GENEVA (AFP) - Leading World Trade Organisation (WTO) officials expressed hopes that an EU accord to radically shake up its farm policy will breathe new life into flagging global agriculture talks.
"At least it gives more life to our negotiation at the moment, it's a life that we need," WTO director-general Supachai Panitchpakdi told reporters.
But trade officials warned that the EU deal to reform its multi-billion-euro subsidies system, thrashed out earlier by farm ministers in Luxembourg, may take some time to have an impact at the trade body.
The landmark plan to reform the more than 40 year-old Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will cut most of the link between farmers' production levels and their subsidies from 2005.
Part of the subsidies will be redirected to rural development.
The link between production and subsidy has been blamed for encouraging massive surpluses, such as previously infamous butter and grain mountains, that are dumped on markets of poorer countries.
Brussels' farm payments that currently account for about 44 billion euros (51 billion dollars) -- or nearly half -- of all annual EU spending has long been a bone of contention at WTO negotiations.
And wide divergences between the 15-nation EU and big farming exporters, such as Australia, Brazil and Argentina, the United States and developing countries have brought the talks to a standstill.
US Trade Representative Robert Zoellick at a weekend meeting in the Egyptian resort of Sharm el-Sheikh laid the burden for reviving trade talks squarely on the EU.
Supachai said it was now for the 146 members of the WTO to judge if the EU deal was "adequate" but he also called for progress on other aspects of the negotiations.
"Certainly it (EU agreement) would help to move our agenda on agriculture negotiations forward, how far we cannot tell as of yet," Supachai said.
Agriculture is considered key to the overall three-year Doha Development Agenda, launched by trade ministers in the Qatari capital in November 2001.
The negotiations, which also include services such as telecommunications and industrial goods, will be assessed "mid-term" by ministers in September at the Mexican resort of Cancun.
Heading into agriculture talks at WTO headquarters here earlier Thursday, their chairman, Stuart Harbinson, said: "Hopefully (it's) something which will generate some renewed activity in our negotiations here."
"I really do need to see the details before understanding fully what the implications are," he added. The talks are due to last until early next week.
The United Nations in its latest world economic survey said Wednesday that rich countries should begin eliminating agricultural export subsidies and stop the dumping of agricultural products in developing countries.
Subsidies and high tariffs in agriculture were "in direct contradiction" to the principles of the new trade round that has placed development issues at its core, it said.
WTO members have been unable to bridge differences to meet numerous interim agreements, including on the parameters for the farm talks but also on access for poor countries to cheap life-saving medicines.
Supachai said he would "still be insistent to try to finish" the global trade talks on schedule by January 1, 2005.
"If we detect some real problems at Cancun I would not stop at getting the leaders of the world to be involved in this undertaking," he commented.
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