Top trade negotiators for the US and the European Union have arrived
at an "understanding" on the agenda for a new round of global trade talks,
removing some significant obstacles to an expansion of freer trade. They
announced they are close to agreement on expanding the agenda to include
investment, antitrust and environmental issues - topics the Europeans have
been pressing to include.
The World Trade Organization (WTO) hopes to launch
the talks at a meeting of its 141 member nations in Qatar in November.
Disagreement among the WTO members about the agenda for a new round contributed
to the breakdown of talks in Seattle in 1999.
The focus now shifts to whether developing countries, which constitute
three-quarters of the WTO membership, will agree to the agenda. Many officials
of developing nations are unhappy with the current trading system; especially
the high tariffs and other barriers maintained by wealthy countries that
block the low-priced goods they produce.
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