SHARM EL-SHEIKH, June 21: World Trade Organization (WTO) chief Supachai Panitchpakdi warned trade ministers here on Saturday that time is running out for settling their differences on agricultural exports, his spokesman said.

Supachai has seen no change in position of any significant degree either at this meeting or at previous meetings, Keith Rockwell told reporters as some 30 trade ministers focused their debate on agricultural policy.

What he has not seen from the delegations at the moment is an input of political will, Rockwell said.

As agriculture is key that’s not good for the rest of the (Doha) round, the WTO spokesman said, categorising his message as “blunt and direct.”

Big farm exporters Australia and New Zealand, as well as developing countries like Egypt and Kenya are looking for the European Union, Japan, Korea and other nations to cut export subsidies and internal supports for farmers that distort trade.

The informal talks here are part of the run-up to a ministerial meeting of the 146-member WTO in Cancun, Mexico in September, a mid-term review of the three-year Doha round, which some officials have warned could collapse.

However, Rockwell said Supachai was not singling out the EU in his warning, although it failed Thursday in Luxembourg to agree to slash internal supports for farmers.

Australian Trade Minister Mark Vaille, meanwhile, said the key issues were export subsidies and excessive levels of domestic support.

We’re not going to go ahead and give way in other areas if we can’t see progress in agriculture, Vaille said.

We’ve spent 18 months. We’ve missed every deadline so far. We’re in 50 days of Cancun. It’s good because it’s giving everyone a real sniff of the smelling salts, of what has got to be done, he said.

In Geneva, where the WTO is based, US Deputy Trade Representative Peter Allgeier laid the onus Friday on the European Union.

The message that comes through crystal clear from all quarters is that the key to moving forward significantly right now is agriculture and the group that holds that key is the European Union, Allgeier said.

The Doha development agenda, launched with great fanfare in the Qatari capital Doha in November 2001, aims to establish a more equitable approach to international trade for developing countries. —AFP