GENEVA, July 29: A new proposal on the framework of a world trade treaty was delayed on Thursday as ministers and diplomats struggled to bridge the divide between rich and poor nations over farm trade negotiations.
The paper was expected later Thursday, after the man leading the negotiations - New Zealand Ambassador Tim Groser - had time to consider all the differing views, World Trade Organization officials said.
Talks between five major agricultural producers - the United States, the European Union, India, Brazil and Australia - finished at midnight Wednesday evening. Delegates said they would pass on "guidance" to Groser, but they stopped short of suggesting that they had reached an agreement.
"It isn't about giving a single position," EU spokeswoman Arancha Gonzalez said. "We have given Tim Groser guidance and it is now in his hands." Sources said the group's proposal would postpone much of the hard negotiating to a later stage, but it agreed to bigger cuts in some domestic subsidies and a commitment to look at whether US food aid programmes and government-run exporting groups in Australia and other countries are a form of subsidy.
Countries excluded from the talks expressed frustration that they had been left out. Officials said delegations who attended a late-night meeting on agriculture at the WTO were angry that no information had come from the gathering of the big five.
The so-called Group of 10 countries that heavily subsidize farmers - which includes Japan, Switzerland and South Korea - has said it is worried about being excluded from discussions. But it expressed hope that negotiations were on track after the collapse of talks in Cancun, Mexico, last September.
"We have the impression that since Cancun, certain progress has been made, but there are still several elements of concern," said Swiss President and Economics Minister Joseph Deiss, who heads the G-10.
When asked if the bloc would walk away from the talks if it did not agree with the result, Deiss told reporters it "will depend on the result we get" on Thursday. "In any negotiation you have to accept the possibility of failure," he added. "We're not able to say simply that we will accept everything that will come out."
The WTO's 147 members have until the end of the week to reach an agreement that would clear the way for sweeping changes in world trade. The agreement would form the framework of a legally binding treaty that commits countries to cut import duties and subsidies not only on farm produce but also on manufactured goods and in service industries like banking and transportation. -APP