Efforts to salvage a landmark World Trade Organisation deal collapsed on Thursday after India refused to drop its objections, plunging the body back into a crisis of credibility.

世界贸易组织(WTO)试图挽回一个里程碑式的协议，这一努力周四在印度拒绝撤销其反对意见后遭遇失败，此事令WTO再次陷入信誉危机。

The collapse of the agreement to reduce red tape at borders around the world immediately drew a concerned response from business groups and came just seven months after it was reached by WTO members in Bali.

这一协议旨在减少全球跨境贸易中的繁文缛节，该协议的挫败立刻引发了来自商业团体的担忧。而这一挫败距离WTO成员国在巴厘岛达成该协议只有7个月。

At the time, the trade facilitation agreement was celebrated as the first in the Geneva-based body’s almost two-decade history, which would provide a way forward for multilateral trade negotiations.

在这一贸易便利化协定达成之时，该协议曾被誉为世贸组织近20年历史中第一个协议，并为多边贸易谈判创造了条件。

Roberto Azevedo, the WTO’s Brazilian director-general, told members on Thursday night that his efforts to overcome Indian objections had failed before the expiry of a July 31 deadline set in Bali.

周四晚上，世贸组织巴西籍总干事罗伯托•阿泽维多(Roberto Azevedo)告诉各成员国，他没能在巴厘岛设置的7月31日截止日期之前找到方法改变印度的反对立场。

“We have not been able to find a solution,” he told a meeting in Geneva. “We tried everything we could. But it has not proved possible.”

阿泽维多警告说，此次未能达成妥协，意味着世贸组织正进入“充满不确定性的……状态”。

Mr Azevedo warned that the failure to find a compromise meant the WTO was entering a “phase . . . full of uncertainties”.

在一份声明中，美国贸易代表迈克•弗洛曼(Mike Froman)指控说，一个由WTO成员国组成的“小团体”没有把巴厘岛协议的目标放在心上。

“My sense . . . is that this is not just another delay which can simply be ignored or accommodated into a new timetable – this will have consequences,” he told the assembled ambassadors. “And it seems to me . . . that the consequences are likely to be significant.”

多年来，WTO一直在十分艰难地证明其作为全球贸易磋商场合的价值，这在很大程度上是因为持续13年之久的多哈回合谈判陷入了僵局。这种局面导致美国和欧盟(EU)这类贸易伙伴冒险绕过WTO，就区域性贸易协定开展磋商，其中包括12国《跨太平洋战略经济伙伴关系协定》(TPP)，甚至还包括规模更大的跨大西洋协定。

In a statement Mike Froman, the US trade representative, accused a “small group” of WTO members of not living up to their end of the Bali deal.

巴厘岛协议的用意，一方面是让WTO成员国先就没有争议的小规模举措达成一致，以便建立成员国间的互信，从而最终找到恢复多哈谈判的办法（该谈判自2008年以来一直处于停滞状态）；另一方面，则是为了应对“大区域”贸易协定的增长。

“The United States is fully committed to the multilateral trading system embodied in the WTO. But the WTO system relies on its Members to implement the commitments to which they have agreed,” Mr Froman said.

在巴厘岛，各国财长还同意WTO成员国草拟一个计划，以便在年底前敲定多哈谈判的议程和解决农业补贴以及解除工业品关税等问题。

The US, he said, would “consult with our trading partners on potential paths forward”.

如今，这一切可能将很难实现了。WTO驻日内瓦的高级贸易官员警告说，美国等国家可能会就此远离WTO。

The WTO has been struggling for years to prove its value as a venue for global trade negotiations largely as a result of the deadlock in the 13-year-old Doha round of negotiations. The stalemate has caused trading partners such as the US and EU to venture outside the WTO to negotiate regional agreements such as the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership and an even larger Transatlantic pact.

今年7月，印度新政府威胁要阻止该协议的实施，此举让其他WTO成员国大为震惊。印度存在以补贴价格向穷人供应食品的大规模项目，而WTO现存规则会限制这类项目的实施。印度表示，如果该协议不能与更改这些规则的独立谈判相捆绑，印度是不会支持该协议的。

The deal struck in Bali was meant to get WTO members to agree on a small package of uncontroversial measures as a way to build trust and eventually find a way to revive the Doha negotiations, which have been dormant since 2008 and respond to the growth of the “megaregional” pacts.