March 31, 2006 IN THIS ALERT: Lamy: "The Moment of Truth is Fast Approaching" USTR Issues Annual Report on Trade Barriers Worldwide Services Cluster Underway Lamy: “The Moment of Truth is Fast Approaching” In his introductory statement to the March 28 meeting of the WTO Trade Negotiations Committee, WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy reminded members of the end-April deadline for establishing modalities in agriculture and industrial products, and stressed that "the moment of truth is therefore fast approaching — we do not have time to waste."  He noted that in the services negotiations, plurilateral requests have been tabled following the calendar adopted at the Hong Kong Ministerial Meeting, and that the requests "provide a good basis for the preparation of [revised] offers to be presented by 31 July."  His statement echoed remarks he made the previous week to the Committee on International Trade of the European Parliament, where he said that "all actors will need to move...and progress needs to be made on all fronts."  He noted that if the end-2006 deadline for the Round were to be missed, multilateral trade liberalization would become impossible to achieve in the near future, with the main losers being the developing world, the smallest and weakest economies, and the WTO itself.  Click here for a copy of Director-General Lamy's Statement to the Trade Negotiations Committee.  Click here for a copy of his statement to the European Parliament. USTR Issues Annual Report on Trade Barriers Worldwide On March 31, 2006, the Office of the United States Trade Representative issued its annual report describing trade barriers in markets around the world. The report covers 62 major trading partners in each region of the world, and discusses barriers to trade in services, goods, and farm products.  Click here for a copy of the report. Services Cluster Underway WTO members are currently holding a services "cluster" in Geneva to discuss the various services plurilateral requests that have been put forward over the past several weeks.  Discussions have been held on telecommunications, computer and related services, audiovisual services, maritime transport, postal and courier services and others, with additional sectors, including financial services, to be discussed the week of April 3.  Click here for a schedule of the meetings.