Negotiators have failed to fix a deal for a crunch summit next week, casting a shadow over efforts to revive stalled talks on slashing barriers to global commerce, the head of the WTO said today.
"The reality is that we have proved that we can't cross the final yard here in Geneva. The process here is over," World Trade Organisation chief Roberto Azevedo told reporters after a marathon session ended without a final accord.
Underlining that trade diplomats got achingly close before positions hardened over recent days, Azevedo threw the ball into the court of trade ministers who will meet from December 3-6 at a WTO summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.
"If we are to get this deal over the line, we will need political engagement and political will. Ministers will have to decide what kind of future they want to see both for the issues that are on the table today and for the WTO," he added.
The Bali summit is seen as perhaps the last chance to revive the WTO's "Doha Round" talks, launched in 2001 at a summit in Qatar, and on-off from the outset.
US trade ambassador Michael Punke gave a bleak assessment today.
"A once-in-a-generation opportunity may have slipped our grasp," he told fellow negotiators.
Mexican trade envoy Fernando de Mateo struck a different tone, telling reporters: "Hope is the last thing that you lose. We're so near that it's not impossible."
And in a statement, European Union trade chief Karel De Gucht said: "As we are so close to the shared objective, we should not give up."
The Doha Round aims to produce a wide-ranging accord to open markets and remove trade barriers, with a key goal being to harness international commerce to develop poorer economies.
By some estimates, Azevedo noted, it could provide a USD 1 trillion boost to global commerce.
The Doha Round has stalled repeatedly as rich countries, emerging powers and the world's poorest nations spar over the give and take needed to craft a deal.
Azevedo, Brazil's former trade envoy who took the WTO helm in September, was set to spend coming days telephoning ministers to try to close gaps.
