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Diplomats confirm WTO agrees to global trade deal

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Reuters JAKARTA

JAKARTA (Reuters) - The World Trade Organization agreed to its first ever worldwide trade reform on Saturday after Cuba dropped a threat to veto the package of measures, diplomats said.

The agreement at talks on the Indonesian island of Bali marks the WTO's first global trade agreement since it was created in 1995 and, according to some estimates, could be worth $1 trillion to the world economy.

It also rescues the WTO from the brink of failure and will rekindle confidence in its ability to lower barriers to trade worldwide, after 12 years of fruitless negotiations. (Reporting by Randy Fabi, writing by Jonathan Thatcher; Editing by Michael Perry)

 

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First Published: Dec 07 2013 | 9:01 AM IST

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