MONTREAL (AFP) - Informal WTO talks among trade ministers from 25 countries wrapped up with some positive signs for unblocking stalled global trade talks ahead of a crucial World Trade Organization summit in September.
The hitch in talks has been over conditions to progressively reduce domestic and export subsidies for agriculture, and increase market access, key issues for poor countries concerned over their ability to compete in the global marketplace.
Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said the United States and the European Union would work on a joint proposal ahead of the WTO summit in Cancun, Mexico, to try to revamp the latest round of global trade talks.
So far, the Doha Round, launched in 2001 in the Qatari capital, has made little progress, with none of the deadlines fixed for negotiation modalities met.
"The European Union and the United States have introduced some new ideas, both of which involve using a blend of tariff quotas as well as tariff reduction to improve market access," Pettigrew said.
"(EU Trade) Commissioner (Pascal) Lamy and US Trade Representative (Robert) Zoelick have undertaken, following the meeting, to continue the dialogue and produce a paper on market access in agriculture for mid-August," Pettigrew added.
Lamy said later that he believed a compromise could be crafted in time for the Cancun meeting.
"We will try to work on three topics of agriculture...in time for August 11," when ministers will be meeting in Geneva, Lamy told reporters, referring to the questions of domestic and export subsidies as well as barriers to farm imports.
"If there is success, there is enough time to be ready" for Cancun, he said.
With the mid-way point of the end-of-2004 deadline for the Doha Round fast approaching, trade ministers hoped to significantly narrow differences here.
More pressure to bridge gaps came Tuesday when nine of the 17-nation Cairns group threatened to abandon world trade negotiations if talks in Canada failed to deliver cuts in protective agriculture tariffs.
"There is still much work to do and not much time to do it," Pettigrew added. "We must now urgently focus our energies on resolving problems in key areas."
EU commissioner for agriculture Franz Fischler said "WTO members are starting to narrow their huge gaps," while Pettigrew said "significant gaps remain."
Zoellick welcomed the EU's proposal to cut its subsidies by 60 percent as part of its recently reformed Common Agricultural Policy and its offer to lower export subsidies as well.
"I think it was a good step ... but it's one out of three pillars," he told reporters. "The problem is all three pillars (domestic subsidies, export subsidies and barriers to access) have to move together," he said.
Meanwhile, negotiations continue over medicine, which became deadlocked in December when the United States -- under pressure from the pharmaceutical industry -- blocked an accord on the import by developing nations of generic copies of patented medicine during a health crisis.
"It's a problem of trust and we've been trying to bridge that gap in terms of trust ... We'll try to use the meeting in Geneva to move this process forward," Zoellick said.
Despite the narrowing of US and EU positions, Mark Fried, Canada spokesman for the international aid group Oxfam, said the Montreal talks gave little hope to developing countries that their concerns will be addressed.
"If Cancun ends up like Montreal, I wouldn't be surprised if it turns into Seattle, with developing countries walking away from the table," he said.
Farm leaders from 30 countries on Tuesday pressed the trade ministers here to ensure any trade accords preserve some protections to sustain and improve local farmers' livelihoods.
Protesters, meanwhile, who ushered in the meeting Monday by smashing store windows at Burger King and Gap resulting in some 238 arrests, were barely visible Wednesday.
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