G20 developing and emerging nations agreed that talks on a global trade pact should be renewed although differences remained.
RIO DE JANEIRO: The Group of 20 (G20) developing and emerging nations agreed that talks on a global trade pact should be renewed although differences remained over farm subsidies and market access.
“The G20 group of developing nations, the US, Japan and the EU, did not set a date for a formal resumption of the suspended Doha round of talks,” said World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy.
Speaking at the conclusion the two-day meeting on Sunday, Lamy said there are weeks or months of technical work needed on the issues of farm subsidies and market access and those involved need to know by mid March if a deal is possible.
The WTO's Doha Round of talks aimed at lowering trade barriers around the world were suspended in late July after again running into trouble over concerns about subsidies given by industrialised countries to their agricultural sectors.
EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson suggested the US follow the example of Brussels and further lower farm subsidies.
”Washington did not do anything to prevent the collapse of the July talks, said Mandelson,” warning that an end to the Doha round would be criminal and irresponsible.
US Trade Representative Susan Schwab said the US was committed to a successful outcome of the talks.
"We will do what it takes. If there is potential for a successful round we will find it," said the US's top negotiator.
"A failure of the Doha Round not only concerns trade, but the whole world order,” said Brazil's Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim Saturday.
Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath said,"A disruption in the Doha Round would indicate a disruption of the development process for all of us."
The G-20, in a statement, indicated developing nations were unlikely to back off their demands that developed nations do away with subsidies and tariff barriers for their farm products.
"Most of the world's poor make their living out of agriculture. Their livelihood and standards of living are seriously jeopardised by subsidies and market-access barriers prevailing in international agricultural trade," the group said.
The G20 is made up of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Egypt, Guatemala, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, the Philippines, South Africa, Tanzania, Thailand, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zimbabwe.
The Doha Round, named after the capital of Qatar where it started five years ago, aims to reduce protectionism in world trade.
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