Trade giants give cautious thumbs-up to WTO text

Five major trading giants from North and South have agreed that a draft deal to rescue global trade talks is going in the right direction, EU Agriculture Commissioner Franz Fischler said.

"They agreed that the text goes in the right direction but that there is much work to be done in Geneva," Mr Fischler told a news conference after a meeting of EU agriculture ministers.

Earlier, Mr Fischler participated in a conference call with ministers from the United States, Australia, Brazil and India, the so-called Five Interested Parties in the current Doha Round of negotiations at the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

"There was prudent optimism," Mr Fischler told Reuters after the news conference.

The draft text includes an end to farm export subsidies, a major demand from developing countries. The talks, which broke down last year, are widely seen as a chance to give a big boost to global trade and lift millions out of poverty.

Drawn up by WTO chief Supachai Panitchpakdi, the plan focuses on farm and industrial goods, with commitments to do more to promote the development of poorer states, and includes a proposal to end farm export subsidies.

Mr Fischler said he had received backing from the EU's 25 agriculture ministers to "work full steam ahead" towards achieving the target of reaching outline deals in key areas - particularly agriculture - at a meeting beginning on July 27.

"Obviously it [the text] is not perfect and needs clarifications," he said, adding that more precision was needed towards tacking the controversial issue of eliminating trade-distorting export subsidies.

WTO negotiations on lowering global trade barriers, which could give a multi-billion dollar boost to the world economy, have been floundering ever since the dramatic collapse of a ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico, last September.