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Geneva Just how substantial a planned sixth ministerial meeting of the World Trade Organization in Hong Kong December 13 to 18 can be has been called into question because of the inability of trade ministers to reach agreement on full modalities in the Doha Development Agenda agriculture and nonagricultural market access talks

Negotiations seemed to have been put 'on hold' at the World Trade Organisation as delegates in Geneva awaited the outcome of a Ministerial meeting in London Monday involving the US, EU, India and Brazil.

Most members of Congress do not think much at all of the ongoing Doha Development Agenda of trade negotiations and when they hear that the United States is getting little of what it is demanding in agricultural and industrial products market access, they think even less of it

The five trade ministers from the United States, the European Union, India, Brazil and Japan who met here in an effort to reach a breakthrough in the stalled Doha Development Agenda trade negotiations practiced diplomatic 'brinkmanship' and restated 'inflexible' positions, but ended on a 'disappointing' note leaving attainment of the full modalities in agriculture and industrial goods trade for next month

Alink to a new U.S. non-paper on numerical market access targets for services negotiations

In a move to avoid the collapse of the mid-December Hong Kong World Trade Organization ministerial meeting... suggestions are being made to have a 'proper' ministerial summit next June

Trade ministers appeared ready on Tuesday to discuss lowering expectations for a World Trade Organisation (WTO) meeting next month because their differences are too wide.

European Union trade commissioner Peter Mandelson yesterday assured the EU Council of Ministers that he will not table a new proposal on agricultural market access at the 'quad'plus ministerial meeting as demanded by the United States

India and Brazil warned that the success of struggling global trade talks hinges on rich nations taking account of the poor, as the EU called for more concessions from developing countries.

The WTO leadership will be going all out to make a big push - perhaps the last - to save the Hong Kong meeting from being a failure, or a 'non-event.'