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Image header Agence Europe
Europe Daily Bulletin No. 9550
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GENERAL NEWS / (eu) eu/wto/doha

Draft revised farm compromise postponed until at least February 2008

Brussels, 23/11/2007 (Agence Europe) - According to diplomatic sources at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva, the unveiling of the draft farm compromise deal by the head of the agriculture negotiations committee, Crawford Falconer, has been postponed until at least February 2008 due to the Christmas holidays and a possible ministerial meeting at the Davos Forum in January 2008. The source said that it was not a matter this time of postponing debate because of deadlock but rather postponing debate because the talks are advancing and delegates simply need more time. The negotiators recently moved closer in their talks over export subsidies, which encouraged them to continue negotiations in a further fortnight of farm talks from 26 November onwards. Peter Power, spokesperson for EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, confirmed on Friday 23 November that the talks were making progress and the Commission was eagerly awaiting the revised compromise package. On the fringes of the EU-ASEAN summit in Singapore, Mandelson did not hide his impatience at the stalling of the talks, but his US counterpart, Susan Schwab, said she was optimistic that agreement could be reached before the end of President George W. Bush's current term of office at the start of 2009. 'The Doha Round is not dead. It continues to move ahead,' she told a press conference.

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