WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The World Trade Organization has effectively given up reaching an outline accord of farm trade liberalization in its new round of talks at the September meeting in Cancun, Mexico, Kyodo News reported on its Web site Tuesday.
The WTO instead has begun considering holding another ministerial meeting six months later - around March 2004 - in Geneva for reaching an accord, international trade sources told the news agency, the report said.
Kyodo said that wide differences over the farm issues between developed and developing countries led to the WTO decision of de facto postponement in reaching the farm accord.
According to the sources, developed countries are opposed to a new draft proposal made Sunday by WTO Council Chairman Carlos Perez de Castillo, saying it envisions applying different formulas to developing and developed countries in cutting tariffs on farm products, Kyodo said.
WTO members are aiming to reach an overall agreement of the WTO's Doha Round of trade liberalization talks by the end of 2004. At the Cancun ministerial meeting, the WTO planned to nail down an outline accord in all the sectors of trade. The likely delay in the farm area negotiation could become an obstacle to the whole schedule of the round, Kyodo said.
-By Takeshi Takeuchi, Dow Jones Newswires; 202-862-9285; Takeshi.Takeuchi@dowjones.com
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