LAMY

NEW YORK (CMC):

The Caribbean Commu-nity (CARICOM) has received support for its repeated calls for the resumption of the stalled Doha Round of global trade negotiations.

Director general of the World Trade Organisation (WTO), Pascal Lamy, told a United Nations Second Committee special panel discussion on 'Negotiating Doha' that the WTO would be reduced to nothing more than a trade litigation forum if the Doha Round of trade talks were to fail.

He urged Europe and North America to engage in some "political heavy lifting" to prevent the failure of the important talks.

"Negotiating positions are not that far apart in technical and economic terms, but closing the gaps is proving to be a complex political deal for the World Trade Organi-sation's member governments," he said.

Lamy recalled that Brazil, China and India had succeeded in using their influence to eliminate managed trade in textiles and clothing in the earlier Uruguay Round of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade.

But with their sights now set on eliminating agricultural protectionism, he said those countries could play a "central role in deciding how the Doha Round would be concluded."

"There is no question of them rolling back, nor of them standing still. I am convinced that they are prepared to use their immense leverage to make contributions to concluding the Doha Round," he added.