UN body warns of WTO talks collapse

The WTO's ambitious round of trade liberalization talks is "at serious risk of collapsing" because of a series of missed deadlines since the round was launched 19 months ago, a UN body warned yesterday.

The UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) also said developing nations could stand to see real income reduced by a massive US$32 billion should the floundering negotiations on the Doha development agenda fail.

"Negotiations are at serious risk of collapsing," Kim Hak-su, the executive secretary of UNESCAP, headquartered in Bangkok, said in a statement.

He pointed to a series of deadlines on negotiations relating to affordable medicines, market access for non-agricultural goods and reform of a dispute settlement system that have passed without adequate resolution.

"Missed deadlines erode confidence and the credibility of the negotiating process ... [but] if there is movement on sufficient scale and speed, the negotiations can be salvaged," Kim said.

The Doha development agenda, launched with great fanfare in the Qatari capital Doha in November 2001, aims to establish a more equitable approach to international trade for developing and least-developed countries.