Negotiation setbacks ease trade deal worries for Irish farmer organisations

Another deadline has been missed in the long-running attempts to advance trade agreements among World Trade Organisation (WTO) members.

The organisation is attempting to complete negotiations on the Doha Development Round, which was launched in 2001 with an explicit focus on addressing the needs of developing countries.

Last Thursday, WTO Director-General Robert Azevêdo admitted to failure in concluding the negotiations to adopt the Protocol of Amendment on the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) by July 31, as agreed at the WTO Ministerial Conference in Bali last December, with a view to getting substantive negotiations on the Doha Round under way.