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Trade ministers to attend WTO meet in London
April 14, 2004 18:08 IST
The United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick has invited key trade ministers including India's and European Union's for a meeting in London this month end to find ways to move forward in the World Trade Organisation.
Trade ministers of Japan and important members of G-20 like Brazil and South Africa have also been invited to attend the two-day meeting that will take stock of the progress in agriculture talks, official sources told PTI in New Delhi.
The meeting assumes significance in the light of the ongoing negotiations on agriculture in Geneva.
Having achieved not much progress in the first Special Session of the Commitee on Agriculture last month, the WTO has convened yet another meeting in the third week of April to narrow the differences on contentious issues of phasing out of export subsidies before its summer break in May.
Narrowing down of differences would help in working out a broad framework by July for early resumption of trade talks and some forward movement of Doha work programme.
The framework will form the basis for further negotiation on agriculture and non-agriculture market access.