Hon Phil Goff
Minister of Trade
Minister of Defence
Minister of Disarmament and Arms Control

21 January 2007
Media statement

Doha, Defence and Disarmament on Goff's European Agenda

Trade, Defence and Disarmament Minister, Phil Goff, will be in Europe this week to attend a WTO Ministerial Meeting at the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos, Switzerland. This will be preceded by an intensive round of meetings with Ministerial colleagues in Oslo, Brussels and Berlin.

"The key focus at Davos and in Brussels will be whether progress can be made this year to remove blockages to completing the WTO Doha Round," Mr Goff said.

"I will attend a mini-ministerial meeting of key "Green Room" trade ministers in Davos, preceded by meetings in Brussels with EU Trade and Agriculture Commissioners Peter Mandelson and Mariann Fischer Boel.

"I will also be meeting WTO Director General Pascal Lamy and with US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, along with other trade ministers.

"The Davos meeting is not expected to result in any major new announcements or break throughs. It will, however, give us an opportunity to stocktake the progress that has been made in the last few months and focus on what needs to be done now to try to move things forward.

"In Norway, I will meet with Jonas Store, Norway's Foreign and Trade Minister to discuss Doha, and disarmament issues, including on how to make further progress to restrict the use of cluster munitions. I will also be meeting with the Defence State Secretary and have discussions with the Norwegian Institute of International Affairs.

"In Brussels I will be discussing defence and international security issues with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, and EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy, Javier Solana. These talks will focus on developments in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and the Middle East.

"In Berlin, I will be meeting with State Secretaries for Economics, Agriculture and Defence in the Federal Government. These discussions will coincide with the beginning of Germany's presidency of the EU," Mr Goff said.

Mr Goff returns to New Zealand on 30 January.

ENDS

© Scoop Media