EU Commission Chief Barroso urged trade ministers from more than 30 nations meeting for make-or-break talks in Geneva Monday to reach a balanced deal, warning that emerging economies too had to make a major contribution. After nearly seven years of unsuccessful haggling, trade ministers from three dozen rich, poor and emerging economies will try to bridge massive differences on farm subsidies, import tariffs and accessibility of markets at a meeting in Geneva which opens Monday, July 21. Called the Doha Development Agenda or Doha round, named after the Qatari capital where the world trade talks were first launched with great fanfare and hope in 2001, the negotiations have been jammed for years. At the heart of the deadlock lie developing nations' demand for lower farm subsidies and agricultural tariffs in the rich world. In return, industrialized countries are pressing that developing countries reduce import duties and make their markets more accessible to imported services and manufactured goods.
After nearly seven years of unsuccessful haggling, trade ministers from three dozen rich, poor and emerging economies will try to bridge massive differences on farm subsidies, import tariffs and accessibility of markets at a meeting in Geneva which opens Monday, July 21.
Called the Doha Development Agenda or Doha round, named after the Qatari capital where the world trade talks were first launched with great fanfare and hope in 2001, the negotiations have been jammed for years.
At the heart of the deadlock lie developing nations' demand for lower farm subsidies and agricultural tariffs in the rich world. In return, industrialized countries are pressing that developing countries reduce import duties and make their markets more accessible to imported services and manufactured goods.
