May 3, 2006	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 4, 1427

GENEVA, May 2: WTO nations are inching slowly toward a deal on liberalising global commerce but negotiators must put more on the table if they want to conclude their Doha Round talks, top officials from rival trading nations said on Tuesday.

“We are relatively close in most areas,” outgoing US Trade Representative Rob Portman told reporters following a meeting with Pascal Lamy, head of the 149-nation WTO.

“The US believes that we ought to be ambitious across the board, in services, in non-agricultural market access and agriculture,” Portman said.

“In some of those areas we are closer than others. But we believe it’s within reach.”—AFP