Officials from 18 countries are beginning a three-day meeting in Australia aimed at restarting stalled World Trade Organization talks. The delegates are expected to focus on an Australian proposal to expand farm trade, which some officials hope could revive the WTO's Doha Round of talks.
CRI correspondent to Sydney, Cheng Hao, has the details:
 Reporter:
In Cairns they are celebrating the 20th birthday of the trading block named after the tropical city. For 20 years, the 18 member countries of the Cairns Group have wielded influence over world trade talks, but hanging over the celebrations is the realization that unless it succeeds now, the group’s best years could be behind it.
Here’s Australian Prime Minister John Howard:
Formed to push for agricultural tariff reductions, the Cairns Group has never faced a bigger obstacle than the current deadlock round of World Trade organization talks. The five-year-old Doha Round is in limbo, the US, Europe and others are unable to agree on terms to cut tariffs and subsidies.
With its future hanging in the balance, the WTO’s Director-General Pascal Lamy wants the Cairns Group to do whatever it can to save it:
Australia’s master plan to propel the WTO talks looks dead in the water.
It wanted the US to remove another 5 billion dollars in subsidies, and Europe to pull down an extra 5% of its tariff wall. But the deal has been dismissed out of hand by the EU Trade Commissioner who knocked back an invitation to go to Cairns much to John Howard’s frustration:
Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaile acknowledges the plan is likely to meet oppositions, however, there are some glimmers of hope that the summit could end the deadlock.
Cheng Hao, CRI News, Sydney
The Cairns Group, which accounts for more than 25 percent of the world's agricultural trade, is expected to endorse the Australian plan on Friday.
The Cairns Group's 18 members include Brazil, Canada, Indonesia and Pakistan. It was formed in 1986 to campaign for the removal of farm trade barriers.
|
Director: Liu Chi