The World Trade Organization this month aims to make a comprehensive assessment of the progress made so far in starting a new round of global trade talks, the chief of the world trade body said Monday.
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| Mike Moore, director of the WTO, speaks with Kyodo News in Geneva. |
WTO Director General Mike Moore said Japan and other major countries need to be flexible in agricultural negotiations, but expressed some understanding of the difficulty of the issue for Japan.
"March is the stock-taking (month), and that's across the board," Moore said in an interview with Kyodo News. "Not just mandated (areas agreed in the previous Uruguay Round), but areas that are of interest to (WTO) colleagues."
According to trade sources, some WTO members have begun an informal "friends meeting" outside the WTO forum and are discussing possible topics to be taken up at the new round.