GENEVA, Oct 9 (AFP): The United States holds the key to the success or failure of World Trade Organisation (WTO) talks aimed at liberalising global commerce and boosting developing countries, the French foreign trade minister said yesterday.
"There is a near-universal consensus that it is chiefly the Americans who hold the keys to either the success or failure of the Doha round," Herve Novelli t]old journalists after his first visit to the WTO's headquarters here.
The US is under pressure to cut its agriculture subsidies but demands in return that other WTO members, notably the European Union, cut their tariffs on agricultural goods.
Washington did say last month it was prepared to negotiate on the basis of proposals by the WTO's chief agricultural negotiator Crawford Falconer that would see its subsidies cut to between 12.8 to 16.2 billion dollars (9.2 to 11.6 billion euros).
During his visit to Geneva, Novelli met the WTO's Director General Pascal Lamy, the ambassadors of key developing economies India and Brazil, and the heads of the organisation's key working groups.
T]he minister said that France remains "completely in favour of an agreement, but not at any price".
Referring to Falconer's proposals, Novelli said that they "are already up against the (EU's) red lines, and sometimes stray over them."
Under Falconer's text, the EU could cut its own overall trade distorting domestic support by a minimum of 70 per cent, and possibly up to 75-80 per cent.
Novelli said that the main sticking points remain cutting agricultural tariffs, and labels of geographic origin on farm products.
US holds key to success or failure of WTO talks
FE Team | Published: October 10, 2007 00:00:00 | Updated: February 01, 2018 00:00:00
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