For Immediate Release January 12, 2004 Contact: John Goyer (202) 289-7460 CSI Applauds Bold Move to Re-start Doha Round (Washington, DC) The Coalition of Service Industries (CSI) today applauded the initiative of United States Trade Representative Robert Zoellick to re-start the Doha Round of global trade talks. "Ambassador Zoellick made a bold, and necessary move to get the multilateral process back on track," said Robert Vastine, President of CSI. "We hope that it draws substantial interest from other trading partners." In a letter to more than 140 trade ministers, Ambassador Zoellick recommended that WTO members focus on the core issues of agriculture, goods, and services market access. On the so-called "Singapore Issues", which contributed to the breakdown in Cancun, he suggested proceeding with negotiations on trade facilitation, and either further studying, or dropping, the issues of government procurement, investment, and competition. The letter proposes holding a WTO Ministerial meeting in Hong Kong toward the end of this year, and suggests that WTO members appoint a new General Council Chair from a developing country, even though the rotating chair for this year would normally be selected from a developed nation. Since the collapse of the WTO Ministerial Meeting in Cancun in September, little headway has been made in resuming the Doha Round. A WTO General Council meeting in December did not reach agreement on moving forward with respect to the major issues that led to the Cancun breakdown. "We believe strongly that the United States must maintain its commitment and leadership in the World Trade Organization," Vastine said. "The WTO is an essential forum for enforceable goods and services trade and investment liberalization and promotion of the rule of law, and we appreciate and fully support Ambassador Zoellick's efforts to revive the Doha Round. Progress in services demands resolution of key outstanding issues in agriculture, and these must be resolved urgently." # # # # # CSI is the leading business organization dedicated to reducing barriers to U.S. services exports and mobilizing support for domestic U.S. policies, including tax policies, which enhance the global competitiveness of its members. CSI was formed in 1982 to ensure that U.S. trade in services would become a central goal of U.S. trade policy and trade negotiations. It played a major role in the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) and in the advocacy effort leading to the 1997 World Trade Organization (WTO) Basic Telecommunications and Financial Services Agreements. CSI’s knowledge of the process of services trade negotiations, its ties to the WTO and its network of relationships with governments and industry in other countries are unmatched. For a complete list of CSI members, visit our website at www.uscsi.org.