GENEVA, May 7: Developing countries said on Monday that proposals to revitalise agriculture negotiations at the World Trade Organisation suffered from a “severe imbalance” which put their economies at a disadvantage.

However, they stressed that they remained committed to a successful deal on agriculture as part of the wider Doha round of global trade talks, and that they would continue to work with Crawford Falconer, the chair of the WTO's special committee on agriculture, to achieve one.

Falconer last week issued what he called a “challenge paper” to the WTO's 150 member states, in which he called on the United States to cut trade distorting domestic support to below $19 billion (14 billion euros) per year.

The G33 group of developing countries said his paper “does not ... provide a good starting point because of severe imbalance in the treatment of developed countries and developing countries' issues.” The 46-nation group, which includes major developing nations such as China, India and Indonesia, said the imbalance “would only lead to perpetuate the existing structural flaws and distortions in agriculture trade”.

The US also said it was “troubled by what we perceive as a lack of proper balance” in the paper, with too much attention focused on its domestic support.

“While we recognise the need to make a further contribution in this pillar, there are limits as to what is realistic,” the US said.

Agriculture has been a key stumbling block in the WTO's Doha round of trade negotiations, which were launched in the Qatari capital in 2001.

The US and EU have engaged in bitter arguments on the issue, with Brussels demanding more reductions in US farm subsidies and Washington insisting that proposed European tariff cuts do not go far enough.

The G20 group of developing agricultural exporters such as Brazil took a slightly more positive tone, saying Falconer's “challenging, provocative and thought-provoking” proposals provided enough elements for a “fruitful initial discussion.”However, they questioned his definition of the “centre of gravity” regarding any cut in US support as too generous.

Falconer put the “centre of gravity” around which negotiations will focus at “certainly below 19 (billion dollars) and somewhere above the very low teens,” for the US.

The G20 in its response said “what should be discarded are the 'high teens' and that the 'low teens' actually reflect the only possible centre of gravity.” Falconer himself told journalists on Monday that the US remains the focus of most delegates' attentions.—AFP