Breakthrough on Doha Round by June: Lamy

The Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pascal Lamy, today urged to speed up the negotiations on the Doha Round as the Trade Promotion Authority in United States is expiring in June.

Negotiations on Doha were suspended between July, 2006 and February, 2007 as WTO members could not agree on various issues like agricultural subsidies, tariff reduction and market access.

"Time is not on our side and many WTO members are getting impatient. The multilateral process of negotiations must therefore kick-start at full speed and the chairpersons of various negotiating groups must come into the centre stage. We need to speed up the process so as to grasp the window of opportunity which closes by the June-end with the expiry of the US Trade Promotion Authority," Lamy said at the international seminar on the Doha round, being held here.

The Trade Promotion Authority gives the US Administration powers to negotiate and conclude deals involving trade in an accelerated mode with other countries and trading blocs.

Later, speaking to the media, Lamy said the on-going negotiations were at an advanced stage and there was possibility of a breakthrough being achieved by June.

"The prospects of closing the gap in the negotiations appears more plausible and probable than ever," Lamy said.

He added that there was a possibility of delivering a successful outcome of the negotiations and the negotiators have the numbers on their mind.