On WTO

Efforts by World Trade Organization members to resume global trade talks that broke down at a ministerial meeting in September are gaining momentum.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick is urging WTO members to restart stalled international trade talks after presenting developing nations with concessions on farm subsidies and other issues.

It will be difficult for the WTO to accomplish its goal of reaching a final agreement on the new round of talks by Jan. 1, 2005. The U.S. Presidential election is slated for November, while the European Commission also will be reshuffled in autumn, leaving both unable to focus fully on WTO matters.

But it should be possible for the WTO to reach an accord on the framework by summer and assemble a ministerial conference by the end of the year, paving the way for a final agreement to be reached when the next U.S. administration and the new EU executive organ are in place.

With this in mind, all WTO nations should work together to restart the stalled talks as soon as possible. This is particularly important for the U.S. and the EU as well as for Brazil and other major industrializing countries, as they were directly responsible for the breakdown in talks in September. -- Yomiuri Shimbun, Tokyo