CANCUN (Mexico), Sept 13: A WTO draft trade text issued here on Saturday calls for an end to export subsidies on farm products of special interest to developing countries and the gradual elimination of export subsidies on other farm goods.

The text was drafted by the Mexican hosts of a World Trade Organization conference and is aimed at bridging gaps in positions that have held up progress toward a new multilateral trade deal. No figures or timeframes on reform of export subsidies were contained in the draft, released a day before the five-day gathering of WTO trade mministers was due to conclude in this Caribbean resort.

On another divisive issue, the draft calls for negotiations to be launched to draw up new global rules on government procurement and trade facilitation, which basically means easing customs procedures.

But on two other more controversial issues — rules on cross-border investment and competition — the text merely calls for further consideration. —AFP