| WTO
NEWS: 2002 PRESS RELEASES Press/308
2 August 2002
Director General
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”.