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SEE ALSO:
> Agriculture negotiations news
> More on the modalities phase
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This
follows a lull since his predecessor Crawford Falconer circulated the latest
draft text in December, although some low-key consultations and two meetings
have been held since then.
Ambassador Walker briefly described to agriculture negotiations his
consultations so far, heard their views, and outlined a schedule for the
next few weeks, before the summer break in August and early September.
“The one key point that I took out of, I think, everybody who has spoken,”
he said, “is the importance now to move ahead with the process here in
Geneva, to focus on closing the remaining gaps and the technical issues,
which is very much music to my ears as that, as I said in the introduction,
is the core task that I see as chair to help you do that.”
The next steps he outlined include a “Room E” meeting of a representative
group of delegations (explained below) followed by various types of
consultations in July and another informal meeting of the full membership by
the end of that month.
He also said he would hold a technical workshop on the types of data members
will need to supply. He explained this in some detail.
(Responding to concerns raised by some members, he refers to WTO
Director-General Pascal Lamy’s
statement to the 26 May meeting of the General Council, made as
chairperson of the Trade Negotiations Committee.)
Use these links to download the audio files or to listen to what he said in the meeting:
This meeting
This was an informal agriculture
negotiations meeting of the full membership, officially an “Informal
Open-Ended Special Session” of the Agriculture Committee.
The latest texts and a number of related issues can be found with
explanations here,
including what “the text” is and says, and a “jargon buster”.
The current phase of the
negotiations is about “modalities”, explained
here.
Explanation
Explanations of the issues are available for the
chairperson’s
2008 drafts and reports.
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“Room E”: meetings of a representative group of
about 30—37 delegations as part of a process that is controlled by the
full membership.
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“Walks in the woods”: meetings among small
groups of delegations outside the WTO. These are explained
here (see “where and who?” box on the right).
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