DG Moore hails final US Congressional approval of TPA

WTO Director-General Mike Moore today hailed the final US Congressional approval of trade promotion authority as a significant boost to the Doha Development Agenda. “The approval of trade promotion authority represents what some commentators are calling the biggest legislative victory for President Bush”, said WTO Director-General Mike Moore.

Mr Moore said that the authority to negotiate new trade deals locks the WTO negotiations into gear. “With the ambitious package on agricultural reform delivered recently to the WTO by the US, we are in serious business, as we always have been. Some of the WTO's 144 Member Governments have been quick to react to this latest development with renewed confidence to wrap up these talks by the deadline of 1 January 2005. Even in the relatively short time since the Doha Ministerial Meeting last November, WTO Member Governments have concluded a great deal of detailed work: the structure and timetable for our negotiations; the selection of Cancun in Mexico as the site for the next Ministerial Meeting; and a significant increase in funding for technical assistance and capacity-building”.