Brussels, 26/03/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 26 March, European Commissioner for Trade Cecilia Malmström reaffirmed the EU member states' commitment to concluding a political agreement to complete the WTO Doha round's multilateral trade negotiations - if possible at the 10th WTO ministerial conference in Nairobi (Kenya) this December.
During a meeting with WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo, on the sidelines of the informal meeting of European trade ministers in Riga on 25 March, “all the ministers unanimously affirmed their support for the negotiations of the Doha round”, said Malmström, when questioned by EUROPE. “There was a considerable move before Christmas and we are now returning to the negotiating table to see if there really is a chance to conclude this round politically at the Nairobi conference. I believe that there is a possibility. It will not be easy, but we will do everything on the EU side to support Roberto Azevedo in his work”, Malmström continued. “All the ministers underlined that the principle is to obtain tangible results for the developing countries”, she concluded.
During a press conference in Geneva on Thursday, Azevedo confirmed that the technical level discussions at the WTO “are very clearly changing gear”. “Delegations are currently exploring new approaches, proposals are being tabled and there is a great deal of discussion”, he said. The identification phase of the “problems and differences” is in the process of being finalised and “we are heading towards a situation where we try to find solutions to overcome these differences”, he said.
Following the mini-agreement in Bali that was concluded in December 2013 and the agreement on implementing the trade facilitation agreement that was found in December 2014, the 160 member countries of the WTO are due to set out a work programme by 31 July on the main sections of the Doha round - agriculture, industrial products and services - in order to make a comprehensive agreement possible in Nairobi. (Emmanuel Hagry)