Crunch Time
June 19, 2007
The so-called "G4" group were meeting in the German city of Potsdam outside Berlin "with their backs against the wall," a Geneva-based diplomat told AFP news service.
All were mindful that a similar meeting last year got nowhere and ultimately led to negotiations being suspended for all of the WTO's 150 members.
The talks are expected to continue until the weekend.
Rising pressure
Germany, which holds the EU presidency until the end of this month, invited EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, Agriculture Commissioner Mariann Fischer Boel, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, Indian Commerce Minister Kamal Nath and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim to Cecilienhof palace.
Amorim has warned that this meeting would be "decisive." German Economy Minister Michael Glos said that as the current president of the EU, Berlin urged all participants to work to clear the logjam.
"The pressure is rising on all those involved," he said. "Those blocking a deal are not in Europe."
Historic location
The delegates were certain to feel the weight of history on their shoulders, as it was at Cecilienhof that the Allied leaders Churchill, Stalin and Truman met in 1945: the issue then was the division of post-war Europe after the defeat of Nazi Germany. The purpose of these talks 62 years later is to open the world up further to trade.
"It's not an innocent choice" of venue, the Geneva-based diplomat noted, adding that the EU was seeking to heighten the historical resonance of the meeting.
Contemporary concerns were also evident, as anti-globalization campaigners staged a protest outside Cecilienhof.
"We want a democratically controlled trade policy that does not bend to global corporate interests but that promotes the rights of the people for an environmentally sustainable and socially just
development," the activists said in a statement.
Consensus needed
The four G4 powers represent a range of poor and rich countries' interests at the WTO. An agreement among them on the concessions needed to reduce barriers to trade in agriculture, industrial goods is regarded as essential to draw in the rest of the 150 members.
Negotiations to conclude a trade liberalization deal, which is mainly meant to provide an economic boost for developing nations, have missed several deadlines since the WTO's current Doha round was launched to great fanfare in the Qatari capital in 2001.
Developing countries and wealthy nations are at loggerheads over the degree of state support for agricultural markets and an acceptable level of protection against imports, primarily in the EU
and the United States.
Rich nations are also looking for more concessions from developing nations on access to their markets for industrial goods or for services companies.
The WTO is now hoping to reach an agreement by the end of the year. Under the organization's rules, it must be approved by consensus and even a single dissenting voice can block it.
Even so, agreement between the G4 members is seen as crucial if any final deal is to be reached.