WTO meet in Singapore reconciles differences

Philippe Ries, Agence France-Presse, Singapore

The World Trade Organization moved to the fringes of securing an agenda for a new global trade round Sunday, after a meeting of 21 delegates narrowed crucial differences and agreed on a subtle change of focus.

But less clear was the venue for the full ministerial meeting in November, with Singapore and a number of undisclosed countries put on standby if the global security situation meant the talks were not held in Doha.

Compromises reached at the weekend meeting meant the document to be presented at next month's full ministerial meeting was "85- 90 percent" there, Singapore Trade Minister George Yeo said.

The agreements included dropping reference to a "new round," which has been the WTO focal point since the collapse of the last full ministerial meeting in Seattle in 1999, and referring instead to "the new development agenda."

"In order to signal a different historical era and a different set of priorities," Yeo said.

U.S. Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said the aim of the meeting was to move further towards the launch of negotiations "and I believe we achieved that."

Yeo singled out the impact of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, saying they increased the determination to have the WTO talks succeed.

"Because of Sept. 11, because of the challenge to the civilized global system we were galvanized to work even harder and in a more determined way to see through this important enterprises," he said.

Even on the thorniest issues of agriculture and the environment, the general sentiment was that a draft document for the November ministerial conference presented a solid base to work from, he said.