The World Trade Organisation is hopeful that a broad framework on contentious issues of agriculture and non-agriculture market access would emerge by July, a senior official said in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The trade body might also hold in July a meeting of key trade ministers for 'reality check,' WTO Deputy Director General Kipkorir Ali Rana said at a CII meeting.
"We already have new chairs who have had week long discussions in March focussing on process. Emphasis is on first to ready a framework and then put nuts and bolts. It will be a kind mixed package and act as a reality check for the members," Rana said.
The framework was expected to be a broad package including little bit of everything -- a skeleton in which nuts and bolts would be fitted later.
He said consensus was emerging on trade facilitation among the new issues; it was expected that consensus on transparency in government procurement too would be achieved.
Differences over the new issues called Singapore Issues -- trade and investment, competition policy, trade facilitation, and transparency in government procurement -- had led to the collapse of the ministerial meeting in Cancun last September.
He said senior WTO management was travelling to various member countries to gauge their mood to put the process back on track.
