World Trade Organisation Director General Pascal Ramy warned Wednesday of "consequences" if nations failed to reach agreement on a new global trade pact, reported dpa. Ramy made a one-day visit to Indonesia as part of a global tour to seek commitments from key nations to resume negotiations on the Doha trade round. Indonesia, the current coordinator of the G-33, has been pushing for a resumption of negotiations, but ones that will ensure protection for the agriculture sectors of developing nations. Ramy and Indonesian Trade Minister Mari Pangestu, who held talks on Wednesday morning, agreed there was a small window for key nations - the US, EU, India, Brazil and others - to reach a "breakthrough" on a framework for a new global pact by July 1. On that day, US President George W. Bush's special authority to fast-track trade deals will expire, meaning any future global pact could be held up and altered by the American Congress. If key economic powers can reach consensus on contentious issues including agricultural subsidies and tariffs by then, Bush may be able to secure an extension on his fast-track authority through December. Ramy said he was not yet ready to call a meeting of trade ministers from WTO member states, and implied that global multilateral systems such as the UN, World Bank and IMF could suffer if the Doha trade round did not end in success. "The world trade system is part of the multilateral system in a world that's more dangerous and unstable than was five years ago," Lamy told a press conference. "The costs of a failure in these circumstances would probably be geopolitically high," Lamy said. "When you have a negotiation about fairness and it fails, you will have consequences that go beyond trade." Pangestu told reporters that a breakthrough was possible, but said it was up to major economic players to reach consensus on a pact that included key demands of developing nations to safeguard their agricultural industries from tariff reductions.
