R.G. Edmonson, Associate Editor | Feb 09, 2012 4:50PM EST
Negotiations have stalled in The World Trade Organization’s Doha Development Round, the latest round of trade negotiations, and the National Foreign Trade Council is proposing that portions of the agenda be negotiated separately.
Scott Miller, chairman of NFTC’s WTO Project, said Wednesday that breaking the “nothing is agreed until everything agreed” model of the Doha agenda is controversial, but trade facilitation and services agreements could be concluded in a relatively short time.
Other likely areas for negotiation are consolidation of trade liberalization practices under the WTO framework, and addressing the needs of business in the 21st Century.
Miller said trading nations should focus on the substance of negotiations, not the process.
The NFTC released a report that recommends specific ways for moving beyond the Doha Round. A “work program” for a multilateral trading system is available online.
Contact R.G. Edmonson at bedmonson@joc.com.