Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) are still very far from reaching consensus on precise formulas for cutting tariffs and subsidies, a WTO draft showed on Thursday.

The draft texts on agriculture and Non-Agricultural Market Access (NAMA), two critical fields in the Doha Round of trade liberalization talks, were initiated by New Zealand Ambassador Crawford Falconer and Canadian Ambassador Don Stephenson respectively.

The drafts contained 760 bracketed sections, which reflected the amount of differences among WTO members.

"It is not an elegant document. But it reflects the reality of where we are," Falconer, who leads the agricultural trade talks, said in his 72-page draft.

Talks on NAMA are even more disappointing, said Stephenson, chairman for the negotiations.

As a result, he chose simply to take stock of what was on the table rather than proposing the language of a deal.

"I regret that I am unable to fulfil that mandate, as a result of the failure of the negotiating group to find consensus on many important issues," he said.

The WTO has decided to convene a high-level meeting from June 28 to July 2, which will be participated by ministerial officials from major members.

But analysts say it is a very tough task for the ministers to bridge so many differences in only five days.

If this key meeting fails to reach agreement on agriculture and NAMA, the whole Doha Round of talks may face danger, as the talks have to be concluded by the end of this year according to a practical timetable set by the WTO, analysts said.

The Doha Round of talks, launched in 2001, aims to help poor countries develop their economies through fairer trading conditions. Besides the key fields of agriculture and NAMA, the talks also involve other important fields such as services, trade facilitation and rules for anti-dumpings.

WTO Director-General Pascal Lamy has generalized the major differences among WTO members as a "triangle," which includes bigger cuts in tariffs on agricultural products -- and here the European Union still has to submit a better offer; bigger cuts on agricultural subsidies -- and here it is for the United States to submit a better offer; bigger cuts in tariffs on industrial products and in this sector, it is for emerging countries like Brazil and India to come up with better offers.

Source: Xinhua