GENEVA, July 31 (Agencies): Members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) were in a rush yesterday to seek way out of the current impasse of the Doha round talks after a crucial bid for a breakthrough collapsed.
A meeting of all the WTO members was called Wednesday to analyse the consequences and what should be the next steps, at which WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy urged delegates to have a time of reflection instead of making a hasty decision.
"I think we all now need to engage a serious reflection on the next steps of our collective endeavour, which is the Doha Development Agenda," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell quoted Lamy as saying.
"I believe we have collective responsibility to begin this process of reflection right now," he said.
After nine days of marathon negotiations, trade ministers from over 30 major WTO members failed to narrow their differences on agriculture trade and industrial market access, the two key and harshly disputed areas of the Doha round.
The meeting had been billed as the last chance for a conclusion of the long-stalled Doha round this year, but the effort was stopped by an unresolved dispute between the United States and India on the so-called special safeguard mechanism, which would allow developing countries to raise agriculture tariffs to protect domestic farmers in the event of an import surge.
Lamy said all members now need to seriously reflect about "if and when" they can remove obstacles for a final conclusion of a new global trade pact.
"Whether it has been deadlocked, we have to find new idea and new solutions," he said.
The WTO chief said the immediate priority for WTO members is to reaffirm their commitment to the multilateral trading system.
Analysts warned the fresh failure, third in the history of the Doha round, would deal a heavy blow to the confidence people have in the multilateral trading system and may prompt countries to seek bilateral solutions.
Lamy said although the talks failed, there were still achievements made, which can be built on for future success.
Meanwhile, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said yesterday that world trade negotiations that collapsed this week have not definitively ended and could yet be revived with a summit.
Lula said he felt all parties to the talks believed a trade accord was "something necessary" and could be achieved once "technical" obstacles were overcome.
One problem he encountered in a "year and a half" of discussions with leaders of other countries was the fear that the WTO talks were held too close to the US November presidential election.
Brazil made needed concessions and had decided to back an EU proposal in the talks. "But, unfortunately, at the last second-possibly for political reasons-there was a blockage between the United States and India and the accord didn't happen."
In another development, India said Thursday it can return to negotiations but will not compromise on protection to farmers in an open market by squarely blaming the US for collapse of the WTO talks.
Describing the failure of the marathon talks between 30 trade ministers as a "serious setback to the developing countries," Nath said the US created the deadlock on an issue which was not trade but related to livelihood of farmers.
Meanwhile, UN chief Ban Ki-moon expressed disappointment yesterday after the latest Doha round of negotiations for a global trade pact collapsed in a potentially devastating blow to millions of the world's poor.
