Little chance of having Doha Round work program by end July: WTO chief

WTO Director-General Roberto Azevedo on Wednesday predicted little prospect of delivering a "detailed and substantive" work program by the end of July.

A meeting of all WTO members was convened in Geneva Wednesday to discuss the current state of play in negotiations on the work program to advance the remaining issues of the Doha Development Agenda.

Azevedo gave his view that members have made significant progress in understanding each other's positions, but as yet it is not enough to provide a sufficiently clear roadmap on the way forward.

"Whether we can deliver a work program is in the hands of the members and their ability to bring forward new proposals in the coming days which will pave the way to find consensus," said Azevedo.

Azevedo said he shared the commitment that "regardless of what happens in the coming weeks, every member remains strongly committed to finding convergence between now and December which will allow us to agree significant outcomes in Nairobi."

Azevedo outlined that "Success in Nairobi remains the ultimate target of our work. Nairobi is about showing real and definite progress in implementing the Bali decisions, delivering for developing and least developed countries, and delivering outcomes that allow us to conclude the DDA (Doha Development Agenda)."

The Doha Round is the latest round of trade negotiations among the WTO members. Its aim is to achieve major reform of the international trading system through the introduction of lower trade barriers and revised trade rules.

WTO members agreed in November 2014 to agree a work program by July as a springboard towards the WTO's 10th Ministerial Conference in Nairobi in December. Endit