Top WTO trade ministers should agree to step up stalled multilateral trade talks at their upcoming meeting in the Swiss Alps, WTO Director General Pascal Lamy said on January, 23. About 30 key trade ministers, including top officials from the EU, United States, Brazil and India, are to hold a meeting with World Trade Organisation chief Lamy on January 20 on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. While the talks are not intended to be a negotiating session, Lamy said they would provide an opportunity for the ministers to sound each other out on their positions.

Agricultural subsidies and market access are key sticking points in the Doha talks, which have been on hold since July after negotiators from the United States, EU, Brazil, India and other players failed to reach agreement. Developing countries want lower tariffs on their agricultural exports to US and European markets, while industrialized nations seek greater access to developing nations for their industrial services and goods.