Brazil has asked Britain to help convene a meeting of the group of seven industrial nations to reduce impediments to talks of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the official Brazil news agency said on Thursday.

Brazil's President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva talked about the problem with British Prime Minister Tony Blair during a phone call, Brazil's Foreign Minister Celso Amorim told the news agency.

"Our president suggested a meeting of (the) leaders ... Tony Blair welcomed the idea, and said it was an excellent suggestion, but he would have to consult with G-7 leaders," he said.

Blair currently holds the rotating chair of the 25-nation European Union which has high import tariffs, export subsidies and internal subsidies for agricultural products.

A latest WTO trade talks in Cancun, Mexico, in 2003 collapsed as rich nations refused to eliminate farm subsidies that their underdeveloped counterparts said have harmed free trade and made it harder for their farm products to enter the subsidized countries.

Differences over farm subsidies also threaten to deadlock the coming WTO ministerial meeting in Hong Kong this month, a renewed effort to fulfill the Doha round of talks launched in 2001.

"Perhaps this time it will be possible to give the political push needed to overcome the continued differences which have been treated as strictly commercial and technical matters," Amorim said, referring to the proposed G-7 meeting.

He said Lula had explained to Blair that it made no sense to expect developing countries to cut their industrial tariffs when the developed countries are not cutting agricultural tariffs.

It is a very critical time for Brazil, for poor countries and for the world at large, he added.

Source: Xinhua