WTO reaches its first ever trade deal at Bali meeting

Business & Markets 2013
Written by Reuters
Saturday, 07 December 2013 12:58
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NUSA DUA, Indonesia (Dec 7): The World Trade Organization reached its first
ever trade reform deal on Saturday to the roar of approval from nearly 160
ministers who had gathered on the Indonesian island of Bali to decide on the
make-or-break agreement that could add $1 trillion to the global economy
The approval came after Cuba dropped a last-gasp threat to veto the package
of measures.
"For the first time in our history, the WTO has truly delivered," a tearful WTO
chief Roberto Azevedo said.
"This time the entire membership came together. We have put the 'world' back
in World Trade Organization," he said.
The talks had dragged into an extra day after Cuba at the last minute refused to
accept a deal that would not help pry open the U.S. embargo of the Caribbean
island. It later agreed on compromise language with the United States.
The agreement marks WTO's first global trade agreement since it was created
in 1995 and rescues the WTO from the brink of failure and will rekindle
confidence in its ability to lower barriers to trade worldwide, after 12 years of
fruitless negotiations. - Reuters