WINNIPEG, Manitoba (Reuters) - Canada's agriculture minister said on Friday it's unclear whether countries at World Trade Organization talks in Cancun, Mexico, will be able to agree on how to reduce farm subsidies and open up trade.
"I can tell you it's unclear at this point whether we'll be able to close the considerable gaps that do exist at the present time," Lyle Vanclief told reporters on a conference call.
A new "Group of 21" alliance of poor and developing countries has "emerged recently as a significant player in the negotiations and a counterforce to the developed countries, particularly the United States and the European Union," Vanclief said.
Meanwhile, a group of nine countries, led by Switzerland, Norway and Japan, is reluctant to give up protections, while a group of 32 African nations has another set of demands, Vanclief said.
"From the discussions so far, it's clear that there's still a long way to go toward bringing all of these groups closer together," he said.
"As you know, at these types of meetings, things can change very quickly, or they may not change at all," Vanclief said.
Canada, a member of the Cairns group of exporting nations, wants to see export subsidies scrapped, domestic supports slashed and better market access rules, Vanclief said.
He said he pushed Canada's position during a private meeting with George Yeo, the Singapore trade minister who is mediating the talks and is expected to produce a draft compromise text later on Friday.
While Canada hopes to see agreement on the text by the end of the meeting on Sunday, Vanclief said he would prefer to see "a good deal, not a quick deal."
Canadian farm groups in Cancun are watching to see what the draft text will mean for their domestic dairy and poultry sectors, protected by high tariffs from most imports.
They are also anxious about what the negotiations will mean for the Canadian Wheat Board, a monopoly exporter of wheat and barley from Western Canada targeted by the United States and the European Union.
Canadian negotiators have said they are willing to curb government guarantees on financing that the wheat board provides to some of its export customers, if required.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. NoNonsense English offers this material non-commercially for research and educational purposes. I believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C § 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner, i.e. the media service or newspaper which first published the article online and which is indicated at the top of the article unless otherwise specified.