The EU's chief trade negotiator, Peter Mandelson, has been given authority to make new agricultural proposals: Mandelson Wins Backing to Make New WTO Farm Offer (Jennifer Freedman , Bloomberg, Oct 25).
``This offer would be a conditional offer which would enable other WTO members to make further moves in relation to agriculture, industrial goods and services,'' Mandelson's spokesman, Peter Power, said in a statement today. ``It was agreed that the EU offer should be substantive and credible and within the mandate'' of the bloc's agriculture policy.
As I understand it from earlier stories, a new offer could be put forward on Thursday, in time for a scheduled Friday teleconference between negotiators from five key countries (EU, the United States, India, Australia and Brazil).
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