GENEVA, Jan 11: The World Trade Organisation’s chief agriculture negotiator said on Friday that members have made “a lot of progress” in recent talks but more still needs to be done before an agreement is reached.

“We’ve made a lot of progress,” ambassador Crawford Falconer told reporters.

“I've got greater clarity than I had before but by no means is everything resolved,” he added.

Falconer has called on the United States to reduce its agricultural subsidies to $13-16.4 billion a range on which Washington says it is prepared to negotiate.

But the draft text has been criticised as unfair by several developing countries and Falconer has been forced to delay to an unspecified date a fresh revision of the accord due to the lack of consensus.—AFP