Friday, April 28 2006 11:18 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Geneva: A handful of key players in World Trade Organisation talks are next week to take stock of the slack pace of negotiations aimed at breaking down barriers to commerce, diplomatic sources said today (Apr 27, 2006).

Outgoing US Trade Representative Rob Portman and his expected replacement Susan Schwab, whose visit to the WTO's base in Geneva on Tuesday and yesterday had already been announced, are now set to be joined in the city by Australian opposite number Mark Vaile, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim and Shoichi Nakagawa, the agriculture minister of Japan.

The officials, considered heavy hitters in the 149-nation WTO, are not expected to negotiate but instead are likely to hold bilateral discussions on the sluggish state of play in the Doha Round of trade liberalisation talks, diplomats said.

"It's simply going to be a review of the situation," said one source.

Earlier this week, the WTO called off a ministerial meeting that had been loosely planned to mark an April 30 deadline for a deal on cutting import tariffs and reducingother trade barriers.

Negotiators still aim to finish the round by the end of this year but have been warned by top officials they must step up efforts to achieve that objective.

Other senior trade officials could potentially meet with their counterparts in Geneva next week, sources said. Kamal Nath, India's commerce minister, is currently in Europe, while EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is billed to give a speech in Zurich yesterday (Apr 27, 2006).