Geneva WTO Talks Collapse
July 24, 2006
WTO head Pascal Lamy (file photo) (epa)
Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath said it could take "anywhere from months to years" to restart the negotiations. Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim called it a "major setback."
The EU's trade chief, Peter Mandelson, blamed the failure on the United States, saying Washington was "unwilling to accept" the flexibility shown by others.
But Washington said the fault lay with the EU and other WTO members who had not done enough to lower farm tariff barriers.
The meeting had been called by WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy with ministers from Australia, Brazil, the 25-nation European Union, India, Japan, and the United States to try to reenergize the talks.
This group, known as the G6, accounts for some three-quarters of world trade.
(Reuters, AFP, AP)