Trade envoys of members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) held an informal meeting here Wednesday to explore ways to resume consultations suspended since last December when the WTO members failed to launch the new round of trade talks at the ministerial conference in Seattle, the United States.

The atmosphere at Wednesday's meeting was "extremely constructive and in the spirit of cooperation", trade sources told reporters. "We haven't had a meeting in such atmosphere for a long time."

The trade envoys discussed issues like measures in favor of the least-developed countries, technical cooperation and capacity-building measures, and measures concerning WTO reforms.

The 135-member WTO is scheduled to hold a formal meeting of the General Council on February 7. The follow-up to the Seattle ministerial conference, five-year review of the exemption provided under GATT 1994, and election of the chairperson of the General Council are on the agenda.