The following is excerpted from a 16 November 2012 news item by the World Trade Organization.
Consultations on a proposal for managing quotas for lower-tariff imports have shown that agriculture negotiators consider an early deal in their subject to be crucial if similar efforts are to succeed in other areas, but some sensitivities remain, chairperson John Adank said on 16 November 2012.
The chairperson, who is New Zealand’s ambassador, was reporting on consultations he has held with members since the full membership last met on 28 September (audio below). The objective has been to explore whether any parts of a considerably broader Doha Round draft outline agreement in agriculture could be settled earlier than the rest and in time for the December 2013 Ministerial Conference in Indonesia, as instructed by the previous conference in Geneva in December 2011.
This item is available in its entirety at:
http://www.wto.org/english/news_e/news12_e/agng_16nov12_e.htm