RI wants short WTO round

RI wants short WTO round

HAMBURG (Reuters): The forthcoming round of world trade talks should not exceed three years and should exclude non-trade related issues, Indonesia's Trade and Industry Minister Rahardi Ramelan said on Friday.

Ramelan, heading a commodities delegation on a German visit, said his comments reflected views held in many developing countries.

"We don't want to discuss non-trade related issues such as labor or the environment," he said at a panel discussion of the German-Asia-Pacific Business Association.

"The round should be short...a maximum of three years," he said, adding the seven-year Uruguay round had dragged on too long.

Ramelan had attended meetings of ministers from developing countries of the G-77 group in Morocco earlier last week.

The ministers had discussed economic developments challenging their countries in the third millennium, one of which had been food security, he said.

Their agenda would be taken to the Seattle gathering of WTO member countries' trade ministers, which will kick off the millennium round of WTO negotiations on Nov. 30 to Dec. 3.