In February 2000 members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) voted in General Council to launch within weeks negotiations on agriculture and services to which they previously committed.

That decision was the first one WTO members made since the December ministerial meeting in Seattle, which failed to initiate a new and comprehensive round of global trade talks.

While the United States is firmly committed to moving forward with new negotiations, it remains unclear whether WTO members will discover the political will to muster meaningful progress toward trade liberalization in 2000.

Progress will depend, in part, on the participation of developing countries at a level never seen before -- and Clinton administration officials are re-examining their positions with that realization in mind. It also will require a greater commitment by the industrial countries to dismantle trade barriers in their most sensitive industrial and agricultural sectors.

The Clinton administration remains committed to the idea that freer trade should not result in lower labor or environmental standards anywhere. But they are seeking an approach for presenting these ideas in a way that a critical mass of other countries can accept.

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