G6 trade talks collapse

Talks by major trade powers to save the World Trade Organisation's Doha Round collapsed yesterday, leaving the future of negotiations on a global free-trade deal in doubt.

A well-placed trade diplomat said: "The G6 talks have collapsed. It's not immediately evident what options are available other than suspension [of the Doha Round]."

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy told ministers from the six trade powers he would halt the Doha Development Agenda - launched in 2001 to ease poverty and boost the global economy - without a quick end to the deadlock, diplomats said earlier.

"Lamy said that if there was no breakthrough he would propose to suspend the DDA [Doha Development Agenda round]," one of the diplomats said, adding Lamy's announcement could come as early as today.

The ministers from the G6 group - Australia, Brazil, India, Japan, the European Union and the United States - failed to make a breakthrough at a 14-hour session yesterday and had been due to resume talks today.

They have been trying to reach a deal on how to boost trade in farm and industrial goods or risk seeing the round fail.

But negotiations failed to make progress in the key area of farm subsidies, where the US is under pressure to make further concessions.

The US had no comment. Washington has been insisting that the EU and other WTO members that it calls "protectionist" go further in agreeing to lowering farm tariff barriers before it moves further on subsidies.

Diplomats have said failure by the six, who have already made several "last ditch" bids for a deal, would leave the 149-state WTO without enough time to complete the details of a global free trade treaty by the end of the year.

The end-year deadline for concluding the Doha round has been dictated by the 2007 expiry of special US presidential powers to negotiate on trade.

- REUTERS