DUTCH RESPONSE TO USTR ZOELLICK LETTER ON DOHA

UNCLAS THE HAGUE 000082 SIPDIS E.O. 12958 N/A TAGS: ETRD NL WTRO SUBJECT: DUTCH RESPONSE TO USTR ZOELLICK LETTER ON DOHA ROUND REF: State 6662 ¶1. Ministry of Economic Affairs officials confirm that Minister Brinkhorst received Ambassador Zoellick's letter and report that the Minister is "very pleased" with this "unexpected initiative." The ideas put forward in the letter correspond fairly closely with Brinkhorst's own views and reinforce his hopes that 2004 not be seen as a wasted year for the Doha Round talks. ¶2. Comment: Advancing the Doha Round negotiations has been a top international economic policy objective of the Dutch government. While the European Commission has the EU lead on trade policy, we expect the Dutch will use whatever influence they can muster during their July-December 2004 EU presidency to push the EU toward pragmatic positions that promote successful results. ¶3. Action request: We request authorization to release the official text of the letter. Our Dutch press contacts claim they been receiving bootleg copies from non-USG sources, and we would like them to have the most accurate information on which to base their stories. Russel