World Trade Organisation (WTO) director general Pascal Lamy has bowed to sluggish progress in the Doha Development Round talks and admitted hopes for a 2008 deal will probably be dashed. 

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He said in Geneva this afternoon (12 December) that unless positions of member countries “change dramatically” this weekend, he would not summon trade ministers to Geneva for a meeting before Christmas.


Lamy said he had not “detected the political drive” for a final push towards agreement.


He added that summoning a WTO second summit meeting this year “would be running an unacceptably high risk of failure which could damage not only the round but also the WTO system as a whole”.

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