The World Trade Organization (WTO) has put broad-based talks to end tariffs on industrial sectors from textiles to chemicals on hold to let the main players hammer out proposals instead, a senior WTO diplomat said on Wednesday. The question of sectoral agreements, where groups of WTO members have come together to drop tariffs in individual sectors, was a major stumbling block at July's abortive talks seeking a breakthrough in the WTO's Doha round. The United States has made it clear that wide participation by China and other advanced developing countries in sectoral deals was one of its top priorities in any deal in the Doha round, launched nearly seven years ago to free up world trade. But the new mediator for talks on industrial goods, Switzerland's WTO ambassador Luzius Wasescha, said the multi-party talks had been set aside for the next three to four weeks in hopes that the most involved parties could work together to forge proposed deals. “With regard to sectorals, both the proponents and the skeptics are not keen to engage in a multilateral process at this stage,” Wasescha told reporters after briefing the WTO's 153 members on the state of his consultations. He said the sectors were so diverse that each required different solutions and different members participating. Fourteen sectoral deals are under discussion at the WTO. Some big developing countries say the accords go beyond the mandate of the Doha talks, and fear what they consider unfair pressure to expose fledgling industries to global competition.
