Ahern disappointed at WTO talks breakdown
Minister for Trade and Commerce Michael Ahern said today that he was disappointed that efforts to advance the World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations had not been successful.
He said that he hoped that the negotiations in Geneva could be resumed as soon as possible to achieve a worthwhile and balanced agreement.
Mr Ahern stressed that the EU had made very substantial offers on all of the issues under negotiation and could not have gone any further in its efforts to get agreement.
“It is particularly unfortunate that the very real benefits that could have been achieved in the interests of the developing world will not now be delivered,” said Mr Ahern.
He went on to repeat the Government’s strong support for a balanced and ambitious WTO agreement, stating that a well-regulated global trading environment, with a strong WTO, was very much in everybody’s interests.
