Lamy Calls for Acceleration of Negotiations
Lamy Calls for Acceleration of Negotiations. I’m Greg Martin with today’s Line On Agriculture.
The World Trade Organization talks continue and Director-General Pascal Lamy reported to the General Council on February 22 that he was encouraged by recent discussions among Senior Officials but warned that “a major acceleration at all levels — multilaterally, plurilaterally and bilaterally — is needed”.
LAMY: In my intervention in Davos I noted that the activities in Geneva were showing a change of gear and approach in both legs of the negotiating process, that is in the Negotiating Groups as well as in the bilateral and plurilateral consultations. Nevertheless, I stressed to Ministers that the pace of multilateral work was not only too slow, but also too short of the kind of substantive progress needed to reach the landing zone within the window of opportunity that leaders have identified.
He remarked that there was clear determination among Ministers to further accelerate the Geneva process to meet the 2011 window of opportunity identified by the G20 and APEC Leaders.
LAMY: Ministers present agreed to increase the pressure on their various bilateral and plurilateral negotiations so as to provide the necessary momentum and also agreed that our current work must build on progress reached thus far. They committed to instructing their negotiators to reassess positions, abandon comfort zones and engage in genuine “give-and-takes”.
Lamy says the window of opportunity is still there, but it is narrowing every day.
LAMY: At this point, I believe we need to collectively recall that we have agreed on a modus operandi for the current process, namely to produce elements of progress that Chairs can capture in texts, and to do so urgently. I must issue a serious warning that a major acceleration at all levels — multilaterally, plurilaterally and bilaterally - is needed in order to make this possible.
That’s today’s Line On Agriculture. I’m Greg Martin on the Ag Information Network.
