Summary Roberto Azevedo, who took over as WTO DG in September, has vowed to spare no effort.
GENEVA (AFP) - Negotiators are under mounting pressure to finalise a deal ahead of a WTO summit seen as a make or break moment for the body that oversees the rules of global commerce.
Roberto Azevedo, who took over as WTO director general in September, has vowed to spare no effort during last-ditch talks at its Geneva base, as diplomats struggle to craft a draft accord to ease barriers to global commerce.
The World Trade Organization s 159 member economies are locked in what officials dub a "meat-grinder", striving to bridge differences between rich countries, emerging powers and the world s poorest nations over the concessions needed to yield a deal for a ministerial summit on December 3-6 on the Indonesian island of Bali.
"It is all or nothing now. We must tie the package up once and for all in the next few days," Azevedo, Brazil s former WTO envoy, told negotiators on Tuesday.
The WTO s ruling body, the General Council, is scheduled on November 21 to decide whether it can put a deal on the table in Bali.
Trade sources said there is little prospect for real negotiation in Bali itself to seal a deal.
The summit is seen as perhaps the last chance to revive the WTO s so-called "Doha Round" of talks, launched in 2001 in Qatar.
The round s goal is to craft a wide-ranging global accord on opening markets and removing trade barriers, in order to harness international commerce to develop poorer economies.
WTO rules require such deals to be unanimous, but bitter differences over the necessary give and take have sparked clashes notably between China, the European Union, India and the United States, leaving the talks stalled for years and leading many countries to shift focus to bilateral and regional deals.
"I think the risk of failure is still present," warned Azevedo, whose predecessor, Frenchman and former EU trade chief Pascal Lamy, was unable to secure a deal during eight years in charge of the WTO.
No results in Bali would mean no serious WTO negotiations for a long time, trade sources said, underlining that regional deals tend to involve rich countries or emerging powers, sidelining the poorest nations.
