Brussels, 13/07/2015 (Agence Europe) - On Wednesday 8 July, WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo shared his doubts with the delegations of the WTO's 161 member countries as to the possibility of managing to establish a “detailed and substantive” post-Bali work programme by the planned end-of-July deadline on the main sections of the Doha round - agriculture, industrial products, services and rules.
“I see very little prospect of delivering a detailed and substantive work programme by the end of July (…) Members have made significant progress in understanding each other's positions, but as yet it is not enough to provide a sufficiently clear roadmap on the way forward”, Azevedo stated. He nevertheless called on the actors “not to be discouraged” because “the work programme was intended as a tool to help deliver outcomes at the ministerial conference in Nairobi” in the form of “progress” in implementing the mini-agreement of December 2013 in Bali, and of “outcomes that allow us to conclude” the Doha round.
The next meeting of the WTO's trade negotiations committee will take place on 24 July and will be followed by a WTO General Council on 27-28 July.
Following on from the Bali mini-agreement concluded in December 2013, and from implementation of the trade facilitation agreement (TFA) reached at the end of 2014, the WTO member countries committed to establishing a substantive work programme on the main sections of the WTO Doha round in order to make a comprehensive political agreement possible in Nairobi. (Emmanuel Hagry)