Business lobbyists from the US will descend on the World Trade Organisation (WTO) in Geneva this to push for favourable terms in a new trade deal, a source familiar with the visits said on Friday.

The visits by the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), the American Business Coalition for Doha (ABCDoha) and the Coalition of Services Industries (CSI) are a sign that the long-running Doha round is approaching its moment of truth.

A memorandum from CSI President Bob Vastine, a copy of which was obtained by Reuters, shows the US believes it is now making progress in talks on the crucial services sector with Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Egypt and Turkey, but still faces difficulties with China, India and Southeast Asian nations.

The Washington-based CSI, which hosts the Global Services Coalition, will be joined this week by services representatives from Canada and European countries.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy said that ministers were likely to meet by the end of next month to hammer out an outline deal on the Doha round, launched in late 2001.

That meeting, first proposed for late March or early April, has been delayed by negotiations on technical aspects of the agriculture talks.

Ministers meeting in Geneva would aim to agree on politically sensitive headline figures for tariff and subsidy cuts in the core areas of agriculture and industrial goods, and major exceptions to them.

But rich and poor countries including the US, the EU and India, which are interested in services such as post and courier delivery, banking and telecoms are also insisting that the ministerial meeting include a "signalling conference" where countries can make known their intentions on services liberalisation.

The US had bilateral meetings on services with 11 key developing countries last month, amid concern that services were being neglected as negotiators focused on agriculture and industry, Vastine's memo said.