GENEVA, June 26 (AFP): World Trade Organisation (WTO) head Pascal Lamy has decided to play for high stakes and try to broker a Doha Round trade deal in a month's time, arguing that after that date the chances of an accord among the 152 member countries will slip away.
Lamy, the director general of the WTO, has decided to call a meeting on July 21 of 30 of the leading countries involved, the Brazilian ambassador Fernando de Mateo said.
A trade diplomat quoted Lamy as saying at a meeting here: "I know that there's a risk attached to this but I believe the possibility of an agreement is greater than 50 per cent. "If I did not think it was greater than 50 per cent, I would not propose this.
"If we do not have an agreement on agriculture and industrial products by the end of July, the chances for a successful conclusion to this round are much less than 50 per cent."
Lamy wants to move quickly to an agreement which can be put for ratification to the current US administration which will leave office in January.
Officials at the WTO are concerned that attempts at ratification after that date might run into long delays.
The director general for trade at the European Commission, David O'Sullivan, expressed qualified optimism about the chances of success in concluding the talks which have stumbled from problem to deadlock since they began in 2001.
"I think it is perfectly imaginable that this deal can be made but a lot of work needs to be done," O'Sullivan said.
For US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, spokesman Sean Spicer said that "while there has been progress in recent days, in the weeks leading up to the ministerial meeting there still is a lot of work and still important differences in agriculture, (non-agriculture) and services.
"Our teams will continue our intensive efforts to solve problems with other countries that are prepared to work with the same spirit. If enough countries approach the next several weeks' work with that attitude, then we have an opportunity for a success," Spicer said.
In Brussels, Peter Power, spokesman for the European Trade Commissioner, said: "There is no disguising the gaps between the negotiators as we go into the end game but with determination and political will on all sides, an acceptable deal is still possible."
However, only last week French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he thought it was improbable that the commission, negotiating for the 27 EU countries, could continue to do so.
He said "we haven't obtained anything on services, nothing on industry" in exchange for concessions offered by the EU on agriculture.
The Indian ambassador here, Ujal Singh Bhatia, said Wednesday that agriculture remained a central question and he urged rich countries, most notably the United States, to make firm commitments to reduce farm subsidies.
"We have no clarity as of now on where the ambition on trade distorting subsidies will lie, we have no clarity on what kind of disciplines will be put in place."
