WTO Meet On Doha Deal

The US and European Union trade chiefs have already acknowledged that it may not be possible to complete the Doha round of negotiations by 2010, as demanded by leaders at the last G20 summit and other meetings.

This week's "stock-taking", mandated by ministers at a WTO conference last December, has been scaled back. The possibility that ministers would make the assessment has been dropped, leaving the announcement to senior officials, and the exercise has been brought forward to coincide with a week of meetings already planned for officials to negotiate on Doha.