Doha trade talks approaching finishing line, says WTO head

GENEVA (AFP) - WTO head Pascal Lamy said Tuesday the Doha round of trade liberalisation talks was nearing its final stage as new draft texts on farm and industrial goods provided a catalyst for crucial action.

"We are getting closer to our end game," Lamy said, describing the latest texts as a "springboard to a new and crucial stage.

"These revised negotiating texts illustrate clearly where convergence lies among the WTO members and where we have more work to do," Lamy said in a statement.

In Brussels, the European Commission said it was taking a close look at the new drafts.

"The commission is currently studying in detail the two texts which are both long and detailed, and we will comment as soon as possible," commission spokesman for trade issues Peter Power said.

Gretchen Hamel, spokeswoman for the office of the US Trade Representative, said the United States was "prepared to make the tough political choices necessary to conclude an agreement, as others will need to do as well."

The World Trade Organisation's Doha round of talks to reduce trade barriers was launched in the Qatari capital in November 2001 with the aim of reaching a deal by 2004.

But the round has foundered ever since, mainly over disputes between developed and developing countries on agricultural subsidies and industrial tariffs.

Developing countries have been pressing for greater access for their agricultural goods to markets in the developed world.

Rich countries are in turn seeking a better deal in emerging market economies for their industrial products and services.

Revised texts on trade in agricultural and industrial goods, presented by WTO ambassadors Crawford Falconer and Don Stephenson respectively, are an attempt to fix the basis for a compromise.

"Eventually members want to negotiate an acceptable balance between the depths of cuts in agricultural and non-agricultural tariffs and agricultural subsidies as well as the size of cuts that they desire in each area," the WTO said in a statement.

But it cautioned that the texts were "still not the final word."

Negotiators seeking to draw a link between the agricultural and industrial trade sectors are to begin talks by the end of the month, diplomatic sources said.

If they make progress at that level, trade ministers representing the WTO membership could convene by the end of June to conclude negotiations on agriculture and industry and to debate two other key subject areas the services sector and trade regulations.

The new agriculture text differs little from an earlier version on the figures to be included in a final accord, which must be approved at ministerial level.

It proposes an average 54 percent cut in customs duties on agricultural imports in developed countries and 36 percent in developing nations, and a reduction in farm subsidies of 75 or 85 percent in the European Union and 66 or 73 percent for Japan and the United States.

But the new text is reported to have made headway on "sensitive" products that countries could shield from a sharp fall in customs duties.

Developed countries would be able to designate up to four or six percent of their imported agricultural goods as "sensitive" while committing themselves to an overall quota for imported products.

In the industrial sector, about 30 emerging market countries would agree to reduce their customs duties to a maximum level of 19 to 26 percent. The more the tariffs are lowered, the greater would be the right of governments to protect certain "sensitive" items.