Trade chiefs try to ease standoff

Top negotiators from the European Union and Brazil said yesterday they had made progress in trying to narrow their differences that are blocking the push for a new world trade deal.

EU Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson and Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, who last week traded accusations of blame over the impasse, met in Rome for over four hours and said their talks had been "useful" although there was no breakthrough.

Mandelson and Amorim said they wanted to broaden their discussions to again include other ministers from World Trade Organisation (WTO) member countries.

Amorim said the meeting was "productive in many respects".

Earlier this week, trade negotiators from around the world conceded that their differences were still too deep for them to settle on a blueprint for a new WTO round when the organisation's nearly 150 members meet next month in Hong Kong.

The meeting between December 13 and 18 was previously billed as a deadline for reaching the outline plan, four years after the round was launched to boost the global economy and help farmers in some of the world's poorest countries.