Petition to World Leaders Calls for Major Progress by Year’s End
Washington, DC – Describing the Doha Development Agenda as a rare opportunity of “enormous promise and relevance” the National Foreign Trade Council – along with 35 other major business groups from around the world – today issued a “ Call to Leadership” petition to national leaders and WTO members on the Doha Development Agenda. The petition expresses united international business support for a timely and ambitious outcome to the trade talks and calls on WTO member governments to achieve major progress this year, among other important objectives.
“Our ‘Call to Leadership’ petition demonstrates the united commitment of major business groups from developed and developing countries to a timely, balanced and ambitious conclusion to the Doha Development Agenda. One of our key messages to WTO member governments is to achieve meaningful progress this year on the Doha Round, particularly by concluding the necessary framework agreements on agriculture and non-agricultural goods,” said Mary Irace, Vice President for Trade and Export Finance at the National Foreign Trade Council (NFTC). Irace added that the petition “also calls for bold outcomes on agriculture, goods and services, with built in flexibility especially for poorer countries, as well as support for an agreement on trade facilitation.”
“We firmly believe that if the political will exists, we can accomplish the progress needed this year to keep the
“We believe that timing is crucial. As the petition underscores, leadership and progress on the Doha Agenda this year will bolster the WTO’s credibility as a leading force for eliminating trade barriers among nations and promoting worldwide economic cooperation,” stated Irace.
The National Foreign Trade Council is a leading business organization advocating an open, rules-based global trading system. Founded in 1914 by a broad-based group of American companies, the NFTC now serves 300 member companies through its offices in
