The WTO in crisis after the failure of negotiations on agriculture and fisheries. Despite prolonged one-day discussions, the ministers representing the 164 members of the World Trade Organization, meeting in Abu Dhabi, left this Friday March 1 with an admission of failure.
Two issues in particular, fishing and agriculture, revealed the deep divisions between member countries. The only progress of these five days of negotiations concerns electronic commerce, exempt from customs duties since 1998. India agreed at the last minute not to veto the extension of the customs moratorium on electronic transmissions.