As supposedly final deadlines come and go and the Doha Round staggers on, commentators like myself risk sounding like the boy who cried wolf. But July is surely the last chance for WTO members to agree the outlines of a deal – remember that the boy who cried wolf was eventually right. (Despite the high stakes, the chances of trade negotiators cancelling their August holidays are nil.)
This weekend’s G8 summit – unfortunately being hosted by Russia, which
is not a WTO member and which has other priorities – provides an
opportunity for political leaders to break the deadlock. They must
grasp it – or risk seeing the WTO go the way of the League of Nations.