WTO ministers to hammer out trade differences in Switzerland

Representatives from more than 20 World Trade Organisation member nations will be meeting in the Swiss city of Lausanne Monday to hammer out trade differences ahead of a WTO summit in the United States next month.

Representatives from more than 20 World Trade Organisation member nations will be meeting in the Swiss city of Lausanne Monday to hammer out trade differences ahead of a WTO summit in the United States next month.
Swiss Economics Minister Pascal Couchepin (left) has already held preparatory talks with Mike Moore (right), the director-general of the Geneva-based WTO, the world’s top trade body.

The 135-nation WTO talks in Seattle will be aimed at removing barriers to free trade, such as import tariffs, quotas and subsidies for domestic producers. Anti-dumping measures, competition, investments and access to markets will also be on the agenda.

The United States and the European Union – the world’s two biggest trading powers – are still deeply divided over how far, and which way, the new round of world trade liberalisation, known as the Millennium round, should actually go.

The Lausanne talks, Couchepin said, should help bridge some of the gaps between the trading blocks.

Interests diverge, for instance, in the agriculture sector: The U.S. and several other nations have been pushing for the phasing out of all subsidies within a few years but the EU, Japan and Switzerland have categorically rejected the idea.

The EU’s ambassador to the WTO, Roderick Abbot, says agriculture cannot be deregulated the same way as trade in goods and services.

The U.S. in turn rejects a proposal by the EU to expand trade liberalisation talks to almost all industry sectors. Washington wants to reduce negotiations to a few areas, such as telecommunications, audiovisuals and electronic trading, where the U.S. has traditionally had a strong position.

From staff and wire reports.