September 21, 2003	Sunday	Rajab 23, 1424

NEW DELHI, Sept 20: India said on Saturday that trade negotiations could still move forward, despite the collapse of WTO talks at Cancun, if developed nations changed their stance on agricultural subsidies.

There is never a last day as far as the calendar of trade negotiations is concerned, Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley, who led India’s delegation at Cancun, told reporters.

Agriculture has been the core of the negotiations. It is important that negotiations in this area are concluded in a manner which not only leads to increased market access but also removes the distortions and inequities in the trade in agricultural commodities caused by the extremely high level of subsidies in the developed world.

The five-day ministerial conference of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in Cancun, Mexico broke down September 14, riven by deep divisions between poor and rich nations.

India led a coalition of developing nations, including Brazil and China, in a battle to push rich nations to slash their agriculture subsidies and ensure tariff protection for developing-world farmers.

During the conference, the European Union agreed to remove export subsidies on certain products deemed critical by developing countries but balked at eliminating all such assistance by a specific date.

The United States went along with demands for an end to export subsidies but sought concessions in return. —AFP