BRUSSELS, May 9: The key players in struggling WTO free trade negotiations — the European Union, the United States, Brazil and India — are to meet May 17 and 18 in Brussels, an EU official said on Wednesday.
The session had been scheduled to be held in Paris following a broader ministerial meeting at the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
The Brussels discussions will not be expanded to include Japan and Australia, as those countries will participate in talks with about 30 ministers on the sidelines of the OECD meeting, the official said.
The meeting in Brussels will bring together EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson, US Trade Representative Susan Schwab, Indian Trade Minister Kamal Nath and Brazilian Foreign Affairs Minister Celso Amorim.
The four last met in New Delhi in mid-April but failed to reach a deal on agriculture, which has stymied global trade talks since the Doha Development Round was launched in the Qatari capital in 2001.
Within the so-called G4, the United States and the European Union have argued bitterly over trade in agricultural goods, with Brussels demanding more reductions in US farm subsidies and Washington insisting that proposed European tariff cuts do not go far enough.
At the New Delhi meeting, ministers agreed only to aim for a compromise by mid-June before the US administration's powers to give fast track treatment to international trade deals run out.
Meanwhile, the head of the World Trade Organisation said on Wednesday that the United States and European Union are gradually closing gaps on farm subsidies and tariff levels at WTO free trade talks a week before key ministerial meetings.
“There is a narrowing of differences, although the question is if they are doing this fast enough,” WTO Director General Pascal Lamy told journalists.
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 on agricultural products do not go far enough.
Crawford Falconer, the chair of the WTO's special committee on agriculture, last week issued what he called a “challenge paper” to the WTO's 150 member states.
In it, he called on the United States to cut trade distorting domestic support to below $19 billion (14 billion euros) per year.
Washington said his paper was imbalanced, a view also held by the G20 and G33 groups of developing countries, who felt their concerns were not sufficiently addressed.
However, Lamy suggested on Wednesday that the lukewarm reception granted to Falconer's paper by such a wide variety of parties could have the desired effect of stimulating the negotiations.
“Obviously, Crawford's paper looks like a turning point.
“He has succeeded in making all members reasonably unhappy, which is a prerequisite for moving to the next phase, which means convergence,” the WTO chief said.
Next week, some 30 ministers will meet in Paris on Wednesday on the margins of the annual meeting of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development.
This will be followed by a two-day gathering in Brussels of the G4 group of key WTO players -- the United States, EU, Brazil and India.
The European Free Trade Association said on Wednesday it was seeking to broaden cooperation with booming countries, such as China and India in the absence of any breakthrough in World Trade Organisation talks.
EFTA Secretary General Kaare Bryn stressed, however, that the four-nation bloc -- comprising Norway, Iceland, Switzerland and Liechtenstein -- remains firmly committed to the multilateral trading framework.—AFP
