New Round of WTO Negotiations to be Launched

April 26, 1999

26 April 1999

New Round of World Trade Organization Negotiations to be Launched

American negotiators have already determined their objectives for the new round of trade talks scheduled to begin in Seattle on 30 November 1999. These include limiting the negotiations to a maximum of three years, and achieving broadly based market access agreements for industrial and agricultural products and services.

Of primary importance to US objectives is reform of the existing dispute settlement procedure. Restructuring would provide greater transparency and public access to the process, as well as use of incentives to persuade countries to comply early on in the dispute process with dispute settlement rulings.

The United States remains frustrated with the European Union's failure to implement panel rulings promptly; they are still waiting for the WTO's rulings on the EU's banana import regime, and the US is aware that the EU will miss its 13 May deadline for compliance with the WTO panel condemning the European ban on the use of growth hormones in beef.


Topic(s): 
International Initiatives
Information Source: 
World Customs Organization (WCO) / World Trade Organization (WTO)
Document Type: 
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