VOA慢速英语20060729a

IN THE NEWS - W.T.O. Talks: As Nations Trade Blame, World Trade Goals Must WaitBy Brianna Blake

Broadcast: Saturday, July 29, 2006

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.


Pascal Lamy

Almost five years of talks among countries in the World Trade Organization came to a halt this week. Director-General Pascal Lamy in Geneva suspended the troubled negotiations¹. He says restarting them will require work within countries.

The talks began with the hope for an agreement that would open up world markets and reduce poverty in developing nations. But negotiators failed to agree on ways to permit more free trade in agricultural and industrial goods.

Since two thousand one, members of the World Trade Organization have debated how to reach goals they set in November of that year. The meeting took place in Doha, Qatar; the trade talks became known as the Doha Development Round.

A meeting in Seattle in nineteen ninety-nine had failed to begin a new round of trade talks then.

The Doha Round opened at a rough time, two months after the terrorist² attacks on the United States. Negotiators set out to lower trade restrictions³ and take other steps to help poorer countries.

The main issue for many developing countries is government support programs for farmers. Farmers in developing nations say they cannot compete with agricultural prices driven down by farm subsidies⁴ in rich nations.

But the trade ministers could not reach agreement on what steps were needed to let the talks move forward. And soon, countries started blaming each other for the failure.

The European Union said the United States refused to cooperate. Peter Mandelson is the E.U. trade commissioner⁵. He said the United States was making very large demands, but was not willing to make new offers to cut aid to its farmers.

American officials called his statements false and misleading. They said the European Union and other W.T.O. members were not willing to do enough to lower their import barriers to farm products. American officials also said Brazil and India were refusing to cut barriers on industrial imports.

A Bush administration spokesman⁶ said American trade officials will continue discussions with other nations in the hope of an agreement.

So what does all this mean for the future of world trade?

Gawain Kripke is a trade expert with the aid group Oxfam International. Mister Kripke says the failure of the Doha round will hurt the poorest countries the most. He notes that under the rules of the World Trade Organization, each country's voice is given equal weight. He says this is often not the case when two countries, or countries in the same area, try to negotiate⁷ trade agreements themselves.

A successful trade deal in the Doha round could increase the world economy by as much as ninety-six thousand million dollars a year. It could pull sixty-six million people out of poverty. These are both estimates by the World Bank. Officially the talks are not dead, only suspended. But many countries believe it could take anywhere from months to years to restart them.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

1 negotiations   

协商( negotiation的名词复数 )； 谈判； 完成（难事）； 通过

参考例句：

• negotiations for a durable peace 为持久和平而进行的谈判
• Negotiations have failed to establish any middle ground. 谈判未能达成任何妥协。

2 terrorist   

n.恐怖主义者，恐怖分子

参考例句：

• Without the gun,I'm a sitting duck for any terrorist.没有这支枪，我就成了恐怖分子下手的目标了。
• The district was put on red alert during a terrorist's bomb scare.这个地区在得到恐怖分子炸弹恐吓后作了应急准备。

3 restrictions   

约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则）

参考例句：

• I found the restrictions irksome. 我对那些限制感到很烦。
• a snaggle of restrictions 杂乱无章的种种限制

4 subsidies   

n.补贴，津贴，补助金( subsidy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• European agriculture ministers failed to break the deadlock over farm subsidies. 欧洲各国农业部长在农业补贴问题上未能打破僵局。
• Agricultural subsidies absorb about half the EU's income. 农业补贴占去了欧盟收入的大约一半。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

6 spokesman   

n.发言人，代言人

参考例句：

• The government spokesman gave a quick briefing to the reporters.政府发言人向记者们作了情况简介。
• They drew lots to decide who should be their spokesman.他们抽签决定谁是他们的发言人。

7 negotiate   

v.洽谈，协商，谈判，顺利通过，成功越过

参考例句：

• I'll negotiate with their coach on the date of the match.我将与他们的教练磋商比赛的日期问题。
• I managed to negotiate successfully with the authorities.我设法同当局进行了成功的协商。