Trade Round Hopes Rise After WTO Deal on Drugs in Doha

13/05/2001| IslamWeb

DOHA, Qatar (Islamweb & News Agencies) - Negotiators clinched a tentative deal Monday to get cheap drugs to developing countries, boosting the chances of reaching a broader pact to launch a new round of world trade talks.Diplomats said they hoped that settlement of the dispute on terms broadly favorable to the developing world would generate the goodwill needed to reach agreement on an agenda for market-opening negotiations before World Trade Organization ministers end their five-day conference Tuesday.
``The mood is now upbeat,'' a senior European Union diplomat said.
But memories of the failure of a previous agenda-setting conference in Seattle two years ago made WTO chief Michael Moore wary of predicting success.
``Bluntly, there are still too many areas of substantial difference,'' Moore told a news conference. ``It will be a long 24 hours.''
Under the outline agreement on drugs, a country suffering devastating pandemics like AIDS and malaria will be able to skirt world rules on pharmaceutical patents in order to produce or buy generic drugs.
The issue had been an emotive one for developing countries, which billed it as a litmus test of rich states' willingness to help the poor.
Despite the breakthrough, officials said the going was tough in five other areas, including agriculture, investment rules and the honoring by industrial countries of past market-opening promises.