WTO members urge U.S. to end trade-distorting agricultural subsidies

Members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) on Saturday again urged the United States to end its trade-distorting domestic agricultural subsidies to help push the Doha Round talks out of deadlock.

The U.S. domestic support for farmers is "illegal and immoral" and the United States must end this kind of trade-distorting practice, said a group of ministers and trade diplomats representing developing members of the WTO.

"Trade-distorting subsidies in agriculture displace developing country products and threaten the livelihoods of hundreds of millions of poor farmers," said the group at a joint press conference.

Led by Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim, the group called on developing members in the WTO to unite and speak in one voice during the Doha Round of trade talks.

Any final trade pact must consider the interests of developing members, they stressed.

They also urged the United States, the European Union and other rich WTO members to make necessary concessions in the talks as they should take the leadership in pushing the negotiations forward.

Some 60 trade and agriculture ministers from key WTO members are in Geneva for days of intensive negotiations, which aim to break the long-time deadlock in agriculture and non-agriculture market access (NAMA), the two vital fields in the Doha Round talks.

WTO chief Pascal Lamy has warned that the deadlock must be broken in the next few days or the whole round would risk failure.

The Doha Round was launched in 2001 with the aim of lifting millions of people out of poverty through fairer trading conditions.

It must be concluded by the end of the year, according to a practical timetable set by WTO members.

Source: Xinhua