* No WTO members object to regular ministerial meeting
* Timing probably second half of 2009
* Agenda likely to cover Doha talks status, crisis, WTO role
By Jonathan Lynn
GENEVA, March 12 (Reuters) - The World Trade Organisation (WTO) is likely to convene a much-delayed meeting of ministers in the second half of this year, the chairman of the trade body said on Thursday.
The WTO's ministerial conference would not be called specifically as a negotiation on the long-running Doha round, but would review the status of the global free trade talks, Chile's WTO ambassador Mario Matus told Reuters.
Matus chairs the WTO's General Council, which meets regularly in Geneva to run the WTO between ministerial meetings.
Besides taking stock of the Doha round, which many diplomats say is on hold for months to come as President Barack Obama's new trade team settles in, India has elections and the European Union appoints a new commission, a conference of ministers would review the role of the WTO in the global financial crisis.
WTO rules require the 153-member organisation to hold a ministerial conference every two years to set strategy and take major decisions. But no meeting has been held since one in Hong Kong in December 2005.
CONFERENCE CALL
The WTO decided not to hold a conference at the end of 2007 because the Doha talks -- launched in late 2001 to free up world trade and help developing countries -- were at a delicate stage.
Members feared a conference would have raised expectations that a deal could be done at that point, potentially damaging the negotiations if agreement was not solidified.
A "mini-ministerial" of key trade ministers in July last year however failed to secure a hoped-for breakthrough, and WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy decided the gaps were still too wide to call another high-level session in December.
Lamy said this month a small group of ministers could meet before Europe's summer break to try again for a breakthrough.
Several WTO members, including Switzerland and Egypt, have called for a regular ministerial conference this year.
"So far I have not heard any negative reaction to a ministerial, so my assumption is we will have it," Matus said.
He said he would wait for the results of the G20 summit on April 2, which will also look at trade and protectionism. The WTO General Council on May 27-28 could then agree in principle to hold a ministerial conference, with a date to be set later.
"My assumption is it will be in the second half of this year," he said.
A ministerial conference would also examine the impact of crisis on trade and WTO agreements that govern global commerce.
"I can't imagine having a ministerial and the trade ministers of the world don't say anything about the crisis," Matus said.
The recession has caused double-digit declines in exports in many countries, and global trade volumes are expected to contract this year for the first time since 1982.
A senior trade source said on Monday the International Monetary Fund was likely to update its forecast soon for the contraction in trade this year to 5 percent, and some economists believe 7 percent or more is possible.
The crisis has also amplified fears that countries could try to save jobs at home by erecting protectionist barriers, unwinding globalisation and risking a repeat of the 1930s Great Depression. The WTO is monitoring for signs of protectionism and is to issue a new report on March 27, ahead of the G20 summit. (Editing by Andrew Roche)