12/15/06 Lamy Say Agreement Possible

Lamy says agreement still possible. I'm Greg Martin with today's Line On Agriculture. WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy reported to the General Council yesterday that "an increasing level of engagement" is starting to appear in consultations by the Chairs of the negotiating groups. LAMY: In all my contacts, the desire to come back to the negotiating table, and to do so rapidly, has been clear. The political will to conclude the Round is being reaffirmed constantly across the board. New flexibilities have been announced by major players in general terms. The challenge remains to translate this political will and these flexibilities signals into substantive changes in position, which are necessary in order to unblock the process. He stressed the "need to maintain the rhythm of the informal work ... to exploit the window of opportunity in the first quarter of next year". LAMY: So we can be ready to engage fully on substance when the time comes, we need to maintain the rhythm of the informal work which is underway between now and the end-of-year break, and then increase it when we return after the break, in order to exploit the window of opportunity that remains ahead of us in the first quarter of next year. And while he concedes that the session may not be successful, Lamy remains upbeat about this final round. LAMY: Failure could be just around the corner, but we need not turn that corner. With everyone contributing and playing their part, we can stay on track to take this Round to a successful conclusion next year. That's today's Line On Agriculture. I'm Greg Martin on the Northwest Ag Information Network.