US, EU eye early 2007 for relaunch of WTO talks

Washington, Nov 10: The United States and the European Union are hopeful that world trade talks, which have been suspended since July, can be relaunched early in 2007, a top EU official said on Thursday.

''The Europeans and the Americans believe the beginning of next year is realistic to relaunch,'' European Commission Vice President Gunter Verheugen said after meetings with U.S.

Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez and U.S. Trade Representative Susan Schwab.

''Both ... the secretary of commerce and the trade representative made it clear that they believe that the beginning of the year, the beginning of next year, will be the right timing,'' Verheugen said.

There is no specific date for a meeting to renew negotiations because that is not a decision the United States and the EU can make on their own, he said.

Both the United States and the EU believe there still is a window of opportunity to strike a deal, but neither side said anything new in talks this week, Verheugen said.

World trade were suspended in July after key WTO members failed to agree on formulas for cutting farm subsidies and tariffs. Without a breakthrough soon, many trade experts believe it could be years before a deal is reached because of U.S. trade legislation that expires next year.

Verheugen was in Washington for meetings with Schwab, Gutierrez and U.S. Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, where the world's two largest trading partners discussed a range of initiatives to increase that relationship.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson did not attend because he has been traveling in China this week.

Verheugen said the United States and the EU plan to target ''a handful'' of industrial and consumer product areas where they will reduce regulatory trade barriers by the end of 2007.

The list will ''certainly'' include the automotive sector and could include other areas such pharmaceuticals, medical devices, cosmetics, nutritional labeling, information technology, chemicals and energy efficiency, he said.

The two sides also discussed joint efforts to increase energy security by diversifying supplies and to halt the piracy and counterfeiting of American and European goods in China, India and other markets around the world, he said.

REUTERS