Fate of billions hangs on global trade deal
WTO, UN chiefs say
Afp, Geneva
The heads of the United Nations and the World Trade Organisation on Monday both urged a successful conclusion to long-stalled global trade talks in order to lift billions of people out of poverty. "The world desperately needs a successful conclusion to the Doha trade negotiations," UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told a meeting of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in Geneva. "Existing trade barriers, agricultural subsidies, and restrictive rules on intellectual property rights reinforce global inequities -- and they make a mockery of our tall claims to eliminate hunger and poverty from the world," he said. WTO director general Pascal Lamy told the meeting that the issues dividing the 150 members of the global trade body are small compared to the proposals already on the table. "It is also small compared to the potential benefits of rebalancing the multilateral trading system in favour of developing countries," he said. However, the chances of a deal in the short-term look scant after the collapse last month of talks between four key powers in the World Trade Organisation, the so-called "G4" group of the European Union, United States, Brazil and India.
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