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US officials pledge to keep working toward pact that will liberalize trade

WASHINGTON, DC - 07/05/06 - World Trade Organization (WTO) meetings in Geneva have ended without a breakthrough on contentious agricultural issues, but US officials pledged continued efforts to work toward a solution.

"We remain fully committed to an ambitious, robust round that opens new markets for the world's farmers, manufacturers and service providers," US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said in a statement issued after the Geneva talks concluded over the weekend.

Deeming such a result to represent "the only way to deliver on the Doha promise as a development round," Schwab declared, "We have no intention of giving up hope."

The negotiations, formally called the Doha Development Agenda, have been plagued by disagreement over the agricultural issues almost since their start in 2001.

Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns, another key US participant in the talks, said the main task in Geneva had been to "agree on how to deliver on the Doha mandate to 'substantially improve' market access in agriculture through programs of fundamental reform and by reducing barriers to industrial goods.

"We don't have all the answers yet, but the central question of market access is squarely on the table. We also had a long overdue discussion on the balance that we all need to achieve for the Round to succeed," he said.

Johanns and Schwab had foreshadowed tough times for the negotiations in comments they made earlier during the talks.

On June 30, Johanns told reporters that he was worried about the outcome in light of developing countries' proposals that he said would virtually preclude any new access for US farm exports.

And, heading into the July 1 session, he again said that earlier debate on three areas - ones he referred to as "the three S's" and listed as arrangements covering "sensitive products, special products and special safeguard mechanisms" - were continuing to prove intractable. "I will be very, very candid with you. After that debate I am worried," he said.

After several days of bilateral and small group meetings, Schwab and Johanns described the situation as serious, but not beyond hope.

"We are disappointed but we will not be deterred," Schwab said.

"Last October, the US took a risk that's associated with leadership by putting on the table a major agricultural offer, expecting that it would be reciprocated by similarly bold moves by others," she said, adding, "That hasn't happened yet."

"As ministers reflect and consult…we must shift the debate from how to grow loopholes in both agriculture and manufactured goods that undermine liberalization and focus instead on what each of us -- developed and developing countries alike - can bring to the table to ensure the round succeeds," Schwab continued.

"We are ready to roll up our sleeves and work to find the breakthrough that will enable the successful conclusion of the Doha Round. It is the right thing to do for the US economy, global development, and strengthening of the world trading system," she said.

The Doha round is scheduled to wrap up in just six months.

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