WTO deal \'reached\' in Nairobi

NAIROBI, Dec 19: Members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreed to strike a deal by adopting the ministerial declaration on Saturday afternoon in the 10th ministerial conference (MC10) here.

The draft Nairobi Ministerial Declaration, released this afternoon, reveals that members reached a consensus on addressing three core areas of agriculture trade, two LDCs issues and cotton.

The ministerial declaration agreed on relaxed rules of origin (ROO) for the exports of the least developed countries (LDCs) and also waiver in services trade for the countries.

As members failed to bridge the gaps on agriculture as well as continuation on Doha round on Friday, the scheduled closing day of the conference, the talks ultimately entered an extended day – Saturday. Negotiators worked until Saturday morning to reach a consensus for preparing the ministerial text for declaration.
The draft, released after third revision, is, however, to be endorsed by all the members at a meeting scheduled to be held at 5.00pm Kenyan time (8.00pm BST).  
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