World - WTO to discuss key issues

MEMBERS of the 153-nation World Trade Organisation (WTO) will welcome Russia into the fold and discuss ways to open up government procurement contracts to foreign competition at a meeting in Geneva next week, but the 10-year-old Doha round of commerce liberalisation will not be a topic for negotiation.

Diplomats concede that the Doha talks launched in Qatar's capital in 2001 with the intention of boosting global trade flows have morphed from an ambitious undertaking to an embarrassing deadlock, as major trading nations such as Brazil, China and the United States remain divided on key issues.

None are willing to publicly declare Doha dead, but few can muster much motivation to talk up the chances of a deal. Where once there was mention of "windows of opportunity", one European diplomat recently summed up the sentiment to reporters as: "We are willing to keep a candle burning for Doha."

WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell said yesterday that ministers would "certainly cover the Doha round" during their working sessions at the three-day meeting starting Thursday. "But there will not be any Doha negotiations," he added.

Instead, the focus will be on expanding the Government Procurement Agreement, a measure that could add between US$80 billion and US$100 billion to global trade each year, said Rockwell.

Talks overseen by Swiss diplomat Nicholas Niggli were hinged on whether the US and the EU would accept each others' offers.

Rockwell said the accession of three new members Russia, Samoa and Montenegro would also be a noteworthy event for the global trade body.

Russia the largest economy still outside the WTO had been trying to join for 18 years, until a Swiss-brokered deal with Georgia cleared the last major hurdle for Moscow last month.

Trade chiefs have seized on Russia's membership as a sign of the continued relevance of the WTO, despite its failure to conclude a new global free trade pact.

AP

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