European Union (EU) Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson said Wednesday the 25-nation bloc is prepared to give more ground on agriculture if other WTO partners make fresh concessions.

The EU aims to conclude the prolonged Doha world trade talks this year but "not at any price", Mandelson told journalists after a weekly meeting of the European Commission, the EU's executive arm.

"We will continue to press for agreement on key issues before this summer," he said.

The commission reaffirmed at the meeting that the EU must get something in return from other negotiation partners for its farm concessions, Mandelson said.

"In the case of agriculture, both the U.S. and the EU have to go far enough in stripping out trade-distorting farm subsidies and improving market access," the British commissioner said.

He also reiterated the EU demands that bigger developing countries should cut tariffs on industrial goods which "currently shut out trade" and services should not be negotiated separately.

"If the circumstances allow - if key partners put something worthwhile on the table - the EU will be prepared to further enhance our current agricultural offer," Mandelson said.

"If the U.S. is similarly willing, as reports indicate this morning, to negotiate further on its agriculture offer that is an important advance. I welcome it. I will waste no opportunity to test this willingness in the coming period," he said.

U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman said Tuesday he did not rule out making further concessions in U.S. farm subsidies than already proposed but such a move depended on other countries' agreement to further open their markets.

The U.S. and other countries have long been pushing the EU to go further with its offer of cuts on farm import tariffs. But Brussels insists its farm offer is ambitious enough and others are to blame for the stalemate in the WTO talks.

"The U.S. made a respectable offer last September but it does not address the scale of the 2002 U.S. Farm Bill. Spending this year is still rising and their proposals would allow them to actually spend more on subsidies after Doha," Mandelson said.

He admitted that the European Commission has "considerable concern" about the chances of a Doha success.

But he stressed it is in Europe's economic interest to complete the round and the EU will not give up on it now.

Last week, WTO members decided to give up on an April 30 deadline for agreement on formulas for cutting tariffs on farm and industrial goods.

Source: Xinhua