OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada is drawing up plans to bridge the gap splitting rich and poor nations on farm subsidies in a bid to lay the foundation of world trade talks later this year, Canadian Trade Minister Pierre Pettigrew said on Sunday.
But progress in narrowing the divide at the Montreal meeting of U.S., European, Latin American and Asian trade ministers on July 28 to July 30 largely hinges on whether European Union farm ministers agree to subsidy reforms this week -- after failing to do so at two previous EU farm meetings.
"Obviously, we hope this will be resolved before the meeting in Montreal," Pettigrew told reporters on a conference call from Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt.
Two dozen trade ministers met at the Red Sea resort on the weekend to prepare for the next ministerial meeting of the 145-member World Trade Organization in Cancun, Mexico in September -- whose success could decide whether the so-called Doha development round finishes on time at the end of 2004.
"Montreal is the next big step before Cancun ... We will be able to bridge some differences with, of course, an ambitious agenda for Doha," Pettigrew said. "I hope the Europeans will be coherent with the ambitions they have both in the (Doha) round and in development in the world."
He said the Canadian government's draft agenda for the Montreal ministerial meeting should be made public by Tuesday, one day before the EU farm ministers resume their talks.
Reforming EU farm support is key to reviving the stalled Doha trade talks where agriculture is the centerpiece.
Canada wants the EU to break the link between subsidies and production. Its finance minister and central bank chief urgedprogress on farm support reforms earlier in June.
"It is clear there will be no progress (on investment and public procurement rules) if there is no progress on agriculture and industrial tariffs," Pettigrew said.
"On agriculture, we had a long discussion (in Egypt) but made little progress," he added.
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