(Bali) – The World Trade Organisation agreed to the first major accord in the group’s 18-year history, a pact designed to smooth commerce at borders and safeguard food security programmes in developing nations. The deal unveiled in Bali, Indonesia, was the first multilateral agreement negotiated by the WTO’s 159 member nations. It emerged from talks that had continued through the night after the US and India compromised on food subsidies and a Latin American bloc led by Cuba dropped its earlier opposition to a draft agreement.
“For first time in our history, the WTO has truly delivered,” said WTO director-general Roberto Azevedo. “We have put the world back into the World Trade Organisation.”