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 "We are very close," WTO spokesman Keith Rockwell told reporters at
the meeting on the Indonesian resort island of Bali. "As things
stand now, the prospects are promising."
Earlier this week a deal had looked in doubt, largely due to India's
insistence that it would not compromise on a policy of subsidizing
food for its hundreds of millions of poor.
WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo, a former Brazilian trade
negotiator, told delegates at the start of the last day of talks
that there was more work to be done, but sounded upbeat on prospects
for success.
"He told members they were now very close to something that has
eluded us for many years and that the decisions over the next few
hours would have great significance beyond this day," the spokesman
said.
It is 12 years since the WTO launched the Doha Round, but the
negotiations have yet to yield any concrete results, having started
out with a far more ambitious agenda. Diplomats have warned that
failure in Bali would wreck the WTO's credibility as developed
nations turn towards regional and bilateral trade arrangements.
A Bali trade deal, already diluted to the "low-hanging fruit" of the
Doha Round, largely hinges on India and whether the world's second
most populous country can find common ground with the United States
and other developed countries on food subsidies.
India, whose government faces the risk of losing elections next
year, says that its tough stance has drawn support from developing
countries in Asia, Africa and South America, though the meeting's
hosts Indonesia have been pressing for it to soften its stand.
"We are trying to get justice for the poor people," Indian Trade
Minister Anand Sharma told reporters as he entered the meeting's
last day.
Thursday's talks had stretched into the early hours of Friday
without reaching any agreement.
Asked if there was a deal on the table, Sharma replied: "We are
talking."
The meeting is set to end at 3.00 pm local time (0700 GMT) but can
be extended.
However, two diplomats, who both asked not to be named, said
negotiations were continuing and that ministers looked "very close"
to an agreement.
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India will next year fully implement a welfare program to provide
cheap food to 800 million people that it fears will contravene WTO
rules curbing farm subsidies to 10 percent of production.
The program, which relies on large-scale stockpiling and purchases
at minimum prices, is a central plank of the government's bid to win
a third term in office next year.
A proposal led by the United States offered to waive the 10 percent
rule until 2017. But India has rejected it, demanding the exemptions
continue indefinitely until a solution is found.
A TRILLION DOLLARS ON THE LINE
The trade talks also involve less contentious issues, such as
assistance for the least developed countries and setting standards
for handling the cross-border trade by removing red tape.
Estimates of the value of the Bali deal to the world economy vary,
with some as high as $1 trillion. Experts say it would be far more
important than abolishing import tariffs globally, since bureaucracy
and opaque rules are a bigger brake on trade.
If talks were to fail, the WTO may see its role eroded by regional
trade pacts now being negotiated, such as the U.S.-led 12-nation
Trans-Pacific Partnership and a U.S.-EU tie-up known as TTIP.
[By Randy Fabi © 2013 Thomson Reuters. All
rights reserved.]
(Editing by Jonathan Thatcher and Simon Cameron-Moore)
Copyright 2013 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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