CANCUN, Sept 15: The collapse of the global trade talks amid bitter divisions between rich and poor countries left the WTO struggling on Monday to meet a deadline to finish a new free trade accord.

Delegates headed home from the Mexican resort of Cancun with poor countries angrily blaming the rich for the breakdown, and also celebrating their new found strength in countering the world’s industrial powers.

But rich countries made mounting warnings that the World Trade Organization could now miss its January 2005 deadline for completing the Doha round of talks aimed at liberalizing trade.

The WTO admitted the collapse had been a “setback” and US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick said it was unlikely the January 2005 deadline could be met.

“It’s hard for me to believe that in the position we are now, we will be able to finish on time,” Mr Zoellick told reporters after the abrupt end of the Cancun meeting on Sunday.

European Union Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy said the latest trade round was not dead but “it is in intensive care.” European Commission president Romano Prodi added that efforts had to be made to make the WTO function more “effectively”.

Canada’s Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew and Agriculture Minister Lyle Vanclief said the failure of the Cancun talks “is a clear signal that we must all redouble our efforts to build bridges and find consensus in the months ahead.”

Ministers agreed senior officials from the 146 WTO members should meet again by December 15 to try again to revive negotiations.

Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, speaking on behalf of the Group of 20 developing nations, said the conference was a victory for developing countries that showed unity in pressing their demands, particularly over agriculture subsidies.

“It showed that the developed nations were not able to understand the mood and sentiments of the poor nations,” said India’s Commerce Minister Arun Jaitley.

Officials from African countries who had called for an end to cotton subsidies said they had scored a victory by rejecting a draft final text that did not reflect the concerns of their impoverished nations.

Delegates said the conference foundered over what are known as the Singapore issues — cross-border investment, competition policies, trade facilitation and government procurement — with the European Union and Japan urging a swift start to the negotiations.

But developing countries feared in particular that a new international investment regime would benefit multinational corporations at the expense of their own industries.

The ministers adopted a statement describing the outcome of the conference as a “setback” and stating that “more work needs to be done in some key areas” to fulfil the roadmap for trade liberalization the WTO adopted at its Doha conference two years ago.

The US Trade Representative insisted the collapse was not a question of developed or developing countries, but one of “can do” and “won’t do” countries. “The rhetoric of ‘won’t do’ overwhelmed the concerted efforts of the ‘can do.’ ‘Won’t do’ led to the impasse,” he said.—AFP