At a
Trade Negotiations Committee (TNC) meeting in Geneva on June 22, WTO
Director-General Pascal Lamy stressed that members "need urgently to
have clarity about what we can and cannot do by the Ministerial
Conference in December so that we can get down to work without further
delay," according to his prepared remarks .
Lamy suggested focusing a Ministerial package on trade benefits for the
poorest countries and perhaps such additional issues as "trade
facilitation, export competition, S&D Monitoring Mechanism, a step
forward on fisheries subsidies and a step forward on environmental goods
and services." He said this would mean "loads of work and challenges
ahead and no guarantee of success, but, in my view it is worth trying --
and it is our duty to do so."
Speaking at the TNC ,
U.S. Ambassador to the WTO Michael Punke stressed that WTO members need
to need to be realistic in terms of what can be achieved by the end of
the year. Punke stated: "Time is short between now and December. We must
know where to focus our energies and we need to know that we are all
pulling towards the same broad objectives. In that regard, there is a
threshold determination that we -- collectively -- need to make soon.
That threshold question is this: can we reach agreement on the core
elements of a December package. Our viewpoint, strongly held, is that we
need to make this determination quickly. If there is agreement on core
elements, we will need the fall to negotiate the details. If there is
not agreement, we will need the fall to plan for an MC8 (Ministerial
Conference) that will not have a December package as a deliverable."
