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Wto Meet Briefing

Altaf blank about Paris outcome

BDNEWS, Dhaka
Commerce Minister Altaf Hossain Choudhury yesterday held a press briefing on the just concluded World TYade Organisation (WTO) mini-ministerial meeting, which he had attended, but said nothing pertinent io the event.
The meeting in Paris on May 4-5 has reached a consensus on conversion of specific tariffs on agricultural goods that has blocked for years die Doha round negotiations.
But Altaf at the briefing at his ministry’s conference room told reporters for more than an hour about his unofficial meetings, leaving aside the Paris meet. ’T had 16meetings with different trade ministers and Bangladeshi expats in Paris and London," Altaf said, adding, his meeting with Bangladeshi Caterers Association in London was fruitful.
But international media reports hailed the Paris meet of die WTO for reaching a consensus in tariff reduction formula.
’’After months of deadlock, the Doha round of global trade talks has taken a big step forward, thanks largely to an abstruse but important deal over agricultural tariffs," said The Economist on its May 5 issue.
On May 4, negotiators from the US, the European Union, Brazil, India and Australia hammered out a
formula for converting specific tariffs on agricultural goods, such as 10 cents per pound in weight, into percentage tariffs, The Economist reported.
Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told reporters on the fringe of the Paris meet they had an accord on the AVE conversion. The AVE conversion is a method for converting tariffs based on imported quantities into ad-valorem equivalents (AVE), that is, tariffs based on the price of die product.
Establishing the AVEs is a pi cron • di lion for addressing the tariff reduction formula that is a central pillar ol ongoingagriculture negotiations. "ft seems that some technical issues, which were blocking the negotiations, are nearing solution. This would mean substantial breakthrough by July this year,” reported PakTribune.
Replying to queries, Altaf said, "Higher tariffs will be cut more than lower ones," - the only statement from him on the issue.
As many as 30 trade ministers of the WTO member states attended the meeting and focused on several issues.
The issues include service rules and regulations including trade facilities to agriculture and nonagriculture markets globally for finding a solution before the scheduled WTO meeting in Hong Kong in December this year.