Formal trade negotiations at the WTO remain frozen as they have been since late July when Members proved unable to agree on farm subsidy and tariff cuts. Nonetheless, Geneva-based negotiators say that delegations continue to meet informally.

Trade diplomats from Canada, Chile, Indonesia, Kenya, New Zealand and Norway met from 6-8 November in the Swiss town of Vevey. Representatives from those countries also met in Oslo in October (see BRIDGES Weekly, 25 October 2006).

The 'non-G-6', so-called to distinguish them from Australia, Brazil, the EU, India, Japan and the US -- the six Members that have been the core players in the Doha Round talks -- held a broad discussion on all of the areas in the negotiations, including farm trade, industrial goods, services, rules, and development. The purpose of the meeting was reportedly a general brainstorming session rather than an exploration of specific technical issues.

As with the Oslo meeting officials were reluctant to disclose details about the meeting. Nevertheless, one source suggested that the countries' perspectives remained quite far apart and did not appear to have changed substantially since the negotiations were suspended.

The same source indicated that this 'non-G-6' is planning to meet again at the end of the month.

The six countries that met in Vevey cover a cross-section of several of the main interest groups in the highly contentious farm trade negotiations. However, they are believed to have discussed various aspects of the agriculture talks including subsidy cuts, market access, and the flexibilities that Members will receive to shield some products from tariff reduction.

Farm trade negotiators from all Member delegations are expected to meet for an 'informal transparency forum' in Geneva on 10 November, at the initiative of New Zealand Ambassador Crawford Falconer who also chairs the suspended agriculture talks. One trade diplomat said that the gathering will be an opportunity for each bloc to describe what it has been doing.

The meeting will follow a series of informal bilateral and small-group discussions between Members that took place when capital-based officials were in Geneva for the 31 October regular (non-negotiating) session of the Committee on Agriculture (see BRIDGES Weekly, 7 November 2006). Sources say that the EU, US and Japan all held bilateral meetings with various delegations in Geneva.

In a note sent to delegations on 3 November, Falconer recalled that "the whole rationale for 'suspension' had been to facilitate informal contacts between delegations that would intensify efforts to move things forward." Since such discussions had indeed been taking place, he said that it was "becoming increasingly anomalous that we don't have any fully multilateral forum to keep each other up-to-date on what is going on." Stressing that he was proposing the "totally informal" gathering in a "purely personal capacity," he added that it could be a useful opportunity "for briefly updating each other on where our respective conversations have been taking us."

Sources say that Falconer believes that negotiators need to continue to come together and talk to each other if the round is to have a chance of restarting.

One negotiator said that Falconer, in his capacity as ambassador of New Zealand, was also convening a 'fireside chat' of ambassadors from a smaller group of countries on 9 November.

Diplomats appeared divided on whether the conclusion of the US midterm Congressional elections on 7 November would affect the negotiations. Some suggested that the end of the campaign may allow for some progress; others suggested that no immediate changes were likely.

Victorious Democratic members of the House of Representatives, including the future chair of a key committee on trade, have already pledged to pursue bipartisan cooperation with their Republican colleagues on trade issues. On the other hand, civil society group Public Citizen has hailed the election for bringing several opponents of the WTO into Congress.

ICTSD reporting.