The U.S. ambassador to the World Trade Organization stated that he could not accept a draft plan for reforming the trade organization ahead of an important meeting in Cameroon.
“We cannot accept a work plan that in our view undermines our collective efforts to move forward,” Joseph Barloon said in a statement, adding the discussions were not sufficiently mature and that the draft position paper contained “ambiguous language”.
Led by Norway, a group of global powers has been actively working on a position paper about reforms for months, ahead of the trade ministers’ meeting in Cameroon scheduled for March 26-29, which will mainly focus on this topic.
The U.S. objection prevents reaching an agreement on reforms there since all 166 WTO members must decide by consensus.
Barloon emphasized that Washington has an ambitious reform agenda and added that he looks forward to hearing the positions of other countries.
By CEO NA Editorial Staff
