Pascal Lamy, however, was more cautious. The negotiations were “advancing, but a bit too slowly… Positions are closer than they were three months, six months, a year ago. We are not completely at a stage where all that converges,” he said.

Meeting in Brussels for two days immediately after the talks in Paris, G4 member countries (the US, EU, Brazil and India) gave no hint of whether they were on course to reaching a consensus before the fast-track authority of the US President expires in end-July. A joint communiqué, dated May 18, simply indicated that they would continue to hold talks over the coming weeks, with another formal meeting scheduled for June 19-22.

The statement said that the four ministers “remain committed” to the round and hoped to bring it to a close by the year-end. Discussions had been “productive” and embraced “all the core negotiating areas with a particular focus on agriculture, NAMA (Non-Agricultural Market Access), and services”.

The ministers also met with the chairs of the WTO negotiating groups on agriculture and NAMA who are working on draft papers that could serve as the basis for finalising agreements. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said that at the June meeting he and his G4 colleagues would do “everything we can” to bridge the differences. Of the talks in Brussels, he said, “people are starting to circle a landing zone”.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, in his first public remarks following the G4 talks in Brussels, told the European Parliament on May 22: “The gaps are still wide both inside agriculture, and between agriculture and industry and services.”