World trade round in crisis; Pascal Lamy
Geneva: World Trade Organisation (WTO) chief Pascal Lamy has said that global trade talks would plunge into crisis if a breakthrough was not found soon. He was addressing the 149 member states of the WTO which included several dozen trade ministers. Around 60 trade ministers are in Geneva to come to an agreement by Sunday on farm and manufacturing trade, core areas of the WTO's Doha round. The European Union and the United States are pitted against each other and against leading developing states.

Brazilian foreign minister Celso Amorim said he saw no sign of progress after talks between the G6 -- the United States, the European Union, Brazil, India, Australia and Japan.

Without an agreement in these key areas by this weekend, Lamy said the WTO will run out of time to conclude the round, which also includes complex issues such as services, by the end of the year. He said ministers should drop the rhetoric and prove they were sincere about completing the round by shifting their negotiating positions to make it possible.

The United States is resisting pressure to give ground on farm subsidies. Talk by the European Union that it could be more flexible on tariffs seems unlikely to be enough for a deal.

Developing countries said that concessions by the rich WTO states on farm trade are a condition for them to cut industrial tariffs, the other half of a hoped-for bargain in Geneva. 'We have really to see that trade flows enhance the growth rates in developing countries and are not to salvage the economies of developed countries,' said Kamal Nath Commerce and Industry Minister.

The WTO must complete the round -- which also includes a host of other issues -- by the end of the year because special U.S. presidential powers to negotiate on trade will expire next year and Congress may not renew them.
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