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WTO Meeting Ends With Unexpected Agreement
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=10399B7:3919ACA The agreement,
though modest in scope, is being hailed as giving new momentum to
global trade talks





WTO General-Secretary Pascal Lamy makes an address at the plenary
session of the World Trade Organization's 6th ministerial conference
in Hong Kong Thursday, Dec. 15, 2005Frantic around the clock
negotiations at the World Trade Organization meeting in Hong Kong have
produced a result few had expected - an accord that moves forward
trade liberalization.  The agreement, though modest in scope, is being
hailed as giving new momentum to global trade talks.

Ministers approved the declaration after six days of often heated
negotiations in which no one appeared to yield ground.  On Sunday,
that changed.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy praised the trade ministers of the
organization's 149 members for moving further toward the wider goal of
ensuring that poor countries benefit from free trade.  

"We are tipping the balance in the WTO soundly and steadily in favor
of developing countries," Mr. Lamy says.

While delegates were grateful to have achieved a deal, they
acknowledged that this one falls far short of the original goal of the
negotiations. 

Originally, the Hong Kong conference was to have produced detailed
formulas for cutting tariffs and trade barriers.   The agreement sets
a target of April 30 for WTO members to establish those formulas. 


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