The Doha Round was today revived with the resumption of trade talks at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) headquarters in Geneva, following a consensus among key nations at Davos to re-start negotiations, suspended since July 2006."We have resumed negotiations fully across the board," Pascal Lamy, director general, WTO, said today in his statement released worldwide.In his report to the Trade Negotiating Committee, Lamy said, political conditions were now more favourable for the conclusion of the round than they have been for a long time."Political leaders around the world clearly want us to get fully back into business, although we in turn need their continuing commitment," he added.Despite the tough public posturing both by the developed and developing nations, trade ministers from countries like India, Brazil, China, European Union and US had agreed in Davos to atleast "infuse life back into the organs of the multi-lateral trading body."Lamy has been working with the Negotiating Group Chairs to restart the talks at the official level in the beginning. "The process here will continue to be bottom up, inclusive and transparent, and it will be led by the Chairs. This multilateral process will continue to be the main process in our negotiations, and it is the only one where decisions can be taken," the WTO chief said.While the talks have resumed, exporters feel that achieving a breakthrough for early conclusion of the round still remains a tall order. Agriculture remains the contentious issue, both in terms of subsidies by rich countries who want market access for agriculture products in developing countries like India.
