February 3, 2011
IN THIS ALERT:
Trade Experts Panel Calls for Binding
End-2011 Deadline for
A trade experts panel co-chaired by trade
economist Jagdish Bhagwati and former GATT Director-General Peter Sutherland
has called on G20 leaders to set an end-2011 deadline to complete the Doha
Round, or declare the Round a failure. "This deadline should be
inflexible and bind all players at the level of Head of Government," their
report said. The panel's report reviews the current state of play across
the various areas of negotiation, and notes that the services negotiations
offer some of the largest potential gains for both developed and developing
countries. Given the importance of this sector, the report says that
"the services negotiation now needs to be the chief focus of the energies
of all negotiators." For a copy of the report, click here: http://www.number10.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/doha-round-jan-2011.pdf.
Lamy Outlines What is Needed To Conclude
Doha this Year
In remarks to an informal meeting of the World
Trade Organization Trade Negotiations Committee on February 2, WTO
Director-General Pascal Lamy said that bilateral and small group discussions on
resolving key differences need to catch up with work among the full membership
on refining texts. "Acceleration, texts, convergence is now the name
of the game," he said. Noting that the mood has improved for
producing revised drafts by late April, Lamy said he cautioned ministers at the
recent World Economic Forum in
He said that the services negotiation group recently confirmed that the
request/offer negotiations had to be focused and intensified. A services
"cluster," to be held in