Negotiators are poised to seal the first global trade deal in more than a decade in a rare victory for the World Trade Organisation, whose struggle to secure a global pact has increasingly threatened its relevance.
The US and powerful developing-nation players including China and India have overcome differences in agriculture, leaving negotiators in Geneva to put the final touches on a deal that will impose binding requirements to reduce red tape and ease the path for goods at borders around the world. It could add about $1tn to the more than $18tn in annual global trade, some analysts have said.
Roberto Azevêdo, the recently appointed head of the WTO, is expected to present a finished draft of the agreement to the body’s highest organ, the general council, in a meeting as soon as Sunday or Monday.