MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Doha round talks: much goodwill but no results so far

United States warned it is unsatisfied with draft plans for a global trade deal that will be debated by the World Trade Organization next September. A main problem is a lack of clarity in the three key areas of agriculture, non-farm manufacturing and services.

However, the US said it was willing to continue serious and concerted efforts to find a deal after years of talks. The WTO has been trying to bring an end to its current round of free trade talks, which began in Qatar in 2001. It has proved impossible to find an agreement in the so-called Doha round as developed nations and less-developed countries have clashed over tariffs levels, the amount of state aid given to key industries, and the level of access to markets. As well as the deadlock between the US, the EU and other developing nations, there is also deep opposition to a trade deal in the US Congress, which has refused to extend "fast-track" negotiating authority which would allow the US president to have any trade deal voted up or down as a whole. Pascal Lamy, the WTO's director general, said that sealing a deal would need compromises on all sides, intensive work and an undertaking to negotiate with all of the nations involved in the talks. He added that all sides now had a month in which to iron out any problems that may arise and get ready for the WTO talks in September. "It is important that everybody be fit and ready on the starting line at that time," Mr Lamy said. "We have already come a long way in this round, and the distance left to go is not so great. But it will require an extra effort," he added. The US, represented by Ambassador Peter Allgeier, agreed that the draft plans had managed to move the debate forward, but said that it still has "serious concerns with some of the content in each of the draft texts". "Both the draft texts serve to underscore what the US believes is a continuing fundamental - and still unmet - challenge of the Doha negotiations," Mr Allgeier said in a statement. "Namely, securing a strong market-opening that will result in meaningful new economic opportunities and trade flows worldwide - in agriculture, industrial goods and services," he continued. At the heart of the problems is what the US sees as an inconsistent treatment of the key issues, and what it calls a lack of ambition that it feels would not go far enough in opening up markets. According to the US, once more clarity was achieved, it would be easier to find common ground. "The only way to achieve a Doha success - and the only way to meet the development goals of Doha - is through a result that actually expands international trade," the US said. "For the US there is no higher international trade priority than a successful conclusion of an ambitious Doha round" of talks, it added. "We will come to the table prepared to carry forward our work, fully equipped with the will and flexibility necessary. We ask that our trading partners do likewise".