The weekend deal on the Doha global trade round has restored impetus and direction to the World Trade Organisation, just when it seemed in danger of losing its way. But despite the efforts to achieve the breakthrough, it only clears the way for the long-delayed start of a marathon to come.

When trade ministers launched the round in November 2001, they assumed they would by now be entering the last lap of the negotiations to open markets for agriculture, industrial goods and services. Instead, the project originally supposed to last three years has at best reached the half-way stage.