Need for Ambitious Objectives in the Doha Round (March 31, 2003)

VENEMAN-ZOELLICK STATEMENT

Following the failure in Geneva of delegations to the World Trade Organization to meet the March 31 deadline for settling the modalities for negotiations on agriculture, the United States issued a statement in Washington.

Ann Veneman, the U.S. Secretary of Agriculture, and Robert B. Zoellick, the U.S. Trade Representative, said of the Doha Round negotiations:

"The United States believes that this great worldwide venture needs to target grand trade goals: to slash agricultural subsidies and tariffs; to eliminate tariffs on industrial and consumer goods; and to vastly expand opportunities for the fast-emerging services trade. U.S. proposals have backed this vision of global openness, growth and development with bold offers, demonstrating concretely what actions the United States will take to open its markets if others join with us.

Click here for the full text of the Veneman-Zoellick Statement issued in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2003.