Negotiators are making progress in world trade talks, but a goal to have trade ministers meet this month in Geneva to reach a breakthrough may be too ambitious, a senior Uruguayan diplomat said.
"I think we have a good chance to have ministers (get together) for a successful outcome before the end of July. I wouldn't personally rush the ministers," Uruguay's Ambassador to the World Trade Organisation GuillerMo Valles said during a discussion late Thursday on Capitol Hill.
Trade experts believe a breakthrough is needed soon in world trade talks, now in their seventh year, for there to be any chance of a final deal before the end of December. They fear it could take several more years to reach an agreement if details are not nailed down before a new president moves in the White House in January 2009. There have been tentative plans for a trade ministers meeting in Geneva the week of May 19, but that looks increasingly unlikely.
New Zealand's WTO ambassador Crawford Falconer, who chairs the agricultural portion of the Doha round talks, earlier this week said he needed more time to draft a revised negotiating text that had been expected before April 30. "You couldn't have a paper before the week of the 12th... When you have it thereafter I can't say," Falconer said.
Geneva is a host city for the Euro 2008 soccer contest beginning on June 7, making hotel rooms tight. At the same time, there is precedent for WTO deal-making in July ahead of the traditional August vacation break.
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