Brussels, 17/09/2009 (Agence Europe) - A private meeting took place on 14-15 September at the WTO HQ in Geneva. As requested by ministers during their meeting in New Delhi at the beginning of September (EUROPE 9971), senior negotiators from the main countries involved in the Doha Round agreed on a detailed work plan for this autumn, in an attempt to get multi-lateral negotiations out of the quagmire in which they had been trapped since the failure of the Geneva ministerial in July 2008 (EUROPE 9714). No information leaked out concerning the substance of the plan but it is very likely to be pretty much the same in its main guidelines as the work programme mooted by WTO Director General, Pascal Lamy at the end of July (EUROPE 9951). Moreover, senior negotiators from the main trade blocks agreed to go to Geneva for a week every month to push negotiations forwards at a political level and the first meeting has been planned for 19 October. At the same time, the Committee on Agricultural Negotiations and Industrial Products (NAMA) will each hold three sessions up to December in an effort to help make progress in technical level discussions. Their respective presidents, Ambassador David Walker from New Zealand and Swiss Ambassador Luzius Wasescha met delegations on Wednesday from other WTO member states that had approved the work programme proposed at the beginning of the week. In his address to the press on Wednesday, Mr Lamy called on member states to speed up the talks in an effort to obtain a global agreement next year. At the end of September, Lamy will also present his calendar to G20 leaders at the Pittsburgh Summit. US president, Barack Obama has nominated Michael Punke to take over from Peter Allgeier as US Ambassador to the WTO. This appointment, however, still needs to be approved by the US Senate. (E.H./trans/rh)