The WTO Doha Round Geneva Ministerial, July 2008: Mandelson warns on world trade talks

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Series Details 18.7.08
Publication Date 18/07/2008
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As a prelude to a further round of high-level ministerial talks at the World Trade Organisation, July 2008, to try and agree a new global trade agreement, this article reports on comments from European Commissioners Peter Mandelson and Mariann Fischer Boel.

The formal objectives of the meetings were: 'The immediate goal is to agree 'modalities' in agriculture and non-agricultural market access (NAMA) — ie, the formulas and other methods to be used to cut tariffs and agricultural subsidies, and a range of related provisions — and to look at the next steps in concluding the Doha round of negotiations. Agreeing modalities will determine the scale of reductions in tariffs on thousands of industrial and agricultural products and future levels of farm subsidies in the WTO’s member countries. Other issues are also on the menu, including services and rules.

Further links to information relating to the WTO Doha Round Geneva Ministerial Meeting, July 2008 are available via the related urls.

Related Links
European Commission: DG Trade: Trade Issues: Doha Development Agenda: Doha WTO Ministerial http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/newround/doha_da/geneva08/index_en.htm
Deutsche Welle, 19.7.08: EU Bullish on Agriculture as WTO Faces Trade Talk Showdown http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3493849,00.html
BBC News, 20.7.08: Fresh push in global trade talks http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7516066.stm
Deutsche Welle, 20.7.08: EU Calls for Balanced Deal at Crunch World Trade Talks http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,3497530,00.html
EurActiv, 18.7.08: Hopes high for 'last chance' world trade talks http://www.euractiv.com/trade/hopes-high-chance-world-trade-ta-news-220089
BBC News, 21.7.08: EU offers 60% cut in farm tariffs http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7517135.stm
WTO: Trade topics: Doha Development Agenda: The July 2008 package http://www.wto.org/english/tratop_e/dda_e/meet08_e.htm
European Commission: SPEECH/08/397 http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=SPEECH/08/397&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en
European Commission: DG Trade: Press Release, 17.7.08: The Doha Development Agenda: Mandelson and Fischer Boel: Geneva WTO Ministerial must deliver balanced world trade deal http://ec.europa.eu/trade/issues/newround/doha_da/pr170708_en.htm
European Commission: DG Trade: Trade Issues: The Doha Development Agenda http://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/eu-and-wto/doha-development-agenda/index_en.htm
Website: WTO: Trade Topics: Doha Round http://www.wto.org/English/tratop_e/dda_e/dda_e.htm

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