The success of the Doha round of World Trade Organization (WTO) talks depends on the United States to cut its domestic agricultural subsidies, Brazilian Foreign Minister Celso Amorim said on Thursday.

"The most important issue is that the United States must commit itself to reducing its domestic agricultural subsidies," Amorim said.

The failure of last week's talks in Geneva, Switzerland, was because a U.S. subsidies reduction proposal was not enough for the European Union and developing nations, Amorim said.

Compared with the Americans, European negotiators and developing countries are more willing to open their markets for agricultural products and industrial products respectively, he said.

The European Union has proposed reducing its agricultural tariffs by 51 percent and joined the developing nations in demanding the U.S. cut its subsidies by 12 billion U.S. dollars annually.

Amorim said he hoped that a satisfactory compromise could be reached in St. Petersburg, at the sidelines of the G-8 summit, which begins on July 15.

The world's most influential developing countries -- Brazil, Mexico, China, India and South Africa -- will also be at the St. Petersburg meeting to push for a compromise on the WTO deal.

Now is the time for world leaders to intervene, said Amorim, restating Brazil's position that the WTO agreement can only be reached by negotiations at the highest level.

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 the timetable set by WTO members.

Source: Xinhua