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WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy reported to a formal meeting of the Trade Negotiations Committee, the forum for the full membership to oversee the negotiations, on July 30, 2008 that "we were close to finalising modalities in agriculture and non-agriculture market access...but we were not able to find convergence in the area of Special Safeguard Mechanism". He said the substantial progress achieved in the past days should be preserved and urged members to look forward "to how we can do better next time, and I am convinced there will be a next time".
Echoing the comments of the Director-General, the members said issues settled in nine days of talks among ministers should be preserved and work in the Doha Round should continue despite the ministers' talks collapsing the previous day.
Lamy spoke of "a collective responsibility" to reflect on next steps. The progress made in agriculture, non-agricultural market access and other subjects should be preserved, he said. "This represents thousands of hours of negotiation and serious investment by all the members of the WTO. This should not be wasted."
The formal Trade Negotiations Meeting brings to a close the talks among ministers. Several of them stayed to the end and spoke in the meeting.
Over the previous nine days they met, sometimes late into the night in meetings of various types, including a group of seven ministers - Australia, Brazil, China, the EU, India, Japan, and the US - who reported next to Green Room sessions of about 30 representative delegations, and finally to almost daily informal meetings of the full membership. (Source: Wto.org)
July 31, 2008
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