Britain on Thursday said it was unlikely that the next World Trade Organisation Ministerial will be held this year, indicating that completion of the Doha Development Round of trade negotiations will miss the deadline of January 01, 2005.
"The next Ministerial meeting to be held in Hong Kong is unlikely to be held until next year in view of the US Presidential elections and the deadline for completing the Doha round will have to be pushed," Mike O' Brien, the British minister for international trade, told PTI in an interview.
There was however a forward movement to break the deadlock after the collapse of WTO Ministerial at Cancun with both developed and developing countries showing some flexibility, he said.
"While a broad consensus could be reached this year, any kind of agreement would be reached only next year, especially with US Presidential elections in view," Brien said.
Asserting that talks should restart from where they were left at Cancun, he said the two Singapore issues of investment and competition would not act as a block in any forward movement.
"We have suggested ways (through which) we can reduce differences and take the discussions further. We want to ensure that negotiations are carried forward," he said.
"But, Singapore issues will not be an obstacle," he said.
Technically, Singapore issues are a part of the agenda even though European Union, their main proponent, had agreed to drop investment and competition from the agenda.
