Doha Farm Negotiators Must Show Changed Positions

Crawford Falconer, chairman for agricultural negotiations of the World Trade Organization’s (WTO) Doha Round of global trade talks, said negotiators need to show changed positions quickly if they are to meet the pledge made recently at the Washington, D.C., summit on the trade talks, Farm Progress reports.

Officials from 20 countries met recently to discuss financial markets, the world economy and the Doha Round. President Bush urged the leaders to pledge to have a framework that could lead to finishing the talks in place by the end of the year. Falconer said if the leaders agreed to such a pledge, their negotiators must have indicated that a consensus could be reached by December, which would require changing positions on some of the points of contention. He says it is time to reveal those shifts so the remaining work can be completed. ❖