Brussels, 11/09/2008 (Agence Europe) - High-ranking officials from the main trading powers of the WTO, the G7 (Australia, Brazil, China, European Union, India, Japan and United States) met in Geneva on Wednesday 10 September to try to break the deadlock that has beset Doha Round negotiations since the ministerial meeting in June (see EUROPE 9714). Discussion focused largely on the dispute between the United States and India over the special safeguard mechanism (SSM), which was largely to blame for the breakdown in talks in July. No substantial information has filtered out from the closed-doors meeting, but discussion was informed by various proposals for SSM compromise, including one from Australia and India. WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said that he was awaiting the outcome of these discussions to assess the chances of relaunching multilateral ministerial talks with a view to concluding the Round. Rapid resumption of talks is threatened by the vacancy in the position of mediator on industrial goods (NAMA), after Canadian Don Stephenson left the post at the end of August. The WTO General Council will take a decision on this post at a meeting - the date of which has still to be decided. Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson will meet his Indian counterpart Kamal Nath in London on Friday 12 September to try to find a way out of the current impasse. The rapid approach of the US Presidential elections, however, makes it less and less likely that agreement sill be reached before the end of the year. (E.H./transl.rt)