Late July is G8 target for ending WTO spat

SAVANNAH, Ga., June 9 (UPI) -- The Group of Eight nations said Wednesday they are committed to achieving results by late July in the stalled World Trade Organizations talks.

"We face a moment of strategic economic opportunity: by combining an upturn in growth in various regions with a global reduction in barriers to trade, we can deepen, broaden, and extend this economic expansion," the G8 said in a statement.

WTO members would work together to complete by late July the frameworks on those issues that will put the WTO talks on track toward successful conclusion.

The eight countries said they will focus on "substantially reducing trade-distorting agricultural subsidies and barriers to access to markets; opening markets more widely to trade in goods; expanding opportunities for trade in services; overhauling and improving customs rules and other relevant procedures to facilitate trade; and advancing the development of all countries, especially the poorest, within the WTO system."

The G8 are Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States.